Sourdough Pound Cake
Sourdough Pound cake is a dense and sweet cake that is a perfect use of sourdough starter discard! Serve with fresh fruit and whipped cream for a great cake recipe.
I am a sucker for using my sourdough starter in desserts. The slightly sourdough tang just adds a really fun depth of flavor that just works so well in sweet recipes! From sourdough brownies to sourdough sugar cookies, and sourdough pie crust – there is just so much more than bread that your starter can do!
Sourdough pound cake is a dense yet moist and flavorful dessert that is simple and easy to make. Pound cake by itself is great, but when you add the subtle flavor profile that comes from a little sourdough starter to it, this cake becomes even better!
How to make sourdough pound cake
This pound cake recipe with sourdough starter is super easy to make. For the full recipe, make sure you scroll down to the recipe card below. Here is a brief overview of how to make it.
- Preheat the oven to 300 F.
- Grease a loaf pan and set aside. (I used baker’s joy spray with the flour in it).
- In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between each addition.
- Add in the vanilla and starter and stir to combine. It will look like the batter breaks, but it will be ok in the end!
- Mix in the flour and the sour cream, alternating between each addition, being careful not to overmix. (Overmixing will cause gluten development which will make your cake tough and bread like).
- Pour into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 75-85 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes, and then gently remove from the pan.
- Cool the rest of the way.
*NOTE: Make sure you use a loaf pan that is 9″x5″x2 1/2″! If your loaf pan is smaller, only fill the pan 2/3 of the way full.
What kind of sourdough starter do I need for this recipe?
This recipe uses a sourdough starter that is at a 100% hydration. You can either use fed and active starter, or you can discard. For reference on how to properly feed your sourdough starter and how to know when it is active, read the article Feeding Your Sourdough Starter.
The starter should be at room temperature when you use it for this recipe, as that helps it to mix into the cake batter better.
New to sourdough? Read my ultimate guide to sourdough for beginners to get all the answers to your questions in easy to understand ways!
What does this cake taste like?
If you use a starter that is active or has been fed recently, this cake does not have a huge pronounced sourdough flavor. The flavor here is subtle. If you know what you are looking for, you can identify it as sourdough, but it is definitely a background note that just adds depth of flavor to the cake.
If you use a starter that has not been fed recently, the cake will have a more pronounced sourdough tang to it.
Other easy cake recipes:
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Sourdough Pound Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- Pound Cake:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup sourdough discard 100% hydration
- 1 cup sour cream
- Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tablesooons milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 F.
- Grease a loaf pan and set aside. (I used baker’s joy spray with the flour in it).
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between each addition.
- Add in the vanilla and starter and stir to combine. It will look like the batter breaks, but it will be ok in the end!
- Mix in half of the flour mixture (1 cup), mixing until just combined.
- Mix in ½ cup of sour cream, mixing until just combined.
- Add the remainder of the flour mixture (about 1 cup) and stir until just combined.
- Mix in the remainder of the sour cream ( ½ cup) until just combined.
- Pour into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 75-85 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes, and then gently remove from the pan.
- Cool the rest of the way.
To glaze, whisk together 1 cup of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk and 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.
Made this today, not sure what happened. I used my biggest bread pan and it still overflowed all over my oven. It will not look pretty, but I’m hoping it tastes better than it looks. I’m wondering if my discard was still too fresh?
@Michelle D Kemry, mine did the EXACT same thing!
@Michelle D Kemry, I split mine into two cake pans and they both came out really well. I’d make this again. Whole recipe or a half.
@Michelle D Kemry, omg, same …. It’s gonna be a mess to clean up. Even went back to look at the pan listed, definitely said loaf pan. Hoping it turns out, minus the overflow at the bottom of my oven
Hmm.. It definitely is a loaf pan! What size is your loaf pan?
I have everything I need for this dish, can’t wait to make it this weekend!
@Shadi Hasanzadenemati, the same thing happened to me today. I’m splitting it into two loaf pans now. Hopefully it’ll turn out okay.
Last year I started using sourdough. I haven’t made very many sweet recipes with it yet. I can’t wait to try this one! Thanks for another great recipe!
Hi wondering if I can successfully use buttermilk in place of the cream?
Can you freeze this loaf after it’s cooled?
I have not personally tried it, but I bet you can! Don’t add the icing until you are ready to eat. If you try this, let me know how it goes and I will update the post!
This recipe worked perfectly for me, it was easy and delicious. My first time using my starter discharge, what a great recipe for it. Thanks!
I read the comments and decided to bake this recipe in a bundt pan – it was perfect despite not completely filling the pan, and no overflowing! I probably baked it for an hour (not sure, just kept checking til my toothpick came out clean).
I don’t have sour cream but have whole milk yogurt – would that substitution work? Thank you!!
I used a tube pan and baked it about 55 minutes. It was delicious!
The recipe made 1-1/2 cakes for me. Based on other comments I filled the loaf pan about 2/3 full and had enough leftover to fill another pan 1/3 full. Both rose significantly. Tastes good, but one cake stuck in the pan – do a thorough job of greasing the loaf pan.
I used (2) 3.5” x 7.5” and baked for 70 minutes. These turned out delicious! I will definitely use this recipe again for my sourdough discard! Thank you!
I used a 9x5x3 loaf pan and it still overflowed. It’s made a huge mess and doesn’t even look appetizing. I saw another comment saying maybe the discard was still too fresh but mine was weeks old without being fed. I would definitely divide this into two pans or halve the recipe.