This old-fashioned strawberry pound cake gets its bright strawberry flavor from unsweetened strawberry Kool-Aid, plus cream cheese and sour cream for a dense, buttery crumb that tastes like a recipe pulled from a Southern church cookbook. No chopping berries. No gummy middle. Just a bright pink, nostalgically delightful cake.
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🥰 Is this old-fashioned strawberry pound cake recipe for you?
- You love old-fashioned Southern cakes with a dense, buttery crumb that feels like home.
- You want a strawberry pound cake that’s rich and not gummy in the center.
- You remember church cookbook desserts that tasted fancy without fuss.
- You want bright strawberry flavor without chopping, pureeing, or buying expensive out-of-season fruit.
- You need a reliable dessert for birthdays, potlucks, showers, holidays, or a regular Tuesday.
- You believe cream cheese improves nearly everything and appreciate that extra richness.
🧾 Ingredients for strawberry pound cake
Most ingredients are pantry staples, but the unsweetened strawberry Kool-Aid packets are the secret to the cake’s vivid color and bright flavor. No fresh berries or specialty extracts needed.
- All-purpose flour – Plain flour is best here; this recipe is a classic pound cake, not a light layer cake.
- Sugar – Sweetness and tender texture come from a generous amount of sugar.
- Unsweetened strawberry Kool-Aid – The flavor and pink hue come from this old-school secret ingredient.
- Eggs – Provide structure and richness so the cake slices cleanly.
- Butter – Use real butter for the best flavor and texture.
- Salt – Balances the sweetness and enhances the other flavors.
- Vanilla – Rounds out and refines the strawberry flavor.
- Cream cheese – Makes the cake dense, moist, and tender.
- Sour cream – Keeps the crumb soft and velvety.
I originally developed this to be a stacked wedding cake and found the Kool-Aid helped the batter remain firm and stable. The absence of fresh berries helps the cake maintain the dense texture needed for heavy or stacked cakes.
📖 Recipe
Strawberry Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, unsalted, room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 cups sugar
- 6 eggs, room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream, room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- 2 packets unsweetened strawberry Kool-Aid (the kind you add sugar to)
- 3 cups flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C).
- Grease a bundt pan thoroughly and dust it with flour, tapping out the excess.
- Beat the cream cheese and butter on low speed until well blended and smooth.
- Add the sugar and beat until light and combined.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing each in fully before adding the next.
- Add the Kool-Aid mix, vanilla, and sour cream, and blend until incorporated.
- Add the flour and salt, mixing just until smooth. Avoid overmixing.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan and smooth the top.
- Bake for about 1 hour 30 minutes, or until a tester inserted halfway between the edge and center comes out clean. Begin checking at 1 hour 15 minutes.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and finish with a glaze or a dusting of confectioners’ sugar. Cool completely before slicing.
Notes
Store at room temperature, tightly covered, for four to five days.
To freeze:
Wrap well and freeze up to three months. Slicing and placing parchment between slices makes it easy to thaw individual portions.
Can you use strawberry Jell-O?
You can substitute a small (4-serving) box of strawberry gelatin, but the texture will be slightly softer than when using Kool-Aid.
Tips:
- Make two loaf cakes by dividing the batter between two prepared 9-inch loaf pans; bake at 350°F for 45–50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Pound cakes often taste better the second day, so you can bake in advance.
- If converting to wedding cake rounds, baking time will vary by pan size—start checking after 25 minutes at 350°F for smaller layers.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated. If using for medical purposes, verify values with your own calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested multiple times. Changing ingredients or technique may alter results.
🔪 How to make this strawberry pound cake
Pound cake is straightforward: mix, pour, and bake. The creaming method combined with room-temperature ingredients gives the best texture and a tender, dense crumb.
- Beat the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth and creamy. Room temperature ingredients blend more evenly.
- Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Mix in the eggs one at a time, allowing each to incorporate before adding the next.
- Stir in the strawberry Kool-Aid, sour cream, and vanilla until combined. Add the flour and salt, mixing just until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake low and slow until a tester comes out clean.
😱 What can go wrong (and how to fix it)
🍓 Dry cake: Often from overbaking or a hot oven. Start checking at 1 hour 15 minutes. A cake tester inserted halfway between the center and edge should come out clean; an internal temperature of about 210°F is typical for a finished pound cake.
🍓 Tough texture: Usually caused by overmixing after the flour is added. Mix only until combined.
🍓 Cake stuck to the pan: Make sure the bundt pan is well-greased and floured, and remove the cake after about 10 minutes of cooling.
🍓 Sink in the middle: This can result from opening the oven too early, overmixing, or underbaking. Avoid interruptions during baking.
🍓 Gummy or heavy crumb: Ingredients that are too cold or overmixing can cause this. Use room-temperature butter, cream cheese, sour cream, and eggs.
🍓 Weak strawberry flavor: Confirm you used unsweetened strawberry Kool-Aid packets, not the pre-sweetened variety.
🍓 Cake breaks when removed: Either it was flipped too early or left in the pan too long. Allow proper cooling time before turning out.
🍓 Does this strawberry pound cake need baking soda?
No. This traditional pound cake relies on the creaming method and eggs for structure, which produces a rich, dense crumb rather than a light, airy cake.
🍓 Can I use strawberry Jello instead of Kool-Aid?
You can substitute a small box of strawberry gelatin, but the cake will be slightly softer and the texture will differ. Unsweetened Kool-Aid preserves the dense, buttery crumb and gives a bright, clear strawberry flavor.
📚 More bundt cakes and pound cake recipes
If you’re in a Bundt cake mood, try classic variations like a buttermilk pound cake for tender richness, or bright, citrus-forward Bundt cakes for a different kind of wake-up call. A variety of pound and Bundt recipes will give you options for every occasion.
If anyone calls pound cake boring, give them a slice of this and let the taste do the talking.