Award-winning Mascarpone Pound Cake is a dense, buttery, and moist pound cake recipe with a fine, tender crumb and a brown, crusty outside and top.
O. M. G. y’all!!!😍
That about describes this cake perfectly!
I started this series on reviewing Pound Cake recipes because pound cakes are my most favorite thing in the world to make. Pound cakes are delectable and unbelievably easy to make with a few basic tips. Overall, I’ve had very good feedback on this series which makes me really happy. I’ve enjoyed baking and testing all the pound cakes and sharing the recipes with you.
I have many Pound Cake recipes in my repertoire. I have Whipping Cream Pound Cake Recipe, Cream Cheese Pound Cake, Sour Cream Pound Cake, Greek Yogurt Pound Cake, Chocolate Pound Cake, Blue Ribbon Pound Cake and the list goes on and on.
My Pound Cakes Reviewed series has received rave reviews. Readers love heirloom, classic recipes.
Award-winning Mascarpone Pound Cake
With inspiration from a Cream Cheese Pound Cake, I substituted rich, creamy mascarpone cheese for the cream cheese in this Award-winning Mascarpone Pound Cake. It was a great decision!
I thought a pound cake with mascarpone would be good, but I never thought it would be one of my top five favorite pound cakes. It’s dense, buttery, moist, and has that wonderful crispy, crusty top. Additionally, it’s sweet without being overly sweet. Award-winning Mascarpone Pound Cake pairs well with fresh or grilled fruit. It’s good with ice cream, fruit sauce, and whipped cream. Also, try caramel sauce. My favorite is still warm and plain.
Coincidentally, one of my other favorite pound cake recipes is the Amaretto Pound Cake that I shared earlier with you.
Award-winning Mascarpone Pound Cake
- *PLEASE NOTE – Cooking times vary depending on if your oven is calibrated (read How to Calibrate your Oven here.), if you use a light or dark pan, and if your oven is dirty or clean (yes, a dirty oven affects cooking time.) Test your cake before the recommended time and every 5 minutes after. I’ve made this cake over and over, if your cake turns out dry, you’ve baked it too long.
- As well, measure carefully, especially the flour. How do you measure flour? To correctly measure flour, first sift the flour. Then using a spoon or scoop lightly scoop flour out of its container into a measuring cup. Continue filling the cup until it is overflowing, then using the back of a butter knife level the flour. Scooping the measuring cup directly into the flour to fill can result in up to 25% more flour than lightly spooning the flour into the measuring cup. More flour in a recipe will make it dense and dry.
- Use good quality ingredients and real butter! Read some of the differences in name-brand and store-bought ingredients here.
- Allow your eggs, butter, and any cold ingredients to come to room temperature before mixing.
- Finally, I always use salted real butter in my pounds cakes. It’s a personal preference. You can use either salted or unsalted butter.
- My favorite pan for baking pound cakes is this Tube Pan.
Award-winning Mascarpone Pound Cake
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Save To Your Recipe BoxIngredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature, salted or unsalted, I use this
- 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening I use this
- 8 ounces mascarpone room temperature
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 3 cups granulated white sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour recommended
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract I use this
- 1 teaspoon butter extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Coat a 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan with solid vegetable shortening, then sprinkle with granulated sugar. Or, spray with cake release, my favorite!
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, shortening, and mascarpone until smooth.
- Add sugar and beat until fluffy, mixture will lighten in color slightly.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
- Slowly add flour to mixture and combine.
- Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour and 15 to 20 minutes or until pick inserted in center comes out clean or with 'dry' crumbs.
- Allow to cool on the countertop on a wire rack 15 minutes before inverting on a serving tray. Cool completely before covering.
- Cake can be stored in an air-tight container on the counter-top for 3 to 4 days or refrigerator for one week.
Notes
Nutrition
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Ashley says
Tried your recipe and it came out wonderful! I cut the sugar by half a cup. I baked for an hour and 15, cooled for 20 min before removing from pan and cooled completely before cutting… about 5 hours. Loved the texture of the cake, it just seemed to fall apart easily. Each slice broke before it was plated. Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks again
Paula says
It usually firms up as it cools. I haven’t really ever had it break like you’re describing… did it sink any? I’ll do some research and see what I can find.
Carleen Crawford says
Love this recipe and so does my family!
Barbara Troxler says
Can this pound cake be frozen?
Paula says
Yes. pound cakes freeze beautifully
Conny Wood says
This a wonderful pound cake !!!
My husband doesn’t want me to make any other recipe anymore.
He said it is the best pound cake ever !
Usually we eat pound cake with strawberries
and whipping cream, but with this recipe it is
totally unnecessary !
It’s a winner for sure !!!
Paula says
Thank you so much!! I’m so happy you like it!
Roma says
This cake was amazing! Best pound cake I’ve ever had. The only change I made was to use Maple Extract in place of the Butter Extract, since I had that on hand…WOW WOW WOW! Downside is I may have gained ten pounds. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Adele says
This looks delish! Peaches are in season right now. Do you think the recipe would work with maybe 2 cut up peaches added to the batter?
Paula says
Yes, it will. Or I have this recipe> https://www.callmepmc.com/two-step-fresh-peach-pound-cake-recipe/
Francine Lombardi says
Your cake looks delicious I can’t wait to make it can I leave out the almond extract as I have my niece that’s allergic to nuts and peanuts If so can I just double up on one of the other extracts?
Paula says
Yes, you can double any of the other ones.
Reeses30135 says
This was THE BEST pound cake I’ve ever made! It was everything I crave in a pound cake: moist, a PERFECT crumb, flavorful and with a crispety ( yes, it’s a word), crunchy, crackly crust! It was absolutely perfect! Thank you so much for sharing. I wish I could post pics!
Paula says
I’m so happy you like it! You made my day, thanks for commenting!
Dawn Getyina says
This was the BEST pound cake ever. I had some mascarpone to use up and found this recipe. It did not disappoint. My only change, I did not have butter extract so used Fiori di Sicilia (flavor combo of citrus and vanilla, I get from King Arthur flour). It has a beautiful crust.
Kept moist for days and was just perfect for strawberries and whipped cream. I can’t wait to make again.
Paula says
Thank you so much for commenting! I’m happy you liked the cake!
Vivienne Simmons says
O, dear, I can’t seem to get this right. I had problems posting a comment, so tried to post a reply instead. When I did that, it jumped to the original comments page, and I can now post a new comment. Sorry if my question comes up twice.
I’d like to make a version of this lovely-looking cake without using any cow milk produces (my grandchildren are A1 intolerant). This would involve using goat butter and goat cheese. I was wondering if anyone had made the cake this way, or if you have any advice for me.
Thank you.
Paula says
I haven’t tried it but those substitutions should work. It may alter the taste slightly.
Sophia says
I don’t usually leave review but this cake was PERFECT! Crusty and hard on the outside and SO soft spongy moist and dense on the inside. I took it to work and everyone was RAVING about the cake in the break room – it was such a great hit! I love that the instructions tell you how to measure the flour, add the eggs one at a time, etc. The specific details of every step make such a big difference. I can’t wait to make it again for another work function! It makes any amateur baker look like a pro.
Vivienne Simmons says
Hi, I’m sorry to post my comment here but, for some reason, I can’t post a new comment, only a reply.
I’m about to make this lovely-looking cake as per the recipe. I would also like to make a version that my A1-enzyme intolerant grandchildren can eat. They can eat goat and sheep milk products, but can only eat cow milk products if they come from A2 cows (very hard to find in Canada). This would involve replacing the butter with goat’s butter or coconut oil, and the mascarpone with goat’s cheese. I wonder if you have any thoughts on this, or if you or one of your commenters have tried it.
Thanks so much.
Luisa says
I don’t have vegetable shortening what can I substitute this with?
Paula says
real butter
Beth says
I am so excited to have found your recipes as I am a huge fan of pound cakes and you have so many to try! This one looks particularly good and I’d love to make it for my father, but he lives in another state. Do you think it would survive the postal system? If so, how would you package a pound cake for shipping? Thank you!
Paula says
Yes, I’ve shipped them before. I put it on a plastic plate (not paper or cardboard that will absorb moisture) and wrap it a few times airtight with plastic wrap (Saran wrap). Then wrap it with foil. Try to find a box that’s not much bigger than the cake so it doesn’t shift much and pack as much newspaper or packing paper around it as you can. Then I wrap every seam with box tape or duct tape.
Allen says
Best cake I’ve ever baked. Followed the recipe (I did use self rising flour) First time I’ve ever commented on a recipe. It tastes awesome, looks beautiful and near perfect consistency!
Debra Peterson says
this was the best pound cake I’ve ever made! I chose this recipe because I happened to have some mascarpone.
I used 3 sticks butter, 21/2 c sugar, cake flour, which I sifted into a bowl with 11/2 top salt, and just vanilla extract. I also beat the butter/sugar mixture 8 minutes on speed 6 in my stand mixer and it was so light and fluffy. I baked in 3- 8×4 loaf pans about 45-50 minutes.
Thanks for an awesome recipe!
Katrina says
I made this tonight. It was my first time making a pound cake, ever. This cake was sooooo delicious! It was light. It was fluffy/flaky. It was moist. It was just the right amount of sweet. It smelled amazing while baking. I surprised my own self with how well this turned out. I will definitely make it again. Oh! I used Softasilk cake flour, cup for cup, instead of all purpose baking flour. I didn’t have any issues. I will definitely bake this again. Thank you for sharing.
Stephanie says
Paula, Do you think it would work to add 1/4 – 12/ cup Amaretto (or rum, etc.) like your other pound cake ?
Paula says
I think it would be wonderful. I’d try 1/4 cup.
Janelle says
This looks amazing! I have some mascarpone cheese to use up. I don’t have shortening. Is there something I could substitute instead of the shortening? Thank you!
Paula says
You can use butter.
Holli says
Can I half this recipe and put in a loaf pan?
Paula says
yes
Dorothy says
Did you ever freeze this pound cake ?
Athena says
I dont have a tube pan or a bundt pan. Can I make this in loaf pans. If so how many and how long do I cook them?
Paula says
You can cook them in loaf pans. Not knowing how large your’s are, I’d start checking them at 45 minutes
Jacki says
OMG this pound cake is DELICIOUS! I subbed King Arthur’s GF cup for cup flour to make it gluten free and it came out perfect. Had to cook about 15 minutes more than original recipe. I seem to have to do that when I sub GF flour on most recipes. TY for this one!
Paula says
I am so happy you commented this! I get asked about subbing gf flour a lot and I haven’t had much success with gf flour. I’ll pass this on, thank you!
HBG says
If I leave out the butter extract, will it make a huge difference taste-wise? Can I sub more almond or vanilla extract instead?
Paula says
Yes you can leave it out or you can sub either almond or vanilla. I like both
colleen says
I am gathering up the ingredients, will make shortly, I am very surprised there isn’t any baking soda or baking powder
Paula says
The eggs are the leavening agent
Victoria says
I made this today!! Never made one before..
I added 100g white chocolate and a punnet of fresh raspberries at the end..plus 1 less cup of sugar. ..we can’t get shortening here in the UK..so I used 1/2 cup of suet instead. .came out lovely. .definitely be using this recipe again. .Thank you 😊
ally says
Wonderful recipe…I love poundcake, too. So, I’m gonna definitely be making this! Thanks, luv! xo ~ally
Michele Schnieders says
I want to make your pound cake it sounds awesome. I too love delicious pound cakes and I am constantly trying different ones. I noticed in your recipe for certain items indicated specific manufactures but the recipe has deleted the names of them for example the flour—I was wondering if you could share which brands you use. I do believe specific brands do make a difference. When people say they do not—I just shake my head. I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me the specific brand that you use to make the cake. If it is not possible I fully understand. If this is the situation please do let me know so that I am aware that you did at least read this email and try to address my wish. Thank you in advance for sharing your recipe and have a wonderful day day kindly—-I am not going to rate the recipe since I have not yet made it.
Paula says
Hey Michele, if you’ll click the blue link “I use this” or “recommended” it’ll take you directly to the product I use. I have found this is the easiest way to show that. You don’t have to purchase it through that link.
Paula says
And for the butter and almond extracts, I use McCormick brand
Shawn says
Made this pound cake recipe as a trial run for an upcoming event. Hands down this is the BEST POUND CAKE I’ve ever made. Rich, moist and just flowing with flavor. I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes. I’ll definitely make this for my moms “coffee group” this upcoming week.
Paula says
So happy to hear! Thank you!
Sheila says
Has anyone ever used almond flour to make this particular cake? If so, how did it turn out?
Julie @ Back To My Southern Roots says
I love pound cake, too! Such a great recipe!
Joy B says
I have made this pound cake twice now. The first one was devoured by my family. Second was a gift. Going to get ingredients to make a third for Christmas Eve. Do I need to tell you that this Cake is amazing
Paula says
I’m so happy you like it!
Grace says
Just made this cake. Tasted great and the texture was perfect. I don’t think I would sprinkle sugar in the pan next time. It was a little too sweet. Also, may cut the shortening in half to see how it affects the crumb.
Erin | Dinners,Dishes and Dessert says
Looks so perfect! Definitely a must try!
Allyson Zea says
Wow this cake looks absolutely mouth watering!
Jamielyn says
OH MY this looks AMAZING!! Pound cake is one of my favorites!
Amy says
Wow! What a great pound cake! I have to get it baking up soon!
Dee says
MMM this looks delicious! Pound cake is one of my all-time favorite desserts so I can’t wait to try this!!
Chrissie Baker says
Ohhh I can’t WAIT to try this cake! That sounds so flavorful! One of my favs. I bet those flavors are amazing! This cake is incredibly beautiful !!!
Kathy Jones says
What are your 5 favorite pound cakes?
Paula says
Not in order (because I don’t know which is my very favorite)
Amaretto – https://www.callmepmc.com/amaretto-pound-cake/
Old Fashioned Blue Ribbon – https://www.callmepmc.com/old-fashioned-blue-ribbon-pound-cake/
Whipping Cream – https://www.callmepmc.com/whipping-cream-pound-cake-recipe/
Mascarpone – Award-winning Mascarpone Pound Cake
Close call for the last one between the Orange Zest and the Key Lime, bu tI lean more toward the Orange Zest.
https://www.callmepmc.com/scratch-made-orange-zest-pound-cake-with-orange-curd/
https://www.callmepmc.com/scratch-made-key-lime-pound-cake-recipe-with-key-lime-glaze/
Allison says
This looks amazing! I want a big slice with my cup of coffee right now. Trying this soon!