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.
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!
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.
My friend is not only gluten free but has an intolerance to seed oil. What oils would you recommend in baking things.i also bought your 2nd cookbook but i could use a recipe to make “pigs in a blanket” gluten free and seed oil free.
I would like to make this but use small pans for individual cakes. What would you suggest for a baking time and temperature?
Hi Linda! For mini loaf pans, you’d want to start with them at 350°F for 8-10 minutes, then 325°F until done (potentially 10-20 more minutes). We haven’t tested it in smaller pans so we’d definitely recommend using the toothpick test for the most accurate timing. We’d love to hear how it goes!
Can low fat cream cheese be used?
Hi Susan! Regular cream cheese works best for the texture. Low fat may impact the crumb slightly. If you decide to try it out, we’d love to hear how it goes!
Do you know if this could be made with dairy free cream cheese? I miss pound cake so much, but we’re also dairy allergic.
Hi Elizabeth! Yes you can use DF cream cheese and butter for this pound cake. We hope you love it!
I am allergic to casein, therefore I cannot eat ANY dairy. Would a firm plain coconut yogurt be a possible substitute?
Hi Kathy, we’d recommend DF cream cheese over coconut yogurt for this one. We hope you enjoy the pound cake!
This looks so good! I have a friend who is gluten-free and sugar free so can I use a sugar substitute in the cake instead of the sugar? She would love this!!. Thank you!
Hi Sandy! We don’t typically bake with sugar substitutes so we haven’t tested any with this recipe. Typically sugar impacts both flavor and texture so we would be hesitant to swap out the sugar in the pound cake. Thank you for your question!
Why do you not mention egg substitutes? Considering that many people have eggs allergy?
Please mention in all of your recipes.
We should not expect a blogger that doesn’t adhere to all of our sensitivities to do all the testing. If you test in your own kitchen, you will become a better baker yourself. I suggest trying whipped aquafaba as an egg substitute for cakes but there is not an ideal substitute for eggs in baking and certainly not for recipes that need 4 eggs. You will get better results from recipes that require fewer eggs. Thank you, Erin for your amazing recipes and cookbooks!
Thanks so much! I love your recipe. I’ve made this at least a dozen times now. I’ve used ‘King Arthur gluten free measure for measure’ flour, and Bob’s Red Mill gluten free 1 to 1 baking flour’ and the cakes have come out perfect.
I made one minor change in the order ingredients are mixed together. The softened cream cheese didn’t fully incorporate, so in my KitchenAid mixer I add the eggs after the sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and cream cheese have been mixed together.
Doubling the recipe works great and I’ve made all kinds of flavors: Rum extract & raisin & pecan. Apple & walnut. Lemon & blueberry. Spiced. Lemon & cardamom. Orange extract, orange peel, & pecan). On a couple I’ve made a crumb topping of butter, cinnamon, sugar, & flour.
Once again, thanks so much for the recipe!
Aww we’re so pleased this recipe has become such a go-to for you, Hortensia! Thank you so much for coming back and sharing your positive experiences with us. All of those flavor combos sound amazing! Happy baking!
Absolutely amazing!! The non gluten free people also loved it.
Yay! We’re so glad to hear this, Theresa! Thank you for the positive feedback. Happy baking!
Can I substitute the lemon for orange and add orange zest or used the lemon juice and add orange zest
Hi Carolina, we haven’t tested that, but it’s worth a try! We’d love to hear how it goes!