Pound Cake Vs Coffee Cake: The Difference Between These Baked Goods

Pound cake doesn't actually weigh a pound and coffee cake doesn't actually contain any coffee. Despite this irony, both confectionery staples appear in our roundup of 15 beginner bakes that every novice should master. These cakey pillars have established and retained their place in the timeless baking oeuvre, and they're as unique as they are quintessential. So, what makes 'em different?

For starters, pound cake is more about dense crumb and high moisture, while coffee cake features a bread-like cake with crumble topping. Also, whereas coffee cake is rippled with sticky cinnamon filling, poundcake comprises a uniform batter, sans-filling and sans-topping. Both cakes are made from four basic baking staples (flour, butter, sugar, and eggs) but coffee cake also includes yeast and baking powder to create an airy rise. Leavening agents are omitted from dense, compact pound cake, which also uses a higher ratio of butter and eggs to flour and sugar than coffee cake. 

As its namesake implies, coffee cake is customarily served as an accouterment to a hot cup of coffee; pound cake doesn't share this linkage with any particular food or drink pairing, served as a post-dinner dessert instead of a breakfast or brunch offering. Although, whatever time of day you enjoy them, both can be customized with different flavor variations. In coffee cake, fruity flavors like blueberry, cherry, apple, or peach are common. Pound cake, on the other hand, tends to be flavored with different glazes and subtler mix-ins.

Pound cake, as its weighty name suggests, is dense and heavy. That moist, tender chew is a far cry from the airy texture of "regular" cake thanks to an orchestra of rich ingredients. Per the lore, "pound cake" first got its name from its early preparation, which called for one pound each of butter, flour, sugar, and eggs. In the early 18th century, before literacy was commonplace, British bakers could easily remember and pass along this straightforward assembly without a written recipe. That recipe yielded a substantial cake totaling four pounds, but today's pound cake recipes have more tightly honed the ingredient ratios for improved texture.

Pound cakes are customarily baked in a loaf pan or bundt pan. These dense beauties take significantly longer than regular cakes to bake, requiring a full hour or more in the oven. To drive that signature moisture factor home, many bakers brush their still-warm pound cakes in a generous layer of simple syrup or glaze immediately after removing them from the oven.

A buttery vanilla flavor marks a classic pound cake. The foundational ingredient quartet (eggs, flour, sugar, and butter) shines in this straightforward yet effective dessert, which delivers smooth, comforting tones of soft vanilla custard and a rich, tender bite. Pound cakes can also take on imaginative flavors. Vanilla bean, tangy sour cream, or lemon glaze are all common. We're digging this non-traditional banana cinnamon roll pound cake recipe and this summery strawberry lemonade pound cake recipe.

Coffee cake is the tasty intersection where bready cake and crumbly streusel topping meet. That airy, not-too-sweet cake is rippled with a sticky cinnamon-swirl filling, all capped by a layer of streusel. That textural streusel is typically an uncomplicated combination of butter, sugar, and flour. Coffee cake often includes walnuts or chopped pecans, whereas cloud-like pound cake does not include nuts. Some preparations also add sour cream into the coffee cake batter for rich moisture, but this is neither necessary nor universal.

Like British pound cake, coffee cake also shares 1700s European roots, but with origins in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The treat is thought to have evolved specifically from the German tradition of "Kaffee und Kuchen."

Coffee cake's distinct batter-and-topping layers are assembled and baked in a square baking pan or casserole dish. The treat can also be shaped into a ring and baked, and requires just half the baking time of pound cake, roughly 25 to 30 minutes. On the palate, coffee cake can lean more savory and tangy than dessert-like depending on the choice of filling. For instance, a cherry coffee cake is markedly sweeter than a walnut-cheese coffee cake. Whatever the choice of filling, coffee cake delivers a warm, cozy vibe thanks to its generous tinge of cinnamon spice. For an elevated variation, we're loving this whiskey caramel-glazed coffee cake recipe.