How to make a moist Pound Cake

A common question is how do you make a moist Pound Cake.
This article includes 8 tips to help prevent a dry or dense pound cake.

Isn't it frustrating to make a beautiful pound cake and then to cut the cake and it's dry and dense? A pound cake or the crumb of a pound cake should be even, soft and moist.

Your fork should glide through the cake when you're eating the cake.

These 8 tips will help you make a deliciously moist pound cake:

Add oil

Even if the cake does not call for oil, adding a tablespoon or two of oil to the batter can make a big difference. If you are making a cake that has a thick batter or if the batter seems to be a

little dry after adding your flour, oil (1-2 tbsps) can infuse the cake with the additional moisture that it needs.

Add pudding mix

When adding pudding to the batter, you want to add a dry mix, not a wet mix. The dry pudding mix can add additional moisture and flavor to your cake.

Vanilla-flavored mix is a standard flavor to add to your batter, but there are a variety of different pudding flavors.

Choose the flavor according to your taste and the type of cake you are making.

Add a wet ingredient

Ingredients such as room-temperature buttermilk, sour cream, milk, and cream cheese can add a great deal of moisture to a pound cake.

One of my favorite ingredients to add to a cake is cream cheese. When adding cream cheese to the cake it seems to get better and better every day.

Do not over mix

It's extremely important to not overmix your cake. Once you begin adding the eggs to your batter, only mix until combined. If you think additional mixing is needed, it is better to hand mix

the batter to ensure that the cake is well mixed. This prevents too much air from being added to the cake which can cause sinking and a dense cake.

Use room temperature ingredients

Wet ingredients such as buttermilk, sour cream, and cream cheese should only be added to the cake at room temperature.

Cold ingredients cause clumping, especially with cream cheese. Using room temperature ingredients also ensures the batter is smooth and "creamed" together.

Do not overbake

Always bake your cake according to the directions for the recipe. However, every oven bakes differently so you may need to remove your cake from your oven earlier than the cooking time recommended.

So a good rule of thumb is to check on the cake 15 minutes prior to the finishing time to check on the progress.

A good way to check the cake is the lightly press the top of the cake. If it easily moves or sinks, it needs a longer baking time. If it still looks wet it needs to be baked longer.

You can always use the toothpick method and insert a toothpick into the center of the cake to check if it is done. If it comes out clean then the cake is done.

Also, once you remove the cake from the oven, make sure to remove it from the baking pan within 20 minutes. The cake pan is still hot and if left in the pan too long can cause drying.

Bake at the correct temperature

Cake baking temperatures are typically 325 degrees or 350 degrees. There are some cakes that may call for a different baking temperature,

but those are the standard. Baking the cake too fast or at a higher temperature can definitely cause a dry cake.

Brush the cake with simple syrup

Brushing the cake with simple syrup once it had cooled can add extra moisture and flavor. To make the syrup boil equal parts of water and sugar together until it dissolves.

Once cooled, brush the cake with the syrup using a pastry brush. Using a pastry brush ensures that the cake is evenly coated with the syrup.