A classic pound cake recipe transformed into a "quarter" pound cake! Baked in a small baking dish, this buttery, tender and golden mini cake recipe yields the perfect amount for one or two people.
A classic pound cake never disappoints. It's a simple cake, not at all fancy or pretentious.
A pound cake doesn't need overly sweet icing or frosting to coat its crust. It's perfect as is, and completely wonderful when paired with a cup of coffee or tea, with perhaps a dusting of powdered sugar or a dollop of whipped cream and fresh fruit.
Why This Recipe Works
I wanted to create a mini pound cake recipe that was totally reminiscent of the pound cake I love. This cake is about a quarter of the size of a traditional pound cake and I call it a "quarter pound cake". I've adjusted the ingredients in my pound cake recipe so that it will serve one or two people.
This delightful cake is baked in a small baking dish or it can be baked in two smaller ramekins. The texture is light and airy, and the flavor is incredible.
Ingredient Notes
See recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- Butter: Use salted butter. Make sure the butter is soft, not melted. A good way to check to see if your butter is the right consistency is to make an indention in the butter with your finger. If it’s easy to make an indentation and the butter keeps its shape, then it’s the correct temperature.
- Sugar, vanilla, salt, and lemon juice: For excellent flavor.
- Egg: An egg provides structure in cakes and one large egg is all you need.
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour.
- Baking powder: This ingredient helps the cake rise.
- Milk: Milk adds moisture to the cake batter. Use any percentage of cow's milk or almond milk.
How To Make This Recipe
- Beat the butter and sugar until well mixed.
- Add in egg, lemon juice, and vanilla.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter/sugar mixture and mix to combine.
- Stir in the milk.
- Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake for 40-45 minutes or until top is golden.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting over a plate.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients left over from this recipe, you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
- Eggs: Cheesy Baked Eggs, Pasta Carbonara, Breakfast Casserole
- Lemon juice: Lemon Curd, Lemon Bars, Lemon Scones
- Vanilla: Panna Cotta, Bananas Foster, Tiramisu
- Milk: Banana Cream Pie, Baked Oatmeal, Potato Soup
I'm confident that this is the best pound cake and I truly think you'll love it too.
Expert Tips
- Be sure to use real butter, not margarine.
- Make sure the butter is soft, not melted. A good way to check to see if your butter is the right consistency is to make an indention in the butter with your finger. If it’s easy to make an indentation and the butter keeps its shape, then it’s the correct temperature.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy for a smooth, velvety texture. Beat for 2-3 minutes depending on the speed of your blender.
- Don’t scoop the flour with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour first to loosen it and then spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level it off using the flat edge of a knife.
- Check to make sure your oven is the proper temperature. It’s common for an oven to not be calibrated properly. Many ovens heat too high or too low compared to what the temperature is set at. I recommend investing on an oven thermometer to test your own oven temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Traditionally, a pound cake is made with a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. The French call it quatre-quarts, which means "four-fourths".
Using these traditional measurements, the size of the cake made it possible to serve many people and was also very dry and dense.
The pound cake appears to have originated in England in the early 1700's. By the mid 1800's, as people began to desire lighter cakes, pound cake began to change.
Today, many pound cakes are made with leaveners such as baking powder and different proportions of the main ingredients to produce a lighter cake.
The pound cake as we know it today is rich, buttery, and velvety in texture. It's delightful eaten on its own, garnished simply with fruit, or used as a base as in our Caramelized Banana Upside Down Cake.
The tender, buttery pound cake of our times is the one I wanted to recreate as a single serving or mini cake.
It's best to store a pound cake at room temperature with an airtight cover. It will remain fresh for 4-5 days at room temperature.
The success of this recipe depends on the size of the baking dish you use. I use a 5-inch baking dish which measures 5-inches x 5-inches and is 1 ¾-inches deep. This dish holds about 1.5 cups and has an area of 25 square inches.
A 4×6-inch dish has an area of 24 square inches and will work as well. For best results, use a dish of similar size.
Two small 8-ounce ramekins or two mini loaf pans would work well with this recipe too.
If you would like additional information on the cooking and baking dishes I use in our “recipes for one”, please visit our FAQ page.
For examples of the dishes used at One Dish Kitchen, please visit our Store page.
Other Mini Cake Recipes
If you like this recipe, you might also like to try these mini cake recipes:
- Mini Pineapple Sheet Cake
- Tres Leches Cake
- Icebox Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Oat Cake
- Carrot Cake
- Gingerbread
- Spice Cake
If you’ve tried this pound cake or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.
If you take a picture please tag us on Instagram (@onedishkitchen) we’d love to see!
Mini Pound Cake
See the post above for expert tips,
FAQs and ways to use leftover ingredients.
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¼ cup salted butter softened, plus 1 tablespoon more for greasing
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup low fat milk
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350° F (177° C)
- Grease a 5-inch baking dish with butter. Place baking dish on top of a baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until well mixed.
- Beat in egg, lemon juice, and vanilla.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter/sugar mixture and mix to combine.
- Stir in the milk.
- Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake for 40-45 minutes or until top is golden.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before inverting over a plate.
- Best if served warm.
Notes
- Be sure to use real butter, not margarine.
- Make sure the butter is soft, not melted. A good way to check to see if your butter is the right consistency is to make an indention in the butter with your finger. If it’s easy to make an indentation and the butter keeps its shape, then it’s the correct temperature.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy for a smooth, velvety texture. Beat for 2-3 minutes depending on the speed of your blender.
- Don’t scoop the flour with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour first to loosen it and then spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level it off using the flat edge of a knife.
- Check to make sure your oven is the proper temperature. It’s common for an oven to not be calibrated properly. Many ovens heat too high or too low compared to what the temperature is set at. I recommend investing on an oven thermometer to test your own oven temperature.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Sharon says
Can I add cranberries and nuts?
Joanie Zisk says
You can but I would only add a very small amount. The oils in the nuts you use may alter the texture of the batter and too many will definitely affect how the cake bakes.
Yoliredd says
First time ever baking a pound cake but have eaten many and I must say this was delightful. I substituted buttermilk for the milk and added almond extract. This now my new fave. I love this recipe and am so excited i found this recipe and website. Can't wait to my next baking experience. 😋
Joanie Zisk says
I'm so happy you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for your feedback.
Dana Sarsona says
Taste is perfect! I used two 10 oz ramekins and the cake came out gooey in the middle with tops that were starting to brown, 350 degrees for 45 min. Not sure what I did wrong, but I would probably recommend using the 5x5 dish. Also note, I use a toaster oven so maybe that is an issue? I find the toaster oven so handy while baking these small dishes. ...if there is any tips or conversions I would love to know. Thank you!
Barbara says
Absolutely delicious! Made mine in 2 foil
mini loaf pans. Perfect!
Love your recipes.
Barbara
From Louisiana
Joanie Zisk says
Wonderful! I'm so happy you enjoyed the cake recipe. Thank you so much for your feedback.
Vinny says
Love your recipies Joanie They are the perfect size and one always has a choice to double them.Thank.you so much .Love
Joanie Zisk says
Thank you, Vinny!
Audrey says
This was amazing! After my husband and I ate it we wished we had a bigger cake! Do you have this recipe in a loaf pan size?
Judy Turner says
This cake is delicious as well as some of the other cake recipes from this site that I have baked.I agree that this is a favorite place to find all kinds of great recipes and I am trying new ones all the time!
Cheryl says
OMG I think I found my new favorite baking site! This is perfect for me (a dessert lover) and my family (who are not so into desserts). I can’t wait to try these mini cake recipes.
Jess says
Made this today looking for a smaller version for myself. My first time making a pound cake and it was soo good I added about 2 oz of cream cheese and beat that with the butter and sugar and the flavor was exactly what I was looking for. I also drizzled melted cookie butter and crushed lotus biscoff cookies on top 🙂
Cheryl says
That sounds amazing! I think I need to borrow your ideas 😉
vinny says
That sounds Delish Did you mix the cream cheese butter mix into the cake ? or you substituted it for the milk n butter please ?
Valerie P says
It would be nice if you coup give the measurements of the pans you use to give us an idea. Love you site
Joanie Zisk says
Hi Valerie, we list the baking dish and pan sizes we recommend using in all of our recipes. Please take a look at the Frequently Asked Questions section where we mention the specific dishes we use for this pound cake. Also, please take a look at the article we wrote about the best small baking dishes we use - https://onedishkitchen.com/small-baking-dishes/
Connie says
If I wanted to double the recipe, what would be the oven temperature and how long to bake it?
Joanie Zisk says
Keep the oven temperature the same as recommended in our recipe. The cake will take longer to bake than in the original recipe. I suggest that you test the cake at the time called for in the recipe. It probably won't be done, but check back in 5-minute increments until it is.