Cream Cheese Pound Cake*

* not tested

Eric Kim’s cream cheese pound cake features buttery cake, raspberry preserves, whipped cream, and raspberry dust.
Key tips include using room-temperature ingredients and thoroughly creaming butter, cream cheese, and sugar.
The recipe allows substitutions like strawberry jam and freeze-dried strawberries, and delivers a stunning summer treat.

I stopped mid-scroll when I saw the picture for Eric Kim’s Cream Cheese Pound Cake. It looked so good, I immediately began scouring my pantry for the ingredients to make it. The truly spectacular dessert starts with buttery pound cake and a layer of raspberry preserves. It’s finished with a salted whipped cream and freeze-dried raspberry dust. Kim calls the cake “reminiscent of Sara Lee’s loaves in the freezer aisle.” While I get the comparison, this homemade version is in a league of its own. Here’s why you need to try this layered cream cheese pound cake recipe.
(all 3 of these recipes – pound cake, raspberry preserves, and salted whipped cream – are at the bottom of this recipe)

How to Make Cream Cheese Pound Cake

There are a few elements to making this rich dessert, including a thick pound cake, raspberry preserves, whipped cream, and freeze-dried raspberries. Here’s a high-level look at how to make it.

Start by making a pound cake batter. First, mix the dry ingredients and set them aside. In a stand mixer, mix butter, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt. The key to a great pound cake is mixing the wet ingredients until they are light and fluffy and the sugar is nearly completely dissolved.
Once the ingredients are nearly white, add in 5 large eggs, one at a time.
Add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour into a 9×13-inch pan and bake until golden brown.
Let the cake cool completely before assembling. While the cake cools, make a homemade whipped cream.
To assemble, spread a layer of raspberry preserves over the cooled cake. Next, pile on the whipped cream and spread until even. Finish with a dusting of freeze-dried raspberry dust. Simply press whole freeze-dried raspberries through a fine-mesh sieve to get the right texture.

Tips for Making Homemade Pound Cake

Pound cake isn’t difficult to make, but there are a few things to keep in mind when you try this recipe.

Make sure the ingredients are at room temperature before you start. This includes the butter, cream cheese, and eggs. The softened ingredients mix better and create a lighter, fluffier pound cake.
Don’t shorten the time it takes to properly cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar mixture. Before you start adding the eggs, it should be almost white in color and very light and fluffy. This helps incorporate air into the batter and helps the cake rise in the oven.
Add the eggs one at a time so they’re fully mixed in.
Don’t skimp on the salt in the whipped cream layer. It helps balance the sweetness of the cake and preserves.
Not a fan of raspberries? This cake would also be delicious with strawberry jam and freeze-dried strawberry crumbs.

Recipe for Sour Cream Pound Cake

Make this basic pound cake recipe your own with homemade whipped cream and/or fruit stir-ins.

Prep Time: 55 mins

Cool Time: 10 mins

Bake Time: 1 hr

Total Time: 55 mins

Servings: 10

Ingredients

½ cup butter
3 eggs
½ cup sour cream
1½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. baking powder
⅛ tsp. baking soda
1 cup sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 recipe Sweetened Whipped Cream (optional)
Fresh berries (optional)

Sweetened Whipped Cream (another recipe is below)

1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract or almond extract

Directions

Allow butter, eggs, and sour cream to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and lightly flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan; set aside.
In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, beating on medium speed about 10 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Add vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low to medium speed for 1 minute after each addition and scraping side of bowl frequently.
Alternately add flour mixture and sour cream to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.
Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center of cake comes out clean.
Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on rack. If desired, serve with sweetened whipped cream and berries.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

In a chilled bowl combine heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla. Beat with the chilled beaters of a mixer on medium to high speed just until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Do not overbeat.

Lemon-Poppy Seed Pound Cake Variation

Prepare as directed, except substitute 1/2 cup lemon yogurt for the sour cream. Gently stir 2 tablespoons poppy seeds, 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice into batter.

Blueberry Pound Cake Variation

Prepare as directed, except pour boiling water over 1/2 cup dried blueberries and let stand for 10 minutes; drain well. Fold berries into batter.

Test Kitchen Tip: Pound cake is truly a freezer-friendly cake, keeping its flavor and texture for up to three months, if wrapped tightly. To defrost, simply leave it overnight in the freezer or in the counter, for a few hours. You can even warm the cake up (wrap it in aluminum foil) in the over at 350°F for 20 minutes.

Nutrition Facts

Calories268
Total Fat 13g
Saturated Fat 7g
Cholesterol 93mg
Sodium 116mg
Total Carbohydrate 35g
Total Sugars 21g
Protein 4g
Calcium 30mg
Iron 1mg
Potassium 57mg

Recipe for Raspberry Jam

Classic Raspberry Jam is perfect spread on everything from morning toast to peanut butter sandwiches. It’s not as challenging as you might guess to can homemade Raspberry Jam!

Total Time: 40 mins

Servings: 128 (1-Tbsp.) servings

Yield: 8 half-pints

Ingredients

2 qt. fresh raspberries
1 (1.75-oz.) pkg. regular powdered fruit pectin
7 cups sugar

Directions

Crush 1 cup of the berries in an 8-qt. Dutch oven or pot. Continue adding berries and crushing until you have 5 cups crushed berries. Stir in pectin. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar all at once. Return to a full rolling boil; boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Quickly skim off foam with a metal spoon. Ladle jam at once into hot sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids. Process jars in a boiling-water canner for 5 minutes (start timing when the water returns to boil). Remove jars; cool on wire rack. Makes about 8 half-pints.
To cut sweetness of the jam, you can add 2 Tbsp. lemon juice to the fruit mixture before processing.

Test Kitchen Tip:

You can jazz up a basic fruit jam such as this one by adding one of the following to the fruit mixture along with the sugar: 1 tsp. finely shredded lemon zest, 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg; or 1/4 tsp. grated fresh ginger.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 tablespoon
Calories48
Total Fat 0g
Saturated Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 1mg
Total Carbohydrate 12g
Dietary Fiber 1g
Total Sugars 11g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 2mg
Calcium 2mg
Iron 0mg
Potassium 13mg

Recipe for Sweetened Whipped Cream

Total Time: 10 mins

Servings: 32 (1-Tbsp.) servings

Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients

1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. vanilla (optional)

Directions

In a small chilled mixing bowl combine whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla.
Beat with chilled beaters of an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Do not overbeat. Makes 2 cups.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 tablespoon
Calories28
Total Fat 3g
Saturated Fat 2g
Cholesterol 8mg
Sodium 2mg
Total Carbohydrate 1g
Dietary Fiber 0g
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 0mg
Calcium 5mg
Iron 0mg
Potassium 7mg