This gluten free sour cream pound cake is beyond delicious! It's moist and dense with a buttery crumb and quite frankly it's dangerously good.
Pound cake is a tall order around here. My husband is southern and loves a good pound cake. He's always been somewhat of a pound cake connoisseur without trying to be. Any time we find a new bakery it's what he orders and nine times out of ten it doesn't measure up to his moist and buttery standards.
Combine that and my three year old son's particular and high dessert standards (I created a monster!) and I knew I had to get this one right.
Pound cake goes way way back and I don't mean when the television was invented - more like the steam engine. It dates back to the 1700's and is named after it's ingredients.
Traditionally it was made with a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a pound of eggs, and a pound of flour. It's certainly not a diet food! But not many seem to care and I think it's because it's so dang delish!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. In other words, if you click a link and purchase something I will receive a commission at no cost to you. I only recommend products I use and enjoy myself.
Ingredients:
- Unsalted butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Bob's Red Mill 1:1 All Purpose Gluten Free Flour - This is my favorite gluten free flour for it's taste and texture. I like to buy it on Amazon or add it to my Walmart pickup order. I always recommend this one not only because I love it but because all gluten free flour blends are different and therefore the end result is different too which means I don't know how this recipe will come out with another gluten free flour.
- Baking powder
- Kosher salt - If you use table salt it will be too salty. Make sure to use kosher salt.
- Vanilla extract - Just a small amount adds wonderful flavor.
- Sour cream - Sour cream makes the cake moist and the perfect texture.
Recipe Tips & Substitutions
- Spray the pan well with nonstick spray. Nothing's worse than a beautiful pound cake that's stuck in the pan!
- Similar to the first tip but different - wait for it to cool a while before trying to get it out! It's so hard because the house smells amazing and I'm already topping off my iced coffee to go with it but ... wait! I feel you but you can do it.
- I used vanilla extract because it's classic and delicious but you can flavor it with any zest or extract. You can add almond extract, lemon zest, coconut extract, or orange zest. You can also top it with a lemon glaze for a gluten free lemon sour cream pound cake. Simply whisk together fresh squeezed lemon juice and powdered sugar then pour over top. You just don't want a thick and gloppy glaze.
- Pound cake tastes best room temperature. It sets and becomes dense and moist while somehow tasting light too. It feels much cakier straight out of the oven while it's still warm. If you want that classic pound cake texture wait for it to set!
Yes! I like to slice it first then place the slices on a half sheet pan. Once the slices are frozen I put them in a zip top freezer bag then I write the date it was made on it with a sharpie. For best taste and texture use within 3 months. This way you can pull out one slice anytime you want and not have to worry about waste. Just microwave a slice in 15 second intervals until it's room temperature.
Pound cake tastes amazing on it's own but if you can't resist a delightful topping try fresh chopped strawberries, whipped cream, sliced peaches, vanilla ice cream, toasted coconut, lemon curd, Nutella, a simple powdered sugar glaze, or caramel sauce.
Other Gluten Free Desserts You Might Like
- Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins
- Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Gluten Free M&M Cookies
Gluten Free Sour Cream Pound Cake
Equipment
- Stand mixer
- 9 x 5 baking pan
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (2 sticks)
- 1 ¼ cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ cup Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
- 1 t. baking powder
- ¼ t. kosher salt
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9 x 5 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray,
- In the bowl of a stand mixer cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy about 4 minutes on medium speed. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and kosher salt then whisk together. Set aside.
- Add the eggs one at a time to the butter mixture beating until incorporated. Scrape the bowl with a spatula in between each one.
- Add half of the flour mixture and beat until incorporated then repeat with the other half. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure everything is mixed together.
- Add the vanilla and sour cream then beat until incorporated. Scrape the batter into the greased baking dish and bake until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, about 65 to 75 minutes.
Rena
Can I use a tube pan or r
9” round pans.
Carolyn
I have not tried it with either but I would say it should work. You may have to adjust the baking time though. It may not take as long so I would keep an eye on it.
Margaret Siegenthaler
Wow! I am new to gluten free baking. I made this to take to a church event so that everyone, those who are gluten free and those who are not, could have some. Everyone loved it! I doubled the recipe and baked it in a Bundt pan so that it could serve more. I had fresh fruit available to have with he cake.
Jess
I made this with the ATK gluten free blend and it was so good. Also made it with mascarpone instead of sour cream and the zest and the juice of a lemon, also excellent. Great recipe!
Lynn Wilson
This pound cake is amazing. Made it to serve with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
Followed recipe exactly !
Karen G
I followed the recipe exactly and it was way too brown in 60 minutes and also fell in the middle. Do you have any suggestions for next time?
Carolyn
Did you use Bob's Red Mill's brand of gluten-free flour?
Katie
Delicious! Paired it with fresh strawberries and home made ice cream! Love the crispy top! Very easy to make!!
Sharlene
What a lovely recipe. Thank you for sharing this. I was wondering if you used a glass or metal loaf pan?
Elaine
I must be gluten, egg, & dairy free. Can I use flax eggs or Bob’s Egg Replacer?
Carolyn
I haven't tried it so I can't say for sure.
Arlene
Hi can I substitute the sour cream for something else .?
Abby
Hi! If I wanted to make it in a Bundt cake pan…would you double the recipe? And how long would you bake it for?
My family loves this so trying to make for a larger crowd!
Carolyn
Yes, I would double the recipe. I'm not sure on timing. Use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Sheryl
Made this today and it tastes delicious however we had the same issue as an earlier commenter: bread turned way too brown and sunk in the middle. We did use Bob’s Red Mill flour. We are high altitude so perhaps we need adjustments there…any suggestions?
Francine
I followed the recipe, and flour brand, except used plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream. Baked it for 68:00 as outside getting dark and toothpick came out near clean. It ended up not quite done in center and a big air gap under the top crust. But it still tasted good!
Carol
EXCELLENT GLUTEN FREE POUND CAKE !!!
First time making & used Krusteaz Gluten Free All Purpose Flour and my 8.5” x 4.5” x 2 & 3/4” heavy gauge aluminized steel loaf pan & my round 6” cake pan. Both are equally delicious & moist. Definitely can’t tell it’s gluten free. Thank you for sharing this recipe.