Strawberry Pound Cake Recipe

This is one of my favorite desserts to take to potlucks! I have plenty more strawberry recipes that will get your mouth watering, too.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 💭 Tips for success
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Frequently asked questions
• 🥫 Storage
• 🍓 How to make strawberry shortcake
• 📚 Related recipes
• 🍰 Why this began as a wedding cake
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

Lusciously moist and dense strawberry pound cake recipe is made with cream cheese and sour cream so it melts in your mouth!

Unsweetened strawberry Kool Aid gives it its vibrant color and fresh flavor - it's literally bursting with tons of strawberry flavor!

It's firm enough to use in a stacked wedding cake (I've done it!) but easy enough for every day. The lack of berries actually helps it maintain the dense texture needed for heavy cakes -- keeps them from collapsing.

Freezes well, too.

🧾 Ingredients

Ingredients for this recipe:

• butter
• cream cheese
• sugar
• eggs
• sour cream
• vanilla
• strawberry Kool-Aid (the old fashioned, unsweetened packets)
• all-purpose flour
• kosher salt

🔪 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.

1. Beat the cream cheese and butter on the lowest speed of the mixer.
2. Add the sugar and continue to beat.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time.
4. Add the Kool Aid mix, vanilla, and the sour cream.
5. Add the flour and salt.
6. Mix just until blended and smooth.
7. Spoon into prepared bundt pan.
8. Bake until a cake tester inserted in halfway between the edge and the center comes out clean.
9. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
10. Remove from pan.
11. Cool completely.

💭 Tips for success

Expert tip: make this into two strawberry loaf cakes. Add the batter into two prepared 9-inch loaf pans and bake at 325 F for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

• You can make this a day or two in advance - or even freeze it for longer storage.
• Pound cakes are usually best the second day.
• If you are making this into wedding cake rounds the baking time will depend on the size of each pan. Bake at 350F and start checking after 25 minutes - unless it's a 6-inch layer or smaller.
• I like this strawberry dessert just dusted with powdered sugar but you can make a delicious glaze with the cream cheese icing from my cinnamon rolls. Add a little milk or cream to get the exact gooey texture you like.
• Be careful not to over mix the batter or you'll run the risk of it being tough.
• Baking the cake at 325F is what helps it to have that dense, melt in your mouth texture. It will need between 1 hour 15 minutes and 1 hour 30 minutes to bake. It's baked in a slow oven for a long time but the result will knock your socks off.

👩🏻‍🍳 Frequently asked questions

Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.

🥫 Storage

This pound cake will be fine at room temperature for about 4 or 5 days as long as it's covered.

For longer storage wrap it and freeze it for up to 3 months. Sometimes I slice it and put parchment paper between the slices before freezing so I can get one or two slices out at a time.

🍓 How to make strawberry shortcake

This easy strawberry pound cake is especially good for strawberry shortcake!

1. Hull and slice ripe berries into a bowl.
2. Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar for each pound of berries.
3. Let stand for about 30 minutes at room temperature, or until they get juicy.
4. Cut the cake in slices and add a spoonful or two of the berries.
5. Add a scoop of strawberry or vanilla ice cream.
6. More berries!
7. Top with some whipped cream.

📚 Related recipes

I love cake - you, too? Here are some of my favorite recipes. I hope you love them as much as I do!

• Hawaiian Wedding Cake
• is not really a wedding cake but it has coconut, pineapple, and so. much. yum.
• Chardonnay & Lemon Pound Cake is fresh and delicious for summer. This is another good one to use as a base for strawberry shortcake.
• Margarita Pound Cake has great flavor and a salty pretzel crust on the outside of it - keeping it real!
• Marble Pound Cake has all of my favorite flavors - for when I can't decide what I want.
• Sweet Corn Pound Cake has a unique flavor ... sweet and delicate vanilla with a touch of something everyone loves but no one can put their fingers on... SO good.
• Buttermilk Pound Cake is moist and delicious - perfect if you are looking for a plain pound cake.

🍰 Why this began as a wedding cake

My eldest daughter's lifelong, best friend got married she asked me to make the cake. I don't make wedding cakes often anymore - usually just for family and close friends.

Anyway, after discussing various flavor combos she decided on strawberry with chocolate ganache filling. I was cool with that.

I was cool with that until I realized that there is no strawberry pound cake recipe that I know of that would stand up to the rigors of being stacked, being transported an hour and a half in Texas heat, etc.

I thought about it for days and just before I was about to tell her we had to go with something else I got an idea.

Why not try strawberry Kool Aid?

I made a test cake, using my favorite pound cake recipe and adding the unsweetened strawberry Kool Aid powder for flavor. It came out perfectly!

The color was a little intense but very pretty but best of all, one of the people who tasted a test slice said, "I can tell you used fresh berries in this! There's so much strawberry flavor!"

It just doesn't get better than that. It held up perfectly and tasted delicious.

I love this strawberry pound cake for summer parties because it's so vibrantly pink and the color matches the flavor. It's a Pinterest favorite and I'm sure it will be a favorite at your house, too.

If this is not quite what you want try my triple layer orange cake with orange buttercream. It's spectacular!

📖 Recipe

First published May 20, 2015. Last updated February 5, 2021 to increase readability and page speed.