Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Strawberry Coulis – Think you know pound cake?! Well, you haven’t lived until you’ve tried one with cream cheese in the batter. It’s super dense and creamy at the same time. The addition of the strawberry coulis adds a freshness and sweetness that you can only get from fresh fruit. Simply perfection.

Happy Thursday, everyone! It’s almost Friday, which means it’s almost the weekend. Are you ready for the weekend?! Duh, who isn’t?! I hate when people ask that…No, actually. I am not looking forward to sleeping in and catching up on life. *eye roll*

Okay now that we’ve got that peeve of mine out of the way…let’s talk about this cream cheese pound cake with strawberry coulis.

I discovered this recipe years ago on one of my favorite blogs of all time: Smitten Kitchen. Her blog covers a broad spectrum of recipes, some that are unique and sometimes challenging, while other that are perfected versions of the classics. If you’ve never read her blog, do so soon!

Fun fact: Smitten Kitchen inspired many of my early recipes (wayyy back in the day) including this cappuccino fudge cheese cake, these blueberry crumb bars, and these mini peach pies. I’ve since expanded my food finds to include other inspiring blogs, but I’ll never forget my roots.

Back to the pound cake. I’m not a huge cake person. More often than not, I get a slice that is dry and boring and lacking a punch. This pound cake, however, is the best pound cake that I’ve ever had. It is UNBELIEVABLY moist. That is all thanks to the cream cheese that replaces some of the butter. Yessss.

And the flavor is on POINT! The almond extract gives just the right boost that I crave. Almond extract is soooo underrated. See, I’ve already capitalized my words twice so far. That shows you how serious I am about this cake.

Now for the strawberry coulis…wait, but what is coulis?!

The first time I heard this word was on an episode of Friends. Joey ordered a cheesecake at a restaurant and, when it comes out, he says “Excuse me, there seems to be some red crap on my cheesecake” (ahh, how I miss you, Joey!). The waiter responds by says “Oh yes, that’s the raspberry coulis.”

After that episode, I knew that coulis was a sauce. But it wasn’t until much later on that I would come to find the true nature of the sauce. Coulis, as it turns out, is a sauce made from vegetable or fruit. If it’s a fruit coulis, it’s typically made with raw fruits that have not been cooked.

This strawberry coulis is simply strawberries, blended with lemon juice, sugar, and water. That’s it! But what it adds to the dish is much more important.

The cake is so dense and slightly rich. While it’s perfectly delicious on it’s own, the strawberry coulis freshens up the flavor a bit and helps soften up that dense texture. Plus, it’s a great way to take advantage of the amazing strawberries that I’m seeing at the stores right now!

With regards to making the cake, it really is super simple. The only thing that makes me nervous is flipping the pan over to release the cake (same goes for every other cake recipe I’ve made). The key to getting it to come out is (1) butter AND flour the pan generously and (2) let it cool in the pan for about 20 minutes before extracting. This allows the cake to peel away from the edges of the pan as it cools.

Here are a few more tips to help you out:

1. Try not to mix the cake batter more than instructed. Since this cake is supposed to be dense, we don’t want it to fluff up in the mixer and create air pockets. Air in angel food cake = good. Air in pound cake = bad.
2. This cake is made with a 12-cup bundt pan. But you can also use a tube pan. It’s round like the bundt pan but it’s flat on the bottom. This makes it more prone to sticking so, if you chose to use a tube pan, line the bottom with pieces of parchment paper to prevent that.
3. When checking on the readiness of the cake, make sure you insert the toothpick in a few places. If you oven cooks unevenly (as mine does), one half of the cake make be ready before the other is. You can also prevent this from happening by rotating the pan 180 degrees after about 40 minutes of baking. But in case you forget, the toothpick trick will save you!
4. Before flipping the cake onto a plate, release the edges with a knife. This will also help it release from the pan.
5. If you don’t have fresh strawberries on hand, I think thawed frozen berries will work fine. You may not need the extra water though! Blend without the water first and add as needed.

There you have it – the best pound cake you will ever eat! I hope you enjoy it!

Before we get to the recipe, I want to share a new part of my blog posts. I’ve received tons of requests about the tools I use in various posts. Therefore, I’ve decided to add a scroll before each recipe so you can see what tools I used for the recipe. If there’s anything I didn’t mention, let me know!

Here are all the kitchen tools and serveware that I used in this post (including those amazing plates!). For each item that is sold, I receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting the brands that support CPA!

[show_shopthepost_widget id=”2434267″]

Print Recipe

Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Strawberry Coulis

Think you know pound cake?! Well, you haven't lived until you've tried one with cream cheese in the batter. It's super dense and creamy at the same time. The addition of the strawberry coulis adds a freshness and sweetness that you can only get from fresh fruit. Simply perfection.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time1 min

Total Time1 hr 16 mins

Servings: 12 slices

Ingredients

For the pound cake:

• 12 ounces butter unsalted, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese Philadelphia brand*, softened
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the strawberry coulis:

• 12 ounces strawberries
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

For the pound cake:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour your 12-cup bundt pan. Dusting with flour is important so it doesn't stick to the pan. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until combined. Add sugar and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
• Add eggs one at a time, beating on low after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add vanilla and almond extracts and mix on low to combine.
• Add all flour and salt to the butter mixture. Turn mixer on low to combine. Stop after flour is about incorporated. Finishing mixing with a spatula to get the bottom all mixed together.
• Pour mixture into prepared pan by circling it around the pan. This will help distribute the batter evenly. Use your spatula to smooth out the top. Bang pan on the counter a few times to get the air bubbles out.
• Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until it is golden brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Let it sit on a wire rack for about 20 minutes. Then, place a plate on top of pan and flip to release cake from pan. Let it finish cooling on the plate and on the wire rack until room temperature. About 40 more mins. Serve each slice with a tablespoon of strawberry coulis.

For the strawberry coulis:

• Wash and dry all the strawberries. Hull them and slice into quarters. Add to blender, with sugar, water, and lemon juice. Blend on high until completely combined and liquefied. Strain through a wire mesh sieve to remove remaining seeds. Cool in fridge until ready to serve.

Notes

* Each brand of cream cheese has slightly different moisture levels. Philadelphia is known to have the perfect amount for baking.

Recipe adapted from smitten kitchen.

More yummy treats that you’ll enjoy:

Molten Lava Cake

Classic Crumb Cake

Chocolate Pecan  Pie Cheesecake Bars