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Buttery Almond Pound Cake with Almond Glaze

Noble Pig Buttery Almond Pound Cake with Almond Glaze You will never make another pound cake recipe
I was going to call this the evil pound cake. It’s almost impossible to stop eating once you take a bite. I mean, you just can’t stop. In fact, when I make this cake, I immediately give it away. I can’t have it here. Around me. Ever. It’s that good. 

I’m sure some of you are thinking, “then why even make it,” right? It’s hard to explain, unless you are a baker yourself. Baking is relaxing and a definite feel good activity. It satisfies the need for not only the act of baking, but being creative. While the payoff for mixing flour, sugar and eggs together is often just the deliciousness itself, for me its more. It’s therapeutic almost; especially helpful on cold, ill-weather days, when I can direct my untapped energy into something constructive. And you always get something at the end. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.

Baking also allows you to get lost in something, leaving you to focus on measuring and mixing, while forgetting about everything else. It’s cathartic, brings joy to others…it’s a good thing that challenges you. And practice makes perfect…most of the time.

Noble Pig Buttery Almond Pound Cake with Almond Glaze pan
I got to use my amazing new tube cake pan. I love it and bought it specifically for testing out this recipe.

I tried baking this cake in a two-piece angel food pan and everything oozed out of the bottom. A total mess. Since this cake is baked in an oven that is not pre-heated, I’m thinking that was the problem. It didn’t set quickly enough and went out the sides…eeks.Noble Pig Buttery Almond Pound Cake with Almond Glaze one slice wont be enough
This cake is dense, rich, buttery, moist…it’s everything you want in a pound cake and more. It will be hard for you to make another kind of cake again. And there won’t be a reason too.

Print Recipe

Buttery Almond Pound Cake with Almond Glaze

Recipe from: Created by Cathy Pollak for NoblePig.com | Serves: 12

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 3 cups (12 oz) cake flour, more for dusting (do not substitute)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 2-1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 6 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 Tablespoon pure almond extract
  • 1 cup whole milk (do not substitute), room temperature

Almond Glaze:

  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons milk
  • 1 Tablespoon almond extract
  • 1/3 cup slivered almonds for garnish

Directions

  • In a large bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  • Add butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time and almond extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again for 30 seconds. Add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with milk and ending with flour. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
  • Add batter to a one-piece tube pan (16-18 cup capacity) that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray and dusted with cake flour. Bake in a 325 degree F oven that has NOT been pre-heated. This will give you a loftier cake and a nicer crust. (Do not open the oven door). Bake for 70-80 minutes or until a toothpick comes out the center clean.
  • Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes and then turn out on the rack and turn right side up. Let cool for three hours.
  • Mix together all ingredients for the glaze and pour over the top. Sprinkle with almonds before glaze is dry.
  • I wish I could tell you how long this cake would hold up, however, it has never lasted more than a day around here..it's that good.

Comments

    • I used a two-piece tube pan without any issues. I heavily buttered the tube pan and generously coated it with flour.

      Thanks for the recipe Cathy. It was a success with our guests and it did not last even a day as you predicted.

      I never buy whole milk (yuck) and I only had 1% on hand. The only other changes I made were as follows: 1) to reduce the almond extract / add rum extract to the icing 2) omit the almonds as I don’t like that crunch 3) halved the icing which was ample.

      Thanks again. I discovered the recipe last night and made it last night.

      Reply

  4. HI Cathy – My tube pan is 2 pieces but I do have a one piece stoneware bundt pan from Pampered Chef. Think that would work? This looks so good. We are finally going to get some cool weather and rain here in San Clemente so I am thinking a long baking cake will make the house warm and smell great!

    Reply

  5. Good morning Cathy,
    This picture and recipe have greeted me on facebook for the past few days, and was delighted this morning to see it’s been cut, so today is the day I will make this!!
    thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  7. In looking at the galze recipe, are the 2 tbs of milk and 1 tbs of Almond extract really enough liquid to turn the 2 cups of powdered sugar into a glaze??

    Reply

  10. I have scoured the city of Fort Lauderdale asking merchants if they sold 16-18 cup tube cake pans.
    I get nothing……..even Bed, Bath and Beyond was of no help.
    98% of sales persons had no idea what I was talking about………..baking is like a foreign language here.
    Amazon.com was of no help………..
    ……..the only place I have found it is on Ebay……….and it’s pretty much and antique and very expensive………once postage is figured in.
    Any help you could give me in locating this size of pan would be appreciated………I have all the ingredients……..now all I need is the tube pan of correct size.
    Thank you for any help……..
    Gary

    Reply

    • You should NEVER tap or try to settle dry ingredients into measuring cups! That is a big, huge no-no in baking. Don’t feel bad…many people do it, but it creates problems like the one you had. Treat dry ingredients carefully and lightly. Never try to settle them. Level them off CAREFULLY with a flat edge, but don’t press down while doing it. The best practice is weighing ALL ingredients…that way you get the same results every time. But many recipes don’t specify. That problem is solvable by the many ingredient conversion and measurement charts on the internet. Good luck.

      Reply

  12. Hi Cathy! LOVE this poundcake, i’ve made it three times so far. My problem is the glaze… The first time I made it, it was perfect. The second two, I measured exactly and the glaze turned into cement 🙁 I have no idea what I’m doing wrong. Should the sugar be measured very loosely? I’m scooping and tapping the side of the measuring cup to make it settle then levelling it off. I’m wondering if I’m packing too much sugar in that way. Would a scoop/shake off excess approach be better? Thank you!

    Reply

  14. I was so excited to make this cake. I love almond flavor! It was my son’s birthday and I followed the directions as precisely as I could. Cake flour, alternating adding dry indredients, all ingredients at room temp, cooking rake, I did it all… But then when we cut into it the cake was SO dense… Almost like the texture of cheese! Ugh! I’d love to try to make this again, but I’m afraid I don’t know what went wrong?!? Any advice?

    Reply

  16. Question: Is it 3 cups of cake flour or 12 oz. ??? A cup is equal to 8 oz, so 3 cups would be 24 oz. Hope this isn’t a ‘repeat’ question. I just glanced through the questions above.

    Reply

  20. I made this cake the first time for thanksgiving. I followed the directions to the “t” as they say. It tastes good but is dry. Is it possible the cool for 3 hours dried it out? Would it be better to cover while cooking to keep it moist?

    Reply

  21. Ok. Weighing is a new technique for me I’ve never tried. I’ll do that next time. By the way, my family loved the cake. It has really good flavor. Just a little on the dry side.

    Reply

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