Southern Blueberry Pound Cake

Square side shot of blueberry pound cake on a blue and white cake stand.

Southern Blueberry Pound Cake

A classic Southern blueberry pound cake with cream cheese is the perfect easy summertime dessert!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword blueberry lemon pound cake, blueberry pound cake, blueberry pound cake recipe, lemon blueberry pound cake, southern blueberry pound cake

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 2

Cooling Time 2

Total Time 4 20

Servings slices

Calories 469kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

Ingredients

2 cups fresh blueberries
3 cups bleached cake flour (such as Swans Down brand), divided
3 cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups (3 sticks) salted butter, softened at room temperature
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened at room temperature
6 large eggs, at room temperature
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ tablespoons pure vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
Optional, for dusting: powdered sugar

Instructions

Grease and lightly flour a tube pan or Bundt pan; set aside. Do not preheat oven.
In a medium bowl, toss together the blueberries with ¼ cup of the flour. Set aside.
In a large bowl, use the paddle attachment on an electric stand mixer to cream together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the cream cheese; beat until smooth, about 30 seconds. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl periodically.
Gradually add remaining 2 ¾ cups of the flour, mixing on low speed after each addition, and scraping the bowl as needed. Mix just until combined, about 1 minute total.
Add the salt, vanilla extract, and almond extract; beat until smooth. Gently fold in the flour-coated blueberries and any extra flour from the bowl.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Tap it a couple of times on the counter to release any big air bubbles.
Place the pan on a rack in the lower third of the cold oven. Shut the oven, and turn the temperature to 300°F. Bake the cake until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 50 minutes – 2 hours.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert on a serving plate or wire rack to cool completely.
Once cool, dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Notes

- Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake Recipe: omit the almond extract. Add either 1-2 teaspoons of lemon extract, or the zest from 2 lemons and 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to the batter.

- Lemon Glaze: instead of dusting with powdered sugar, drizzle a sweet and tart lemon glaze on the cooled cake. To make the lemon glaze, whisk together 1 ¼ cups of confectioners sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of freshly-squeezed lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Add extra powdered sugar to thicken the glaze, if necessary, or thin the glaze with extra lemon juice.

- If you don’t have a Bundt pan or a tube pan, you can use two 8 ½ x 4 ½-inch loaf pans. Alternatively, cut the ingredients in half to make just 1 blueberry pound cake loaf.

- If using unsalted butter, add an extra ½ teaspoon – ¾ teaspoon of salt to the batter.

- Frozen blueberries: fresh summer blueberries are always my preference — for both taste and texture. If you don’t have any fresh berries available, the cake will work with frozen blueberries. Do not thaw the frozen berries before tossing them with flour and folding them into the batter. Also, be aware that the juices from frozen berries can “bleed” and turn the batter an odd shade of bluish-green.
- I used this “Anniversary” 12 cup Bundt pan here, but any similar 12-cup capacity Bundt pan or tube pan will work. Do not use a smaller Bundt pan, or the batter may spill over the top. Check out our picks for the best Bundt pans.
- Don’t leave the cake in the pan for too long after baking — about 10-15 minutes is plenty. After that, condensation will start to form and the moisture will negatively impact the crust.
- Cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, at least 3-4 minutes. Whipping this air into the batter will help the cake rise during baking.
- Make sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature so that they blend together smoothly, resulting in a pound cake with maximum volume.
- Properly measure the flour by spooning the flour into the cup and lightly leveling with the straight edge of a knife. Packing the measuring cup too tightly and using too much flour will result in a dry cake.
- Use a block of full-fat cream cheese. Do not use spreadable cream cheese from a tub or whipped cream cheese for this recipe.
- Grease the pan really well and then coat with flour, or use a nonstick baking cooking spray.

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