Blackberry Skillet Pound Cake – Vanilla pound cake is loaded with fresh blackberries, sprinkled with a sugar crust and baked to perfection in a cast-iron skillet.
Berry season is winding down, which makes me so sad. But rather than be sad that it’s ending, I’m going to celebrate them in a new recipe today. This recipe is for my Blackberry Skillet Pound Cake. I love this cake because it’s so simple to throw together (one-bowl prep!) and comes out crispy on the edges and super moist on the inside.
Rather than rant and rave on this cake in words, I’m gonna let these photos speak for themselves.
The easiest pound cake you’ll make
Unlike other cakes, this cake can be made with one bowl. No need to mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl before adding them to the wet ingredients. Hurray for less dishes to wash!
To make the batter, you start with sugar and butter and cream it together until super fluffy. This is important because it produces a lightly pound cake. There are no leveners in this recipe (no baking powder; no baking soda) so this helps the cake rise.
Next you’ll add in the eggs one at a time, along with sour cream and vanilla extract. Finally, the salt and flour are mixed in to complete the batter. Blackberries are folded in to ensure they are kept whole. If you mix them in with the mixer, they could break into pieces and turn your batter purple.
The batter is then spread into a greased skillet, covered with turbinado sugar, and baked for about an hour. Pound cake is pretty thick so it needs a while to bake. It’ll be ready when the top is golden brown and the center is no longer wet.
Tips & Tricks
- A skillet will make the cake cook evenly and produce a nice crust with a moist center. However, if you can’t use a skillet, the best pan is probably a 9×9 pan. I haven’t tested this myself so try it at your own risk. You definitely won’t get the same crust but the cake will taste the same.
- I don’t recommend using frozen berries for this cake because frozen berries don’t have that much flavor. Since blackberries are the centerpiece of the cake, flavor is so important. If you can’t find fresh blackberries, you can interchange with any fresh berry on hand – strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc.
- The turbinado sugar crust on top is so important. The sugar caramelizes slightly to make the crust perfectly crispy and sweet. Since we don’t sweeten the berries, this sweetness is necessary. Do not skip this step!
- Cast-iron skillets are not coated with any nonstick coating. Therefore, it’s sooooo important to grease the skillet before adding the batter. Otherwise, that cake may never come out.
Blackberry Skillet Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 13 tablespoons butter unsalted, softened (divided)
- 1½ cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 pound fresh blackberries
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add one tablespoon to 9-inch cast-iron skillet and spread all over the bottom and the edges. Set aside.
- Place remainder of the butter in bowl of a stand mixer. Add sugar and then cream together with a paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and sour cream and beat together until smooth. Add flour and salt and mix just until combined. Fold in blackberries.
- Pour batter into prepared skillet. Spread into one even layer. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar all over the top. Bake in preheated oven until cake is golden brown on top and cooked through, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and let sit for 1 hour before cutting.
- Serve pound cake slightly warm or room temperature.
Pin for later:
More recipes for later:
Roasted Strawberry Bundt Cake
Victoria Sandwich Cake
Mixed Berry Almond Tart
I made this today with several substitutions …. pitted halved fresh cherries, toasted sliced almonds, almond flavoring, nutmeg and vanilla Greek yogurt.
It was delicious and my family Loved it !!!!!
This pound cake sounds amazing!
I havent tried that cake. But I can tell this BlackBerry pound cakes looks absolutely delicious. I will definitely make it this weekend. Thanks for the recipe
I am saving this skillet pound cake to make with some mulberries. They will ripen in about a month and this recipe looks so incredible I cant wait!
Wow! This has my mouth watering! A slice of this delicious cake with a large mug of coffee is all I want for breakfast! Looking forward to making this soon!
Made this tonight with our wild picked blackberries, straight from the freezer, it was AMAZING!!!
This cake was amazing!!!!!! My son asked me to make it for his birthday.
This looks so comforting! I can’t wait to start finding blackberries and make this!
I have never had pound cake, but this one looks so great. I had no idea you could bake in a skillet.
Oh yum, this looks amazing! I just love blackberries so this is my kind of dessert.
This looks delicious and so simple to prep. Can’t wait to try it.