Tri Color Pound Cake
This pound cakes tastes just as good as it looks! Stays moist for a few days after baking and it is not overly sweet which I love. Make this a festive holiday dessert with red and green, or change up the colors to suit your needs. How great would a pink/white combo look? My daughter would go nuts!
This recipe is my Mom’s classic vanilla pound cake with added food coloring for the jazz :)
Watch a video to see how simple this cake is to make.
Recipe for Tri Color Pound Cake:
Ingredients Needed:
1 cup butter softened (room temperature)
1 cup granulated sugar
6 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
10-15 drops of food color (red and green)
Optional - powdered sugar for dusting, chopped nuts for topping, candied cherries for topping. See pro tips below for substitutions and variations to try.
Pro Tip - Substitutions
A lot of substitutions work well for this recipe.
You can use 1% or 2% dairy milk, almond milk, lactose free milk, soy milk and oat milk. All work well.
Gluten free flour works well.
Servings Made: 1 bundt cake, 2 thin round cakes 8 or 9 inch, one thin 9x13 sheet, 18-24 cupcakes
Time to Prep: 10 minutes
Time to Cook: 35-45 minutes
How to Make:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixer (about 3 minutes) until mixture looks lighter in color and fluffy.
Add eggs in one at a time, mixing well in between. Add flour and baking powder, mix until combined then add vanilla and milk. Mix well but don’t over beat.
Split batter into three bowls. Leave one bowl as is, and add 10-15 drops of red food color to one bowl and mix. To the last bowl add 10-15 drops of green food color and mix.
Pour batter into greased baking dish using a large spoon. Alternate one spoonful of each color and place each spoon on top of the last. There is really no right way in my opinion to do this.
Just have at it!
I use a bundt cake pan usually and grease it with cooking spray. You can use butter or baking spray as well.
Pro tip - when using baking spray or butter, use a pastry brush if you have one to brush the entire pan up the sides and in any corners or creases. This will help to release the cake.
Bake in oven for about 45 minutes. This time will vary (more or less) depending on your oven and what pan you decided to bake it in. Take it out when it is golden brown and when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out pretty clean with a few moist crumbs on it.
Pro tip - Be patient and don’t open the oven door until at least 3/4 of the baking time has passed. If you open the door of the oven, heat escapes leading to collapsed cakes, or uneven cooking.
Cool in cake pan for at least 15-20 minutes before trying to remove. Remove by placing wire rack on top of cake pan and slowly inverting. If you try to remove the cake before it has cooled, it may break when inverting. Cool completely on wire racks before serving.
Serve with tea, coffee, milk or ice cream! You can also dust some powdered sugar on top before serving.
Enjoy!
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Check my recipe posts to learn how to make a plain vanilla or marble (chocolate/vanilla) pound cake using the same recipe with a few changes!
