Gluten-Free Sour Cream Pound Cake

Vanilla adds a light, simple flavor to this classic gluten-free pound cake recipe. With the addition of sour cream, it makes a moist, tender, and versatile cake. Serve it plain, or top it with whipped cream and fresh fruit for a seasonal twist. It's also great grilled!

I'm sure most of us love an elaborate dessert - a sprinkle-laden ombré cake or a multi-layered, meringue-topped cupcake - but there's something to be said about the simple recipes. They're the go-tos, the everyday options, the recipes that bring out the real comfort of baking. This sour cream pound cake couldn't be more representative of a classic, down-to-earth recipe. It's a gluten-free spin on a basic vanilla pound cake, with a light, sweet flavor. In the spirit of keeping it simple, this cake is excellent on its own, but you can also do what I did here: grill it with pineapple slices, top it with whipped cream, and turn it into the ultimate summertime treat.

Overhead view of a slice of grilled pound cake topped with grilled pineapple and whipped cream.

Jump to:

What is a pound cake anyway?
Ingredients needed
How to make pound cake from scratch
Serving tips
How to grill pound cake
Recipe FAQ
More gluten-free cakes you'll love
💬 Comments and Reviews

What is a pound cake anyway?

A pound cake is a dense, buttery, lightly-flavored cake that's typically baked in a loaf or bundt pan. Traditionally, it's made with a pound each of four ingredients - butter, flour, eggs, and sugar - hence the name. Usually, you'll see this classic dessert served plain, dusted with powdered sugar, or topped with a simple icing glaze.

This variation sticks pretty close to the traditional ratios, but incorporates a few tweaks to keep the cake moist and avoid the texture issues that tend to plague gluten-free recipes. Although it doesn't require any milk or cream cheese - two common ingredients added to pound cakes - it does use sour cream as an added dairy component. This helps the cake stay tender and moist, and adds a subtle dimension to the overall flavor.

To keep things easy, this cake is baked in a basic loaf pan rather than a bundt (though if you're looking for a pretty bundt, this kumquat cake is similar). It may look humble, but once you add whipped cream and a fruit garnish, you have the perfect spring or summertime dessert!

Overhead view of multiple slices of sour cream pound cake stacked on a plate.

Ingredients needed

Since this is a fairly simple recipe, there's only a few staple baking ingredients involved. Your local grocery store should have everything you need to bake this gluten-free pound cake!

Baking ingredients: Gluten-free all-purpose flour with xanthan gum, corn starch, sugar, salt, baking soda, and vanilla extract.

The corn starch is used in combination with all-purpose flour to create a makeshift gluten-free cake flour of sorts, which prevents the crumb from becoming too spongey. Don't skip it!
Spring for the real vanilla extract (versus imitation flavoring) for this recipe. Since it's the main flavor component here, the splurge is worth it.

Dairy and eggs: Unsalted butter, sour cream, and large eggs.

Opt for the best butter you can afford. Higher quality butter tends to be more expensive, but it also tends to have slightly more fat, and a better overall flavor. Since (again) this is a very simply-flavored cake, this is the kind of recipe where the quality of your ingredients will have a bigger impact.
Make sure you use large eggs . You'll need 5 of them, and using eggs that are bigger or smaller could throw off the ratios in the recipe.

A final note on ingredients: It's extremely important that your butter, eggs, and sour cream are all at room temperature for this recipe. If they're not, your batter won't come together properly - and nobody wants that!

Overhead view of ingredients needed to make a sour cream pound cake.

How to make pound cake from scratch

This recipe uses the creaming method to create a cake with a tender, tight, buttery crumb. For best results, you'll need a stand mixer, so lug that thing onto your countertop and let's make a sour cream pound cake!

Step one: Oven and pan prep. Preheat your oven to 350ºF, and grease a standard 9"x5" loaf pan with non-stick baking spray.

Step two: Combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together your gluten-free flour, corn starch, salt, and baking soda.

Step three: Cream butter, sugar, and eggs. Combine room-temperature butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of your mixer. Using the paddle attachment, cream (beat) them together on medium-high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Tip: At every step of the mixing process, use your spatula to scrape down the bowl and beater as needed. This will ensure all of the ingredients get incorporated evenly.

Overhead view of butter and sugar being creamed together in a mixing bowl.

Next, add the eggs one at a time on medium-low speed, beating each in fully before moving on to the next. Once they're all in there, add the vanilla extract and keep beating on medium speed until everything is evenly combined. Note that the batter tends to curdle at this point, no matter how careful you are while incorporating the eggs. Don't panic! We'll fix that in step four.

Overhead view of eggs being beaten into butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.

Step four: Alternating adding the liquid and dry ingredients. Turning the mixer back to low speed, add about ⅓ of your dry ingredient mixture. Once that's mostly dispersed into the batter, add half of the sour cream. Continue with this pattern, (a third of the dry ingredients, the second half of the sour cream, and the final third of the dry mixture) until all of the ingredients are evenly combined. At this point, the batter should be thick and oh-so-smooth.

Pound cake batter in a bowl, ready to be baked.

Step five: Bake. Transfer the batter to your prepared loaf pan, using a spatula to make sure the batter gets spread to every corner and edge. Add a couple more light, gentle turns of your spatula at the end to smooth out the top surface. Then, pop that loaf in the oven and bake it for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. When done, you should have a well-risen loaf with a perfectly golden crust. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean OR with just a few moist crumbs.

Step six: Cool. Set the loaf pan over a wire cooling rack for about 30 minutes. Then, carefully flip the loaf out of the pan, directly onto the rack, to finish cooling.

Serving tips

This beauty of this gluten-free pound cake is in its simplicity - it can easily be dressed up, but that's not a necessity. Serve it at room temperature with a chunky fruit compote and homemade caramel iced coffee for a coffee-shop style breakfast, or top it with whipped cream and fresh fruit or candied kumquats for a slightly more elegant dessert. It's also excellent toasted, but if you really want to go a step above and beyond, you can grill it!

Pound cake being served with pineapple slices and whipped cream on a patio table.

How to grill pound cake

Grilling - like toasting - helps caramelize the sugar in this cake to really amplify the flavor. It's easy to do, and you can also grill fruit for a garnish while you're at it. Pineapples, apricots, or peaches would all be great options.

To grill this pound cake, I like to cut thick slices (about 1" wide) and brush both sides with melted butter. Then, toss them on a grill at medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes a side, or just long enough to get those perfectly-golden grill marks. If you decide to grill fruit with it, just sprinkle the fruit with some raw sugar first to increase the caramelization. You may need an additional 2-4 minutes for the fruit; look for visual cues to gauge when they're done.

Tip: Place the cake slices on the grill at an angle to make pretty diagonal grill marks!

Slices of pound cake and pineapple on a grill.

Recipe FAQ

How should I store pound cake?

Once cool, wrap your loaf tightly in plastic wrap and seal it inside a zip-top bag. Store at cool room temperature, or refrigerate it and let it come to room temperature before serving.

How long does this pound cake stay fresh?

If stored properly, this cake should keep well for at least 5 days, and up to a week.

Can I make this without a stand mixer?

Although I do feel that a stand mixer is the best and most efficient tool for cakes that use the creaming method, you can probably get by with a handheld electric mixer as well. If you go this route, be aware that each step of mixing will most likely take longer, and you may need to scrape down your bowl and beaters more often.

Can this recipe be doubled?

Yes! True to the traditional pound cake ratios, you'd use close to a pound each of butter, sugar, flour, and eggs if this recipe is doubled. Just bake it in two separate loaf pans instead of one. I only recommend doubling this recipe if using a stand mixer, since there would likely be too much batter for a hand mixer to work with.

Overhead view of multiple slices of grilled pound cake served on individual plates, with pineapple and whipped cream. f

More gluten-free cakes you'll love

If you're looking for something light and summery - but perhaps more chocolatey than this recipe - try my chocolate financier layer cake. It's a naked cake that uses mascarpone whipped cream as a frosting, with fresh berries and mint for garnish.

This mini marble cake is a great middle-of-the-road option, swirled with chocolate AND vanilla cake batter. It's topped with a light, tangy blackberry cream cheese frosting.

For the fruit lovers, this strawberry layer cake is my number one recommendation. Roasting your fruit is the key to making the most incredible made-from-scratch strawberry cake, and the frosting on this tastes just like a milkshake!

And lastly, another perfect cake for summer - chocolate raspberry ice cream cake! It's a rich, fudgy cake layered with raspberry-swirled vanilla ice cream, chocolate ganache, and whipped cream.

If you make this vanilla pound cake, I'd love to hear about it! You can rate and review this recipe in the comments section below. Tag me (@brighteyedbaker) in an Instagram photo of the finished product and I'll give you a shoutout in my stories!