Bread Machine Pound Cake
This bread machine pound cake is incredibly easy to make and tastes fantastic. Incidentally, you can freeze the leftover cake as it holds up beautifully.
Last Updated on February 22, 2025 – Originally posted June 23, 2013
Note that this pound cake recipe was most recently tested with a Zojirushi BB-PAC20 Home Bakery Virtuoso. Curious about my favorite bread machines? Check out my recommendations. I’ve successfully baked this recipe at both sea level and an elevation of 3,700 feet—it turned out perfectly every time!
Featured Comment
Turned out perfectly and is such a blessing to be able to have this on hand to use in shortcakes and quick desserts all summer long without having to heat up the kitchen with the oven! ~ Rebekah
Zojirushi bread machines have a handy cake setting. I first tried it with cornbread and later with banana bread.
However, it wasn’t until I discovered this pound cake recipe that I decided to use the cake setting for an actual cake. It was incredibly easy to make and tasted fantastic.
Incidentally, I froze the leftover cake, and it held up beautifully. Freeze it sliced. To thaw take slices out about a half hour before eating.
For those of you with machines featuring a quick bread cycle, this recipe will work with that cycle too.
Remember, this is a cake recipe. So even though you’re making it with a bread machine, no yeast is required.
While you can eat this cake with a fork, it’s firm enough to just pick it up and eat it.
Recipe Updates
I’ve made a few adjustments to this pound cake recipe over time. I initially used bread flour for this recipe but have since switched to all-purpose flour. Also, I use room temperature milk and eggs when making pound cake.
Important Note on Baking Powder
Note that this recipe uses baking powder and not baking soda.
Before attempting this recipe, look at the age of your baking powder. How important is this? It’s very important!
Check out the photo below. The loaf on the left was made using old baking powder. The loaf on the right used new baking powder. What a big difference!
The loaf on the left was made using old baking powder. The loaf on the right was made using fresh baking powder.
Here’s a simple test to see if your baking powder is still good. Stir half a teaspoon of baking powder into a 1/4 cup of hot water. Does it fizz and bubble? If so, your baking powder is good to use.
Melt the Butter
Note that this recipe calls for melted butter.
In the bread recipes on this site, I tell people that if their machine has a preheat cycle to not melt the butter. The bread machine will do that for you.
However, the Zojirushi cake setting doesn’t include the preheat cycle. It starts mixing right away. So in this instance, the butter needs to be melted.
Special Bread Machine Setting Needed
For this recipe you’ll be using the cake or quick bread setting. Not all bread machines have this feature. If you have any doubts please consult your bread machine’s manual. The correct cycle for this recipe will NOT be for yeast breads.
The setting should last for roughly an hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours.
On the Zojirushi BB-PAC20 Home Bakery Virtuoso, this cycle lasts for an hour and 50 minutes. There’s 24 minutes of kneading/stirring, 70 minutes of baking and 16 minutes of cooling.
Pound Cake Tips
We usually eat our pound cake plain or top it with whipped cream. However, you can also top it with:
- Ice cream and chocolate sauce
- Strawberries and whipped cream
- Sliced bananas and warm honey
- Lemon curd
- Drizzled icing
Bread Machine Pound Cake Instructions
This recipe uses the cake cycle of a two-pound machine using the medium crust setting.
Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the machine first.
Select the cake setting. I used the medium crust setting.
If your bread machine allows it, take a spatula and scrape the inside of the pan down during the first few minutes of mixing.
Let the cake cool for a few minutes. Gently loosen the sides with a silicone spatula before turning it out of the pan.
Pound Cake Ingredients
Note that this recipe uses the cake cycle (with medium crust) of a two-pound machine.
3 large eggs, room temperature and beaten
1/3 Cup milk, room temperature
2 Cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder, be sure to check the expiration date
1/2 Cup butter, melted
1 Cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
See below for metric measurements, as well as nutrition information, for this pound cake recipe for the bread machine.
Bread Machine Pound Cake
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 eggs large, room temperature and beaten
- 1/3 Cup (78.86 ml) milk room temperature
- 2 Cups (250 g) all purpose flour
- 3 tsp. baking powder be sure to check the expiration date
- 1/2 Cup (113.5 g) butter melted
- 1 Cup (200 g) sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the machine first.Â
- Select the cake setting with medium crust.
Notes
Nutrition
All information presented within this site is intended for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and any nutritional information on breadmachinediva.com should only be used as a general guideline. This information is provided as a courtesy and there is no guarantee that the information will be completely accurate. I try to provide accurate information to the best of my ability; however these figures should still be considered estimates.
