Glazed Mini Pound Cake Loaves — Adorable mini vanilla pound cakes that are moist, tender, and not at all dry!! Or you can bake them as a full-sized loaf. This recipe will make anyone a fan of pound cake!!
Easiest Vanilla Pound Cake From Scratch
I almost never make pound cake. With all my other baking, we don’t need a pound of cake. But two little mini cakes is a different story.
I’m not sure who eats traditional pound cake that’s made with a pound each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. That’s one heavy cake. They must have super-human metabolism.
For my version, I added cream cheese in addition to the butter. It adds extra flavor, richness, and moisture. Pound cake is prone to dryness, and there’s nothing more inedible than dry cake. Why bother? The cream cheese helps combat that pesky problem.
I love the cracked tops. I’ve read that a cracked top on banana bread is the signal of a great loaf. It indicates that the wet and dry ingredients, as well as leaveners, were all combined in proper ratios to create steam, which escapes via the crack.
When I see a crack, I know the loaf is going to be a keeper.
The cake has a very dense and tight crumb, yet they’re surprisingly light. It’s just sweet enough and very subtly flavored with cream cheese. The cream cheese plays more of a role in adding moisture so the little cakes stay soft and moist.
The vanilla cream cheese pound cake glaze was the icing on the cake. Literally. It’s tangy yet sweet, and enhanced the cream cheese vibe.
Or try this heavenly Apricot Cream Cheese Glaze or your favorite jam or fruity topping. A handful of fresh strawberries, sprinkled with a touch of sugar, and allowed to macerate for an hour would be lovely draped over a slice.
The mini size is perfect to satisfy my once a year craving for a slice or two of pound cake, without having a ridiculously large amount of cake leftover. Let’s face it, no one wants to eat dried out pound cake on day 4 that’s leftover from a huge 10-inch tube-cake of pound cake.
Not a problem here.
And they make adorable gifts. One for you, one for a friend. That is, if you don’t scarf them both down. They’re mini, after all.
What’s in This Mini Pound Cake Recipe?
To make the cream cheese pound cake from scratch, you’ll need:
- Eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Cream cheese
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
And for the cream cheese pound cake glaze, you’ll need:
- Cream cheese
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla extract
- Confectioners’ sugar
How to Make Mini Pound Cake Loaves
The batter comes together in just minutes. All at once, cream together butter, cream cheese, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Fold in the dry ingredients and you’re ready to bake.
Turn the batter into two greased and floured 5×3-inch loaf pans, then bake until the cakes are domed, golden, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool in their pans for 15 minutes before turning them out to cool completely on a wire rack. Once cooled, top with the pound cake glaze.
Can I Use a Regular Loaf Pan?
Yes! I baked off the vanilla pound cake recipe as two mini loaves because mini food is cuter, of course. And I find it easier to control the overall browning and dryness levels when I bake dense batters in smaller loaf pans rather than as one big loaf.
I love this Set of 4 Mini Loaf Pans, but if you don’t have mini pans, it can be baked in a 9×5-inch pan. You’ll likely extend baking by 10 to 15 minutes, and if necessary, tent it with foil midway through cooking if your loaf is becoming overly browned.
Can I Prep This Recipe in Advance?
Yes, although I recommend serving the mini pound cake loaves the same day they’re made. They’ll last up to five days at room temperature, but they do dry out over time.
How to Store Pound Cake
Cakes are best enjoyed fresh, but will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months (without the glaze).
Tips for Making a Moist Pound Cake From Scratch
I used Trader Joe’s Soft Spreadable Light Cream Cheese for this recipe with great results. However, a brick of classic Philadelphia cream cheese that’s been softened to room temperature will work just as well.
It’s very important that you beat the eggs, butter, sugar, and cream cheese until light and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes. If you skip this step or skimp on the beating time, you’ll wind up with dense pound cake. Yuck.
Wait to glaze the vanilla pound cake loaves until they’ve cooled completely. If you try to glaze them while still warm, the glaze will slide right off.
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Glazed Mini Pound Cake Loaves
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened (I used Trader Joe’s Soft Spreadable Light Cream Cheese with great results)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
For the Glaze
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- about 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more if necessary
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325F. Spray two 5×3-inch Mini Loaf Pans with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pans; set aside.
- To the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and hand mixer), add first 5 ingredients (through vanilla), and beat on medium-high speed to cream them until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the final 3 ingredients. Mix on medium speed until just incorporated, don’t overmix.
- Turn batter out into prepared pans and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until cakes are domed, golden, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I baked for 47 minutes and rotated pans midway through baking. I would bake for about 45 minutes next time. If at any point your cakes seem to be browning too quickly, tent with a sheet of foil; however this was not an issue for me.
- Allow cakes to cool in pans for about 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- While cakes cool, make the glaze.
For the Glaze:
- Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and silky, playing with sugar ratio if necessary until desired consistency is achieved.
- Drizzle glaze on top of loaves or spread on the interior of the slices; I prefer the latter version. Extra glaze will keep airtight for many weeks in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Originally posted June 4, 2013 and reposted February 26, 2021 with updated text.
Hi, do you think this recipe could be used for rum cake? Holidays are coming so I’m hunting for a rum cake recipe. ;) Thanks. And greetings from the Philippines!
It probably could! Although I haven’t tried it that way. LMK if you do!
After a failed attempt at a bundt pound cake from a facebook shared recipe, I knew I had to go back to my ‘bible’ of baking: Averie Cooks.
The recipe couldn’t have been simpler. I threw the ingredients into my Kitchen-Aid and hardly had to do anything. I poured it into a 1 qt. 9X5 pan and it baked for 45 mins. I used a foil tent because the edges started getting brown very quickly. My tent fell into the cake so I didn’t get a nice pretty dome.
The cake itself came out pretty bland, but with the glaze it’s outta this world good. My glaze was thick like an icing so I was able to spread it all over and get some in every yummy bite. Really enjoyed this recipe!
Thanks for saying I’m your bible of baking! That’s such a wonderful compliment!
And poundcakes, ahhh yes, I too think they’re bland for the most part :) And dry. Thankfully this one isn’t dry but it’s not ‘bursting with flavor’ like some cakes, which is just the nature of the poundcake beast. Thus, a great glaze saves all and glad you enjoyed the glaze!
One word: Delicious! The cream cheese made it so moist. Prepared it in a 9×5 pan, and it was perfect to share for dessert at a dinner party for 4, with a couple of slices remaining for lunch tomorrow. I will make this again!
Thanks for trying it, Patrina, and so glad you loved it and yes, agreed on it being so moist!
I made this tonight in 4 mini Bundt pans–so good!! My husband asked me to make them again tomorrow because he’s eating his other one for breakfast. I definitely see this cake going into the biweekly rotation. :)
So glad they were a hit with you and hubby and they’ll be going into the rotation! Yay!
I have to get one of those mini loaf pans! They look really adorable. I made the cake today without the pans though and they still turned out delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe – they were really easy and clear to follow! I had to cut the time down to 30 mins because my oven was really hot. I would have preferred a less egg-ish taste, however. Is it possible to reduce the eggs to just one next time? :)
Pound cakes inherently are very heavy on the eggs and butter. I really didn’t get an ‘egg-ish’ taste as you said. Sometimes when cream cheese is baked, the flavors can change. You could tinker around with the eggs and cream cheese amounts but in doing so, you will also have to tinker around with the flour and baking powder. You can’t just remove an egg or cream cheese without likely having to alter other ingredients, too. LMK how your trials go!
I stumbled across your blog again! Your recipes are just delicious and I think its a sign that I should come here first when I’m looking for something new and yummy! So- thank you AGAIN for the recipe, I used it in a blog post yesterday!
Red + White + Blueberry Cake :)
http://www.justaddsparkles.com
Thanks for the nice comment, Noelle! And I just saw your cake – it’s so festive! :) I am so happy you’re pleased with this recipe and my recipes in general!
Love pound cake with a cup of tea. Thank you
Hope you’re able to try the recipe!
delicious..
Those little loaves are just perfect Averie! I can just envision mine topped with fresh strawberries and freshly whipped cream – mmmm! Pinned!
Thanks for pinning! :)
Oh wow, I love pound cake and these are beauties!
I love pound cake and I bet with cream cheese your version is fantastic!
i love those baking loaf pans…that color just pops and oh so cute…i love mini loaves always so perfect to eat one and share the other…well hopefully. lol
I am such a sucker for a really moist pound cake! These look amazing, and I agree that mini is better. These would be so perfect in a gift basket for a new mom or a teacher!
Funny you mention teacher! I gave the 2nd one to my daughter’s teacher!
Mm this looks so so good! Love the addition of cream cheese to help keep it light. Sounds perfect.
I love pound cake! My mom used to always serve it with Cool Whip mixed with a pudding packet, which sounds weird (and totally Midwestern, right?), but oh man, it was so good. You’re right though, it does have a tendency to dry out–you are so smart to add cream cheese!
Cool Whip mixed with a pudding packet (I grew up in MN so that’s quite common to me…lol) and I made this cake with it! https://www.averiecooks.com/frozen-chocolate-pudding-and-wafer-cake/
These are so cute! And I really want some of that vanilla bean cream cheese glaze … like pronto! lol. I love those mini loaf pans. I have some fun mini purple ones but now I kinda want some orange ones too! So fun for summer.
Oh wow, I want PURPLE! How cute!