Great Aunt Rose’s Sour Cream Pound Cake Recipe

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Great Aunt Rose’s Sour Cream Pound Cake is a beloved family recipe. This sour cream pound cake recipe produces a delicious cake that is slightly crunchy on the outside and dense and rich on the inside.

This post was originally written in June 2016. Updates in November 2019 include background information on the recipe and baking tips.

the ingredients in sour cream pound cake

• Imperial margarine ~ yes the recipe calls for margarine.
• sugar
• eggs
• vanilla extract
• baking soda
• kosher salt
• sour cream

I vividly remember my Great Aunt Rose’s Sour Cream Pound Cake mainly because of the way my Mom had jotted down the recipe. The cake recipe calls for the typical cake ingredients of flour, sugar and vanilla. But the recipe also includes Imperial margarine instead of butter and 5, 6 or 8 eggs. 5, 6 or 8 eggs? What the heck does that mean? I never did get the chance to ask my Mom why there was a range of eggs listed for the recipe.

the story behind this family favorite pound cake recipe

This is absolutely the best pound cake ever! While my sisters, brother, and I were growing up, my Mom always had a homemade cake or plate of cookies sitting on our kitchen counter. Even after my parents were emptynesters, you could always count on a sweet treat when you unexpectedly dropped by for a visit. One of the favorite desserts my Mom made was my Great Aunt Rose’s Sour Cream Pound Cake recipe.

My Mom passed away about 26 years ago. She was a great mom, and I still miss her every day. While I was growing up, I remember her being a good cook. As a mom to 6 kids, the dinner menu was similar from week to week out of necessity. It usually went something like this – Chicken a la King on Monday, meatloaf on Tuesday, tuna noodle casserole topped with crushed potato chips on Wednesday, barbecue chicken on Thursday, and English muffin pizzas on Friday.

And we always had dessert. It may have been just Jell-O sprinkled with extra sugar or a scoop of ice cream. But frequently it was a delicious cookie, cake or pie. My Mom was a great baker, and we always had a fresh baked treat in the house.

my failed attempt at making pound cake

I first tried my hand at making the family favorite recipe on my own about 25 years ago. My pound cakes always filled the kitchen with a deliciously intoxicating cakey smell. They were a perfect golden brown when it came out of the oven. But when I tried to unmold the masterpiece, it was a catastrophe. Either half the cake stuck to the bottom of the pan or it did not even unmold at all.  I tried tube pans with removable bottoms, ones without removable bottoms, nonstick coated pans and nothing worked.

My Stepmom had mastered this recipe. Her pound cakes always came out beautifully. When I told her of my unmolding predicament, she surprised me with my Mom’s old pound cake pan.

My cake unmolding dilemmas were solved! My pound cakes are now showstoppers and come out of the pan beautifully every time.

I love that I have a few of my Mom’s old cookbooks. She always had notes in the margins of the recipes. Hand written versions of her favorite recipes fill the blank front and back pages of the cookbooks. This is Great Aunt Rose’s Sour Cream Pound Cake recipe in my Mom’s hand writing ~

Great Aunt Rose’s Sour Cream Pound Cake is a family classic and is served for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And I am the first one to encourage this behavior.

chef baking tips for making sour cream pound cake from scratch

• Use Imperial margarine and not butter. I always thought butter made everything better.  That is not true with this ultra dense and moist sour cream pound cake.  I tried making this with butter, and it never came out right.
• Cream the margarine and sugar until light and creamy. I use a stand mixer for this recipe. Cream the margarine and sugar well for about 3 to 4 minutes on medium speed.
• Crack the eggs in a separate bowl and add them 1 at a time to the batter. Nobody likes a cake with egg shells in it. Crack all the eggs in a separate bowl. That way if any shell gets in, you can scoop it out.

• Combine the dry ingredients and add alternately with the sour cream to ensure that the sour cream is thoroughly incorporated into the batter.
• Use a long wooden skewer to check if the cake is ready. When poked into the thickest part of the cake, the skewer should come out clean. If the top of the cake is browning too quickly, gently lay a piece of foil over the top of the pan.
• Don’t be in a hurry to unmold the cake. Let the cake sit on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes. Then run a thin sharp knife around all the edges of the pan. Place the cooling rack on top of the cake. Put one hand on the cooling rack and slide with the other hand under pan. Flip over the cooling rack and pan. Tap on the bottom of the pan to help loosen the cake. Then remove the pan from your cake carefully.

my cooking videos ~ blueberry bread pudding pancakes

If you make this awesome pound cake recipe, I’d love hearing from you all. Be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating ~ I do my best to reply to all your comments. And snap a photo to post to Instagram. I’ll add the photos to my Insta stories as I love seeing all your creations.

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