Two weeks ago, I was asked (at the very last minute) to bring a dessert for an event I had previously agreed to attend. I was a bit annoyed at the lack of planning — and I seriously contemplated buying something from the bakery on my way — but my “frugality” won over and I decided to make a simple dessert with the ingredients I had on hand.
I remembered a very simple (and totally delicious) recipe I made last year for Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake. The main ingredients were a chocolate cake mix and chocolate pudding… and since I had a white cake mix and vanilla pudding in my pantry, I thought I would use the same concept.
I did a quick internet search, and found this recipe for Almond Pound Cake on the Duncan Heins website… perfect! On a side note, that website is a fantastic resource for making “fancier” desserts from traditional boxed mixes — which you all know I love to do 🙂
It literally took less than 10 minutes to mix up the ingredients and get it in the oven (yes, I timed myself).
Recipe for Simple Almond Pound Cake:
Ingredients
- 1 White boxed cake mix
- 1 3.4 oz. pkg. vanilla instant pudding
- 4 eggs
- 1 c. water
- 1/3 c. vegetable oil
- 1 T. Almond Extract
- Sliced almonds, fresh berries, almond glaze, and/or powdered sugar for garnish (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350*F
- Grease and flour a 10″ bundt pan or two 9″ loaf pans (I made it both ways with excellent results)
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, except optional garnish items
- Beat at medium speed for about 2 minutes
- Pour batter into prepared pan(s)
- Bake at 350*F for 40-45 minutes or until center is set
- Let cool for 15-20 minutes in the pan(s) and then transfer onto a cooling rack
- Cool completely, slice and enjoy
I actually don’t love traditional cake — but I have a weakness for pound cake (I think I prefer the dense texture and lack of sugary frosting) and this pound cake will most definitely be added to my most favorite recipes in my recipe box!
I’ve already made it two more times, and I also tried freezing it with fantastic results. We’ve eaten it plain, with berries, with whipped cream, with powdered sugar, and with an almond glaze… all of which were completely delicious.
This is a fabulously delicious and simple recipe that anyone can master — and it’s SO much better than any pound cake you can buy in the stores!
What is your favorite type of pound cake?
Visit my virtual recipe box for more simple, delicious, family friendly, recipes!
Patty says
I’m getting ready to try this recipe…sounds so yummy. I was wondering if you freeze your cakes too. If so do you put them in ziploc bags. And do you leave them in large chunks or do you slice them. We would probably leave out a third or half to eat but I would like to freeze some too.
Thanks! I love your FB and blog!
Andrea says
yes, I freeze cake — all the time. I even mentioned at the end of this post that “I tried freezing it with excellent results” 🙂
Usually I just cut the cake in half and freeze half. And if it’s a frosted cake, you can actually frost it before you freeze it.
Hope this helps
Melissa says
I tweeked this recipe a little to lower the fat and cholesterol content and made over the weekend. I ended up using:
• 1 White boxed cake mix
•1 one oz. pkg. sugar free vanilla instant pudding
•one cup of egg substitute (like liquid egg whites or Egg Beaters)
•1 c. water
•1/2 c. plain apple sauce
•1 T. Almond Extract
The cakes turned out fantastic even with my lower fat substitutes. Thank you for posting the original recipe!
Andrea says
Yum, thanks for sharing your “healthier” recipe Melissa! I guess this gives me one more reason to make another cake 🙂
Melissa says
No problem. Yay for more cake! 🙂 The one thing I did notice is that I had to bake my version of the cakes a little longer than the original recipe said to. I think they were in my oven for about 50-55 minutes.
Jennifer@ work home balance says
I’ve been making the lemon version of this recipe for years, and it’s my absolute favorite. I use either a yellow or lemon cake mix and lemon pudding and bake in a bundt cake pan that I spray with PAM first then coat with sugar (just like you would grease and flour a pan). My recipe also calls for 2 tablespoons of poppyseeds which makes it look fancy when you cut it. It gets rave reviews when I bring it to any function.
Ann says
Thanks for bailing me out! After we got home from church we found out several more people were coming for Sunday dinner in an hour than we had anticipated and that 4 people were coming over for supper. I popped 4 loaf pans (2 almond, 2 lemon) of pound cake into the oven immediately. We ate it warm at our noon dinner and will eat it cold at supper. What a lifesaver!
Amy says
One of my favorite last minute desserts is a Cuppa Cake. Its from the movie Steel Magnolia’s–one of my all time favorites…sniffle. Anyways….Truvy says “a cuppa sugar, a cuppa flour, and a cuppa fruit cocktail”
I use the no sugar added fruit cocktail and only about 2/3 a cup of sugar and it’s the perfect sweetness for me. Stir them together with a cup of self rising flour and bake for 45 minutes. Top it with vanilla ice cream and it’s really good! Annnnnd the best part…it only takes 3 minutes to make!
Ann says
Bake it in what size pan?
Amy says
I bake in an 8 x 8 sized pan.
CA Wine Club says
Great work and great ideas to learn about some delicious recipes
Flavia says
That sounds nice. I’ve never tried using boxed recipes for cakes, but love simple recipes.
Lynn says
LOVE pound cake & always have!!! My favorite is a sour cream pound cake that was my grandmother’s recipe but this sounds really good too! I’ll be trying the lemon version as well. I LOVE lemon cake! Thanks for the GREAT recipe!
kristin says
I’ve got 4lbs of strawberries that my son will eat about half of, but then I have to figure out a way to get everyone else to eat. And I have a never used bundt pan and new cake plate, so I think you just solved my problems!
Leanne says
I’ve made this same recipe with lemon cake mix and lemon pudding…its better than starbucks lemon pound cake…and you can make a whole cake for the cost of one slice! I have the ingredients to do the chocolate version, too! I can’t wait!
Wendy Jahns says
Thanks so much for the tip Leanne! I am so addicted to the Lemon pound cake from starbucks! You saved so much money my dear, THANK YOU!
Jd says
I need to make a sweet treat today and this sounds perfect. Neither of us are big fans of almond so I will just substitute vanilla. Should work? You are so funny…yesterday I was tired from painting, reorganizing and de-cluttering but still had dinner to make. My husband suggested that I didn’t have to cook but we could go out and eat. All I could think of was it would be a waste of money since we have a house full of food. I, a bit too loudly (I think) said “No, I want to cook” and got busy! LOL