Moist Pound Cake Made in a Bread Machine

This bread machine pound cake is simple to prepare and delicious. Leftovers freeze well—slice before freezing and thaw a slice for about 30 minutes before serving.

Last Updated on February 22, 2025 – Originally posted June 23, 2013

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This pound cake was most recently tested in a Zojirushi BB-PAC20 Home Bakery Virtuoso. I’ve baked it successfully at sea level and at 3,700 feet elevation with consistently great results.

Featured Comment

Turned out perfectly and is such a blessing to be able to have this on hand to use in shortcakes and quick desserts all summer long without having to heat up the kitchen with the oven! ~ Rebekah

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Zojirushi bread machines include a convenient cake setting. I first used similar settings for quick breads like cornbread and banana bread, and later tried this true pound cake on the cake cycle—it was incredibly easy and tasted fantastic.

If your machine has a quick-bread cycle, this recipe will work with that cycle as well. Remember: this is a cake recipe made in a bread machine, so no yeast is required.

Recipe Updates

Over time I made a few tweaks. I originally used bread flour but now prefer all-purpose flour. I also use room-temperature milk and eggs for better consistency and rise.

Important Note on Baking Powder

This recipe uses baking powder, not baking soda. Fresh baking powder is essential—old baking powder can cause a dense, poorly risen cake.

To test baking powder: stir 1/2 teaspoon into 1/4 cup hot water. If it fizzes and bubbles, it’s still active and fine to use.

Melt the Butter

This recipe calls for melted butter. Some bread machine recipes instruct not to melt the butter when the machine preheats; however, the Zojirushi cake cycle begins mixing immediately and does not include a preheat, so the butter must be melted first.

Special Bread Machine Setting Needed

Use the cake or quick-bread setting on a two-pound bread machine. Not all machines have this cycle—consult your manual if unsure. The correct cycle is not a yeast bread cycle and should last roughly 1 hour, 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on the model.

On the Zojirushi BB-PAC20 the cake cycle is about 1 hour and 50 minutes total (approximately 24 minutes mixing, 70 minutes baking, and a brief cooling period).

Pound Cake Tips

This pound cake is great plain or topped with whipped cream. Other serving ideas:

• Ice cream and chocolate sauce
• Strawberries and whipped cream
• Sliced bananas with warm honey
• Lemon curd
• Drizzled icing

Bread Machine Pound Cake Instructions

This recipe uses the cake cycle of a two-pound machine on the medium crust setting.

Follow your machine’s instructions for the order of adding ingredients. Select the cake or quick-bread setting and choose medium crust if your machine offers crust options.

If possible, scrape the inside of the pan with a spatula during the first few minutes of mixing to ensure everything incorporates evenly. When finished, let the cake cool for a few minutes, gently loosen the sides with a silicone spatula, then turn it out of the pan to finish cooling.

Pound Cake Ingredients

For a two-pound bread machine cake cycle (medium crust):

3 large eggs, room temperature and beaten
1/3 cup milk, room temperature (≈78.9 ml)
2 cups all-purpose flour (≈250 g)
3 tsp baking powder (check expiration)
1/2 cup butter, melted (≈113.5 g)
1 cup sugar (≈200 g)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Metric conversions and nutrition information are provided in the recipe box below.