Gather your ingredients. Pound cake is one of the simplest cakes to bake. Preheat the oven to 325 °F (163 °C). Grease a cake pan. Pound cakes are best baked in deep pans, such as loaf pans or bundt pans. Cream the butter and sugar. Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat them together until the mixture is light, fluffy and creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla. Keep beating the mixture until the eggs are completely incorporated. Stir in the cake flour.
Keep the hand mixer on low or use a wooden spoon to stir the flour in a bit at a time until it's just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix it. Pour the batter into the pan. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Bake the cake for an hour and 15 minutes. The cake is finished when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Gather your ingredients. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (177 °C). Grease your cake pan. You can use a round standard cake pan, a square baking dish, a loaf pan, a bundt cake pan, or whatever you have on hand.
Make sure to grease it well with butter or cooking spray so the cake won't stick to the pan when it's baked. Mix the wet ingredients in a large bowl. Place the butter, eggs, vanilla extract, sugar, and buttermilk in a bowl. Use a whisk or a hand mixer to blend the ingredients well. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Place the flour, salt, cocoa powder, and baking powder in a small bowl. Stir them together until they are well incorporated. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Beat the mixture on low until the batter comes together and no white bits of flour remain. Pour the batter into the cake pan.
Use a spoon or spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl so every bit of batter makes it into the pan. Put the pan in the oven and bake the cake for 30 minutes. Check the cake's progress every so often to make sure it doesn't burn. The cake is ready when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, rather than coated with batter. Take the cake from the oven and let it cool. Set it on the counter and let it cool for about 5 minutes before handling it. Invert the cake onto a plate. Use whatever plate you're planning on using to serve the cake. Let the cake cool completely before frosting. If you try to add frosting to the cake while it's still warm, the frosting will melt and run off the sides. Make some chocolate buttercream frosting or plain buttercream frosting, or any other kind of frosting. Enjoy!
