This easy cream cheese pound cake is made with a cake mix yet tastes like it’s made from scratch and is so much easier and quicker to make.
This cake is the easiest and best cream cheese pound cake you’ll ever make. It comes out perfect every single time and it’ll fast become a family favorite and your go-to pound cake recipe.
Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
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Making a cream cheese pound cake doesn’t have to be hard. Using a cake mix as the base, makes this cake turn out moist and fluffy each and every time.
A doctored cake mix really is the way to go because you’re simply just adding is a few extra ingredients and you get that homemade taste just like you baked it from scratch.
Ingredient Notes:
Now let’s talk a little about just some of the ingredients in this cake. (The printable list of all ingredients are in the recipe card below.)
Butter cake mix: I think the butter cake mix works really well because, you guessed it, it gives it a more buttery flavor. It also makes this cake come out perfect every time you make it and it’s so convenient to use.
Unsalted butter: Adding in additional butter makes this cake rich with a full buttery taste.
Cream cheese: Since this is a cream cheese pound cake, you’ll need some cream cheese. I’ve found that brand name cream cheese works better than the store brand.
Pudding mix: I also added a box of dry cheesecake pudding mix. It helps with the stability of the cake and gives it some added cream cheese flavor.
Extracts and emulsions: Vanilla extract, almond extract and lemon extract are the trifectas of extracts. They work really well together and I urge you to just try them.
There is not enough of each to overload you with flavor. They just beautifully blend together to give the cake a very good flavor.
(Make sure to check out the FAQ section below in this post for ingredient and substitution questions.)
How to Make this Cake:
Let’s talk a little about how to make this easy cream cheese pound cake (The printable instructions are in the recipe card below.)
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and grease and flour a 10″ bundt pan very well.
Step 2:
Mix the butter, cream cheese and extracts very well until completely smooth.
Step 3:
Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix on medium to medium/high until well incorporated. The batter will be thick.
Step 4:
Add the batter to the prepared pan and smooth it evenly, then bake at 325 for 55-60 minutes.
Step 5:
Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then turn out of the pan onto the wire rack and cool completely. Feel free to add powdered sugar, whipped cream or even ice cream.
Tips & FAQs:
Yes, you probably can. I like using the butter cake mix because it gives it a more buttery taste, but you could probably use a vanilla cake mix instead.
No, just add the dry cake mix to the mixing bowl.
Unsalted is always best because you can estimate the proper amount of salt that will be added plus salted has a different water content than unsalted. However, if you’re unable to get unsalted butter, you can use salted butter in this cake.
Make sure both the butter and the cream cheese are close to room temperature so they will mix together better.
You’ll really want to try to get them if you can. It really gives it a nice flavor, but if you absolutely cannot get them, then you can omit them.
If you have a nut allergy, just leave out the almond extract.
No, just add the dry pudding mix into the mixing bowl.
It does add a little extra flavor and helps with stability. I have not tried this recipe without adding the pudding mix, but you are welcome to experiment with that if you’d like.
Yes, you could probably use vanilla pudding mix.
Make sure to grease and flour the pan very well or the cake will stick.
Be aware that the batter for this cake is quite thick. Once it’s added to the pan, just smooth it before putting it into the oven.
This cake is done, when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it, but no raw batter.
This cake can be made ahead of time and frozen if desired. Let the baked cake cool completely, then wrap it in plastic wrap and foil, then place it in the freezer for up to a month.
To thaw, place the wrapped cake on the counter at room temperature and let thaw completely, then remove the wrapping.
This cake can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days. (If you add perishable filling or frosting or if it’s warm in your house, store it in the refrigerator.)
This cake is best served close to room temperature. If the cake is cold, set it out to come closer to room temperature for about 20-30 minutes before serving. You can also microwave slices for about 15 or so seconds.
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Supplies Used for this Recipe:
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Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe
Easy Cream Cheese Pound Cake (with a cake mix)
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (2 sticks)
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature (1 block)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond emulsion (optional)
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 (15 ounce) box butter cake mix, dry
- 1 (3.4 ounce) box cheesecake pudding mix, dry
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 4 large eggs
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-10 inch bundt pan very well.
- Add the butter, cream cheese and extracts and mix with an electric mixer on medium to medium-high speed until completely smooth.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix on medium to medium-high speed until well incorporated.
- The batter will be thick.
- Add the batter to the prepared pan and smooth it evenly.
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 55-60 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the cake will come out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it but no raw batter.
- Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then turn out of the pan onto the wire rack and cool completely before adding a glaze or powdered sugar.
Notes
Nutrition
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Donna
I used sour cream I place of cream cheese as I needed to use it up. Also, used a yellow cake mix and French vanilla pudding. In place favoring, I used 2 teaspoons butter and nut flavoring, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 teaspoon of almond flavoring. Everyone loved it!
Kara Jane
Oh nice Donna! Those subs sound really good!
Nita
I loved how easy this was by using a butter flavored cake mix in a box. Delicious flavor and the texture was light. I do have one question. My cake came out of the oven nice and high up to the top of my bundt pan. But, after it set in the pan cooling for 20 minutes, it shrunk down!! Can you tell me what you think happened?
Kara Jane
This one does tend to shrink a little. If it wasn’t too dry the last time you made it, then maybe try baking it for a few extra minutes and see if that helps a little with the shrinking.
Carmen
I had make this cake for yrs. now. It always taste delicious and I don’t even changed the recipe at all. I get many complements from friends, family and coworkers. Besides is so easy to make. Is my favorite.
Kara
Wonderful Carmen! I’m so glad you love this one. I agree…it’s easy to make and yet it comes out good every time. 🙂
Marlisa
This is the best easiest pound cake ever. Incredibly moist. I did not believe it would bake so wonderful. I will be making this for the holidays. Thank you so much!
I want to try and adapt to making it a rum cake- any suggestions?
Kara
Marlisa, yay!!! I’m so glad you loved this one. It’s my go-to pound cake…it’s just so easy! Ok, so making into a rum cake sounds like a good idea. You could try adding in just a tiny amount of cinnamon if you want a spiced rum flavor (or leave it out if you don’t) and then maybe a 1/4- 1/2 cup of spiced rum to the batter. You could also just add in some rum flavoring if you like. Once it’s baked and it’s turned out of the pan, you can brush on a rum glaze. Just mix up 1/4 cup unsalted butter and 1/4-1/2 cup white or brown sugar over low heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved, than take off the heat and add about 1/4 – 1/2 cup spiced rum. Once the cake is cooled for about half an hour, brush it on and let it soak in. Obviously taste the rum glaze before adding it (just sort of estimated measurements there) and add any sugar or maybe even some milk if you want. I hope this works…I’m thinking I’ll even try it myself!
TERRY S SHELTON
I made this cake twice, the first time came out wonderful the second time when I took it al the oven it fell in the middle. should I do something different.
Kara
Hi Terry, that really is a mystery. Usually these cake mix based recipes are pretty consistent, so I can’t be sure of exactly what happened. The only thing I can think of is that maybe it just needed to bake a little longer. Cakes will fall if they’re pulled out even a little before they’re done. I’m sure you baked it for the same amount of time, but for some reason, maybe this time it just needed a little extra time. Sometimes cake baking and ovens
can be weird like that. If you try it again, try baking it for a few minutes longer. The times I put in the recipes are the window of time that worked for my oven when I tested it, but ovens vary (sometimes even when baking the same recipe as you’ve baked before) so maybe a few more minutes would keep that from happening.
Denise
This cake felt a little greasy. I used unsalted butter but the cake tasted a little salty to me and did not taste very sweet. Even with the addition of all the extra ingredients it still had a “cake mix” flavor. I may try it again using a french vanilla cake mix and vanilla or french vanilla pudding and cutting back on the butter. When doctoring cake mixes I have better results using french vanilla cake mix than I do with yellow or butter cake mixes.
Kara Jane
Hi Denise, thanks for the feedback. Any flavor of cake mix will probably work with this. If it felt greasy, you could probably lower the amount of butter by a half stick and see if that helps. Some people will always be able to tell when a box cake mix is used. I’m one of those people too. I don’t mind a little of that, but I do know that some do not like that. You might try adding a bit more sugar as well and see if it helps with that, but I think if it tasted salty and not sweet enough, a different cake mix might work better for you.
Jackie
Easy and delicious. I have made this recipe probably a dozen times and it turns out perfectly every time.
Kara
Wonderful! So glad you liked this one! 🙂
Victoria Herrmann
Heat-n-serve pudding mix or instant?
Kara
It’s instant pudding mix. 🙂
Gigi
This is literally the best cake I have ever had in my life. It beats Better than Bundt cakes by a mile. Even as a child I was never much of a “cake person”, always hated the texture. I now make up celebrations to have an excuse to bake this. I promise if you make this exactly as the recipe says you will have an absolutely life changing experience.
Kara
Oh wow, Gigi! I’m so glad you loved it and thanks so much for the great review! This made my day…so glad you can now be a ‘cake person’. And I love that you’re making up celebrations to make it! 🤣
CTex
Can I substitute olive oil for the butter and leave out the extra sugar and flour? I like less sweet cakes. I’d also like to use fresh lemon juice in place of the water, along with a lemon cake mix and lemon pudding mix to make it a lemon pound cake. Would any, or all, of these substitutions work?
Kara
I’m not sure about using olive oil in place of butter. I think it would technically work, however it might leave a slightly weird taste to it, although if you’re using lemon flavors, that might cover it up. I wouldn’t recommend it for vanilla cakes though. As far as leaving out the added flour and sugar goes, that might also work as really that is just meant to sort of ‘beef’ up the cake…some people call it a cake extender. It helps to make more batter to fill up the pan. And yes, I think just using a different mix and pudding would work just fine. In fact, I’m working on adding a lemon version of this cake to the site and that’s exactly what I was going to do…just replace the liquid with the lemon juice and the cake and pudding with lemon flavor. I haven’t tested it yet, but it should work. Hope this helps!
Samantha Meza-Ayala
Made this last night as-is, without the almond extract, in two 9 by 5 loaf pans. I let it cool overnight and just sprinkled powdered sugar on top. I will say, it probably needed the almond extract, but it was amazing! I made it for my coworkers. They all love it. It is scary trying new recipes but this one turned out beautifully.
Kara
Yay!!! So glad they loved it! And you can always leave out the almond extract. If you feel like it’s missing something without it, you could try adding a bit more vanilla extract if you like. Thank you for the wonderful review!