Cold Oven Pound Cake Is a No-Fuss Sweet + Buttery Baked Treat

The secret to your best-ever pound cake involves skipping a crucial step: preheating the oven before the cake goes in. Although preheating usually begins the baking process, heating the oven once the treat’s inside gently cooks it. What you end up with is a dense yet tender dessert that has a deeply browned crust. The oven’s low heat also prevents the cake from overbaking and drying out — which is a common baking mishap. Whether you’re serving it for an afternoon treat or special occasion, this cold oven pound cake will certainly satisfy your dessert cravings. Keep reading for how to make it.

How pound cake is traditionally made

This cake’s origins date back to the 1700s, when it was made with a pound each of flour, butter, eggs and sugar. However, more recent pound cake recipes use smaller quantities of these ingredients and include leavening agents to help the cake rise. Once the batter is combined, it’s poured into a cake pan and baked until golden.

The magic behind baking pound cake in a cold oven

Bringing the oven to temperature as the cake sits inside is an unexpected trick that creates a mouthwatering dessert. “By cooking the cake at a lower temperature for a longer period of time, you achieve an extra-deep brown, thicker, more flavorful crust — a product of the Maillard reaction [aka browning] and caramelization of the sugars in the batter,” Blair Lonergan, food blogger and recipe developer at The Seasoned Mom, explains. Baking in a low-temperature oven also prevents the treat from burning, which keeps the inside moist and tender. Recipes for this dessert involve placing the filled cake pan in the oven, and then setting the temperature to 350°F or lower. The cake needs well over an hour to slowly bake. But it’s worth it as you’ll have an old-fashioned pound cake that’s sure to earn rave reviews!

Surprise ingredient that enhances the cake’s flavor

Another way to flavor this cake is by adding pure almond extract to the batter. This extract is often made with the oil of bitter almonds, alcohol and water. While the extract is clear, its strong yet sweet flavor balances the sugar, butter and other ingredients in baked goods. When making homemade pound cake, Jessica Robinson, cookbook author and food blogger atA Farmgirl’s Kitchen, mixes in a teaspoon of almond extract. This is just enough to boost the cake’s rich and sweet flavor without leaving an overpowering after taste behind.

How to make cold oven pound cake

It’s clear that “low and slow” is a delicious way to go when making pound cake. Here, Robinson shares her family’s recipe for Cold Oven Pound Cake and describes it as “an easy to make dessert, perfect for any occasion.”