The Classic Pound Cake That Tastes Like Early Summer

There is a moment every spring when the strawberries finally taste like strawberries again. Not the pale, sorry ones that show up in January — and yes, I know, if we were truly seasonal eaters we would not be buying them in January, and yet. The real ones arrive smelling exactly the way a strawberry is supposed to smell, bright red and almost warm, and you can catch the scent before you even reach the farmstand. They take me straight back to my first job, picking strawberries at a local farm. When those appear, I make this cake.

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This month my friend Sheri Silver and I are celebrating strawberry season together for our Sweet Treats for Your Sweet Tooth series — our monthly collaboration where we each bring something sweet to the table from our own kitchens. Sheri has made the most gorgeous strawberry lemon loaf cake, and I have gone in a completely different direction with a brown butter pound cake topped with a fresh strawberry compote. Two kitchens, two cakes, one very good fruit. Pop over to Sheri’s blog to see her recipe when you are done here.

This is a brown butter pound cake. Not a classic pound cake — though I love a classic pound cake — and not a cream cheese pound cake or a lemon pound cake, though those are wonderful too. This one is different, and the difference is the brown butter. I first made this years ago from a Williams-Sonoma cookbook and have been making it every spring since. You melt two sticks of unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and you wait. You swirl, you watch, and somewhere around twelve to fifteen minutes the milk solids toast and the whole kitchen fills with a nutty aroma that smells faintly of hazelnuts and toasted bread. That is beurre noisette. And once you have built a cake around it, plain butter pound cake feels like a bit of a letdown.

The strawberry compote on top is pure early summer — bright, a little tart from the orange juice, thickened just enough with arrowroot or cornstarch so it sits beautifully on each slice instead of running off the plate. This cake is a special occasion cake. It is also a Tuesday afternoon cake. It depends entirely on the day.

About the Brown Butter

Browning butter is not complicated, but it does require your full attention. Medium heat, a light-colored saucepan so you can watch the color change, and no walking away. You are looking for the moment the milk solids turn a deep amber and the nutty aroma arrives. Then it comes off the heat immediately — it goes from perfect to burnt in about thirty seconds. Believe me, I know. I have lost several sticks of butter from looking away at the critical moment.

Strain it through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl and let it cool to room temperature before you use it. The sieve catches the dark solids and brown bits; you want the clear amber liquid. This is the flavor the whole cake is built on, so take the extra step and do it right — I promise it’s worth it.

What You Need

For the brown butter pound cake

16 Tbs. (2 sticks / 8 oz.) unsalted butter
1¼ cups (5 oz.) cake flour
¼ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. kosher salt
3 whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks
1 cup plus 1 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Strawberry Compote

4 Tbs. fresh orange juice, divided
2 Tbs. fresh squeezed lemon juice
⅓ cup sugar
Kosher salt
2 pints (1 lb.) fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
1½ tsp. arrowroot or cornstarch

You will also need a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan, a stand mixer with the bowl and paddle attachment, a fine-mesh sieve, a wire rack, and a small bowl for mixing the arrowroot slurry. Butter the loaf pan well — do not rely on cooking spray alone for this one. Or line the pan with a parchment paper sling and then use cooking spray.

How to Make Brown Butter Pound Cake

The Pound Cake

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter your loaf pan or line with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the unsalted butter. Reduce to medium-low and simmer, swirling often, until the butter browns and fills the kitchen with that nutty aroma — 12 to 15 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl and let cool to room temperature.
Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and salt together into a bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the whole eggs, egg yolks, 1 cup of the sugar, and the vanilla extract on medium-high speed until the mixture is pale and thick, 2 to 3 minutes.
Reduce to low speed — this is important — and add the dry ingredients in 2 batches, mixing until only a few streaks remain. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Increase the mixer to medium-low speed and drizzle in all but 2 Tbs. of the brown butter. Increase to medium speed and beat until fully combined.
Scrape the cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
Brush the top with the remaining brown butter and sprinkle with the 1 Tbs. sugar. Continue baking until a wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes more.
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Turn out onto the rack, right side up, and let cool completely before slicing.

The Strawberry Compote

The compote comes together quickly — make it while the cake cools.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine 3 Tbs. of the orange juice, the lemon juice, the sugar, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer.
Add the fresh strawberries and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the strawberries soften and release their juices, about 2 to 3 minutes.
In a small bowl, stir together the arrowroot or cornstarch and the remaining 1 Tbs. orange juice until smooth. Stir into the compote and simmer for 1 minute more until slightly thickened.
Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. The compote will thicken further as it cools.

Serve thick slices of the pound cake topped generously with the compote. Serves 8.

A Few Tips for Best Results

Use cake flour, not all-purpose. The lower protein content gives the crumb a finer, more tender texture. It matters here.
Do not skip the brown butter brushed on top before the final bake. That step — the remaining brown butter plus the extra tablespoon of sugar — creates a thin, slightly crisp, caramelized crust that is one of the best parts of this cake. It is actually my favorite part of the cake.
Cool completely before slicing. I know. But a warm pound cake slices badly and you want those clean edges.
The compote keeps in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Make it ahead.
Leftover cake keeps well wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for two days, or refrigerate for up to five. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Make It Your Own

This cake is wonderful with the strawberry compote, but it does not stop there. A drop of almond extract in the cake batter alongside the vanilla adds a lovely depth — not enough to taste like almond, just enough to enhance the taste. In high summer, fresh peaches or raspberries in place of strawberries make an equally delicious topping. And in the colder months, I have served this with just a dusting of powdered sugar and a cup of good coffee. It does not need anything. The brown butter pound cake is complete on its own. The compote is just spring’s gift to this dessert.

How to Serve It

This is a special occasion cake that requires no special occasion. Serve it at a spring dinner party, bring it to a friend, set it out at Easter or Mother’s Day or a bridal shower, bring it to a bbq. Or make it on a quiet weekend when the strawberries are good and you want to do something in the kitchen and end the afternoon with something beautiful on a cake stand. That is reason enough.

If you make this, I want to hear about it. Leave a comment below and tell me how it turned out. And if you save it to Pinterest, thank you — it helps the blog more than you know.

If you enjoyed this post, I would love it if you shared it. You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and X — I would love to have you along.

Have a beautiful week, friends. Don’t forget to visit Sheri!

You May Also Enjoy:

The Best Fresh Strawberry Cake

Ina Gartens Lemon Loaf Cake

Strawberries and Cream Filled Butter Cake

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