Soft, buttery red velvet pound cake covered in a tangy cream cheese glaze is a breeze to throw together and it’s a super impressive dessert for any holiday gathering!
Our Friday cake goals are on.freaking.point today, friends.
And all dressed up in her finest red velvet clothes and topped off with enough cream cheese glaze to fill a small swimming pool with.
The excitement is definitely building. This is exactly what I imagine red velvet dreams look like.
So red velvet isn’t something we do very often around here, I’ll admit it. But those times I briefly jump onboard the red velvet train?
It’s gonna be go HUGE or nothing. Today is one of those go huge days and we’re doing it right with red velvet.
This Red Velvet Pound Cake features…
- A perfectly soft and buttery pound cake texture
- Just a hint of chocolate in the batter along with plenty of vanilla
- A creamy, tangy cream cheese glaze
Making the Red Velvet Pound Cake
(scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe!)
Pound Cake Batter
You can make the batter with a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer, whatever you have on hand!
Pound cake batters start by creaming softened butter with sugar together until completely smooth and creamy. Beat in vanilla and eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Mix in melted semisweet chocolate, red food coloring, (the liquid kind, not gel) a touch of cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt until batter is just combined. The batter should be fairly thick and smooth.
Spread the batter into a greased or parchment paper-lined 9-inch loaf pan and smooth the top.
Bake the pound cake at 350F 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely on a wire cooling rack.
Cream Cheese Glaze
Softened cream cheese and powdered sugar gets beaten together until completely creamy, then add a splash of vanilla and little milk until you reach a glaze consistency.
Once the pound cake has cooled and you are ready to serve, drizzle the glaze on top of cake. I like to dust the top with a little cocoa powder as a finishing garnish!
Storing Pound Cake
Seal well and store the cake unglazed at room temperature up to 6 days. Store the glaze separately in fridge up to 6 days.
I recommend waiting to glaze the cake until you are ready to slice and serve it as the glaze is a bit messy and makes it difficult to store.
Freezing Option: cool cake completely then seal well and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw cake and top with glaze as recipe directs.
This cake is seriously so moist, buttery, and incredible you’ll have trouble sharing it with anyone else, trust me.
If you can find it in your heart to share, this cake is a SUPER impressive dessert for any holiday gathering! Red velvet always wows.
And you know it’s more than appropriate for chilling at home, cause thankfully cake knows no boundaries for the time and place. ♥
If you’re interested, I also share a step-by-step for baking this red velvet pound cake over on Google Web Stories!
In the meantime…more pound cakes you should definitely be baking up next!
Red Velvet Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze
This recipe may included paid links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Ingredients
Red Velvet Pound Cake
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 2 oz semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
- 1 tablespoon red food coloring
- 1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 2 oz cream cheese, softened
- 3/4-1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
Red Velvet Pound Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease and flour a 9×5 loaf pan OR line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until completely smooth and creamy. Beat in extract and eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly beat in melted chocolate, food coloring, flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt until smooth.
- Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake pound cake at 350F 45-50 minutes or until toothpick tests done. Let cake cool in pan completely on a wire cooling rack.
Cream Cheese Glaze
- In a medium bowl with a handheld electric mixer, beat cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar until completely creamy, about 2 minutes. Slowly beat in vanilla and just enough milk to make a drizzling consistency, adding additional powdered sugar if needed.
- Drizzle cream cheese glaze over cooled cake and let stand 5 minutes. Slice cake and enjoy!
Ushmana Rai says
My mouth is watering right now. How I wish I could take a bite from here!
Thank you so much for sharing such an amazing cake recipe and just in time for a special someone’s birthday!
all the love!xoxo
Sarah says
Thank you, Ushmana! Please let me know if you end up trying this cake! 🙂
Sheila says
OMG! This looks really delicious and I would love to try this ASAP. The color is just perfect for the upcoming celebration. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. Will try to grab some ingredients today.
Sarah says
Thanks Shelia! If you try this cake definitely let me know how it turns out! 😀
luis parsons says
will surely try this recipe!thanks for sharing..this cake really does look yummy!
Sarah says
Let me know if you do, Luis!
Lori says
Can I make this as a traditional two layer red velvet cake? Any changes?
Sarah says
You can certainly try it, Lori, however you may need to make some adjustments to the bake time. Layer cakes generally bake in less time than pound cakes.
sarah says
Did you ever make this as a two layer cake? Thats what I am hoping to try to do. Need to decide on bake time.
Kathryn says
Looks delicious, although I am on the fence about the texture. It looks more like regular “Cake” than Pound Cake.
Sarah says
It’s definitely the moist, dense texture of a pound cake, Kathryn! 🙂 Hope you get a chance to try it!
Janet says
Is the flower amount right? One cup doesn’t seem like it would be enough.
Sarah says
1 cup is the correct amount, Janet. If you’re worried the dough will be too thin, feel free to add an additional 1/4 cup.
Nadine says
does it have to be whole wheat flour or can I just use regular all purpose flour?
Sarah says
All-purpose would work fine, Nadine! 🙂
Oak says
Would this stay out in an airtight container fora couple days? Planning to send this as a part of a care package.
Sarah says
For sending this pound cake, I would recommend sending it without the cream cheese glaze because that would spoil if it wasn’t refrigerated.
Tamra says
I need RED food on Tuesday and this looks good! Could I make in a Bundt pan, like traditional southern pound cakes?
Sarah says
Yes, that would be fine! Be aware, you will need to adjust the bake time for slightly longer.
Shannon says
This looks so great! For a bundt pan version, would the recipe need to be doubled? Or 1.5 of the recipe?
Sarah says
I would recommend doubling the recipe for a bundt cake version. 🙂
Nina says
Can you provide the ingredient measurements to make this into a bundt cake?
Sarah says
Just double this recipe to make enough batter for a bundt cake, Nina. 🙂
Nina says
Oh really? Okee doke! Thanks for the fast response!
Hope Elms says
I am making this cake for my daughter in laws birthday. I doubled the recipe and I used a bundt pan and baked it for over an hour at 350. I am afraid my over bakes hotter than it should because the outside of the cake is hard and almost seems a little burnt 🙁 I am so afraid. haha I really hope it turns out ok when we cut it tonight! Can you tell me what you sprinkled on top of your pound cake? Looks like it might be cocoa powder??
Sarah says
Yes, it is cocoa powder on the outside! I’m sorry to hear you had issues baking this cake!