Rich, buttery, and delightfully simple! A good pound cake is one of those desserts that can confidently stand alone. Once you try this pound cake recipe, you’ll never need any other!
Want a gluten free pound cake recipe that is full of flavor and has a tender crumb? This is it! Adding cream cheese for richness and a touch of lemon juice for tenderness is the trick to the best gluten-free pound cake.
A great pound cake is hard to beat, but a bad pound cake…well, to me, that’s easy to pass on.
Many gluten free pound cake recipes (and classic pound cake recipes) end up dry and bland, which is why I went on a mission to create the best gluten free pound cake!
This recipe is silky-smooth, rich, and moist—thanks to cream cheese whipped into the batter! Since it doesn’t need frosting or any toppings, it’s great for cutting into thick slices and taking to a party or picnic.
Top this pound cake with fresh berries and cream, or serve it alone as a sophisticatedly simple dessert.
It might just become one of your new favorite desserts!
If you love desserts with strawberries and cream you also might like this gluten-free trifle or this gluten-free angel food cake.
Why You’ll Love this Gluten-Free Pound Cake Recipe
- Buttery and moist
- Rich flavor
- Soft & smooth crumb
- Not dry
- Comes together quickly
Ingredient You’ll Need
The biggest trick to this gluten-free pound cake recipe is to use softened cream cheese to stabilize the crumb. It makes for the perfect texture and cake rise!
Here are a few more notes on the key ingredients. If you have any additional questions feel free to leave me a comment below!
- Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour: This gluten-free cake turns out best when you use a high-quality 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. Look for a gluten free all purpose flour blend that contains xanthan gum so the cake has the structure it needs. This is my favorite brand for this recipe.
- Cream cheese: Cream cheese adds stability and richness to create moist crumbs. Make sure it’s softened for best results!
- Lemon juice: Lemon juice adds a nice tang to the cake batter and helps to activate the baking powder, resulting in a lighter cake.
- Baking Powder: I use a good amount in this recipe for the perfect rise.
How to Make Gluten Free Pound Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 8 ½ by 4 ½-inch loaf pan and lightly coat the pan with flour. Tap out any excess flour.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the sugar, lemon juice, large eggs and room temperature cream cheese. Mix on medium speed for about 1-2 minute until well combined.
- With the stand mixer or electric mixer running on low speed, slowly pour in the melted, unsalted butter. Continue to mix on low and add the dry ingredients a little at a time until fully incorporated and you have creamed butter. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix again until the batter is totally smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325F and continue baking for 35-40 minutes. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then run a knife down the sides of the pan and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Let the cake cool for 2 hours before slicing. Enjoy!
Storage/Freezing Instructions
- To store: Store your cake by covering the pan in plastic wrap, or by placing leftovers in an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to two days.
- To freeze: Wrap the cooled cake in plastic wrap, then store in the freezer for up to a week.
Gluten-Free Pound Cake Variations
- Add 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract for almond pound cake.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract and the zest of 2 lemons for lemon pound cake.
Glaze Ideas
- Simple glaze: 1 cup of powdered sugar + 1 tablespoon milk whisked together until smooth then poured over the cooled cake.
- Lemon glaze: 1 cup of powdered sugar + 1 tablespoon lemon juice whisked together until smooth then poured over the cooled cake.
- The glaze from the peanut butter glazed banana pound cake would also be delicious!
For more gluten-free cake recipes, try this gluten-free lemon cake, these gluten-free cupcakes or this gluten-free pineapple upside down cake.
This gluten-free pumpkin bread and gluten-free cranberry bread also have the perfect texture!
FAQs
Lemon juice helps activate the baking powder in this recipe, to create a lighter and more tender crumb.
Pound cake is more dense and rich than regular cake, and doesn’t require any frosting. Most pound cakes are served plain, glazed, or topped with fresh fruit.
Bundt cakes can be any cake made in a bundt pan, while a pound cake is a more rich, dense type of cake made in a loaf pan.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- Lightly flour the pan for easy removal of the pound cake once it is baked!
- Don’t forget to let the cream cheese soften to room temperature before adding it to the cake. This will make for a silky-smooth, stable pound cake recipe.
- Pound cake can easily be eaten plain, but you can also top yours with whipped cream, berries, or even ice cream, if you’d like. You could also make a simple glaze with powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, or almond extract.
More Gluten-Free Dessert Recipes
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you try this pound cake, be sure to leave me a comment/rating below. I’d love to hear from you!
Perfect Gluten-Free Pound Cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 ⅓ cup gluten-free 1:1 baking flour 200 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Other:
- 1 ¼ cups white sugar 250 grams
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature, 113 grams
- ½ cup butter melted, 113 grams
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 8 ½ by 4 ½-inch loaf pan and lightly coat the pan with flour. Tap out any excess flour.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the sugar, lemon juice, pure vanilla extract, eggs and cream cheese. Mix on medium speed for about 1-2 minute until well combined.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly pour in the melted butter. Continue to mix on low and add the dry ingredients a little at a time until fully incorporated. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix again until the batter is totally smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 350F, then reduce the oven temperature to 325F and continue baking for 35-40 minutes. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then run a knife down the sides of the pan and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Let the cake cool for 2 hours before slicing. Enjoy!
Notes
- Add 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract for almond pound cake.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract and the zest of 2 lemons for lemon pound cake.
- Simple glaze: 1 cup of powdered sugar + 1 tablespoon milk whisked together until smooth then poured over the cooled cake.
- Lemon glaze: 1 cup of powdered sugar + 1 tablespoon lemon juice whisked together until smooth then poured over the cooled cake.
Would I be able to use an 8 x 8 pan?
Hi Carolyn, yes, that should work, but it will need a shorter bake time. Also, it might not be effective to start it at the higher baking temperature. We haven’t tried it in anything but a loaf pan, so you may need to do some experimenting!
Is it possible to use egg yolks ,only? What amount would I use? I have quite a few yolks leftover from your delicious angel food cake. Your Angel food cake recipe is perfect! My family said it was better than “regular” angel food. Thanks
Hi Mary, we wouldn’t recommend using egg yolks, instead of whole eggs, in this recipe as it would require other ingredients to be adjusted to get the right texture/lift. We’re so pleased to hear how much you and your family enjoyed the angel food cake recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Can you substitute the white sugar with something else?
Hi Roxanny, we don’t typically bake with sugar substitutes. Granulated sugar is important for the proper texture and crumb so it is our top recommendation. Readers sometimes share their successes with sugar substitutes in the comments section so you may find some ideas in this section. If you decide to give a sugar sub a try, we’d love to hear how it goes!
This is excellent!
We’re so pleased you enjoyed the cake, Erin! Thank you for sharing with us!
I have tons of berries and this will do nicely to make them special. Hoping dairy free substitutes will work, cause I can’t do them, either.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Hi Randy, yes dairy-free subs should work in this recipe. Fresh berries sound like a delicious addition. We hope you love the pound cake!
Another hit!! I made the original recipe and the lemon variation, both delicious!!! All my gluten-free family are loving your recipes!! Thank you.
Yay! Thank you for this rave review, Diane! We’re so pleased you loved both variations!
If I wanted to cook the pound cake in a Bundt pan, should I double the recipe and what about the cooking time? Should the 350 degree and 325 degree time be increased?
Hi Wendi, yes you’d want to double the recipe for a Bundt pan (make sure you grease/flour the pan really well since pound cake is more dense and moist than typical Bundt recipes). You’ll need to increase the time for each temperature by roughly 5-10 minutes. A toothpick won’t be long enough to test for doneness, but using a skewer or something similar will help you judge when it’s baked all the way through. We hope this helps!
Just wow! I followed the recipe to the letter and LOVED it. THEN, I substituted monk fruit for the sugar and used the suggestion of the lemon zest. Oh my gracious! Both were fantastic. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Yay! We’re so happy to hear how much you loved the recipe, Christin! It’s good to know the monk fruit worked well too. Thanks for sharing!
how do you sub monk fruit powder. do you use the same amount as sugar or do you adjust it somehow??
Very Good! I did add 2 tsp of vanilla. Thanks for this recipe.