A pound cake is a cake that gets its name from the ratio of simple ingredients in its traditional recipe: A pound each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. Bakers typically use Bundt or loaf pans as vessels for baking pound cakes, which give the classic dessert its signature density. You can incorporate any additional ingredients, flavorings, or toppings (such as powdered sugar or icing) to enhance the dense cake. Modern pound cakes typically feature less than a pound of any given ingredient, but the ratios are still reasonably equal.

The perfect pound cake is dense with a pleasant, springy texture and a smooth, buttery crumb. To perfectly execute that balance, keep these tips in mind:

1. Use fresh ingredients. When making a lemon pound cake, fresh lemon zest will always taste zingier than lemon extract; carefully folding in fresh fruit, like raspberries or blueberries, instead of frozen, will release less moisture as the cake bakes.
2. Use a scale. It’s essential to measure all of your ingredients using a digital kitchen scale instead of eyeballing or casually scooping flour without leveling the top. A difference of a few grams can change the cake’s texture; a scale simplifies things and takes away any guesswork.
3. Bring ingredients to room temperature. Bringing eggs, butter, and any other dairy-based ingredients to room temperature before the mixing process makes them easier to emulsify, resulting in a cake with an even interior texture. Take perishable ingredients out of the refrigerator at least an hour before you begin baking.
4. Add dairy. Adding sour cream, Greek yogurt, or buttermilk to your pound cake recipe guarantees a moist cake without weighing down the crumb, plus the live cultures in these products provide a more nuanced flavor and longer shelf life.
5. Avoid overmixing. Overmixing leads to a stiff, heavy cake. When combining the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, fold them together by hand to ensure the batter stays light.
6. Bake at a lower temperature. Pound cake takes longer to bake than many other types of cakes because of its dairy content. You can bake a pound cake in a loaf pan at 350° Fahrenheit, but you’ll need to lower the temperature to 325° Fahrenheit and extend the bake time when baking in a Bundt pan. The baking process for pound cake is typically around an hour. After the 60-minute mark, check your cake every few minutes to avoid overbaking.