8 Store-Bought Pound Cakes, Ranked From Worst To Best

When I was in culinary school, one of the very first cakes my fellow chefs-in-training and I made was pound cake — and we made it over and over and over again. Why? It's a true classic, built on the fundamentals of the creaming method, and mastering it teaches you so much about proper cake-making technique. I never minded the repetition — pound cake is delicious, and I still think it's the bomb.

I've used pound cake for everything from plated restaurant desserts to bakery sales when I owned my shop. It's the perfect base for showcasing seasonal fruit and sauces, and even now, when I host dinner parties, it makes frequent appearances as an effortless, crowd-pleasing dessert.

My mom, though a very good baker, was more of a store-bought pound cake loyalist. A hostess through and through, she kept it on hand for easy entertaining. Her brand of choice? Sara Lee. My brand of choice, though, is homemade. Still, I've always wondered how the store-bought versions really stack up. So, when the chance came to taste and rank them, I couldn't pass it up. Here are my findings based on taste and texture.

Bimbo Bakeries USA is part of Grupo Bimbo, which was founded in Mexico City in 1945. In addition to the Bimbo brand, the company's portfolio includes Sara Lee and Entenmann's — both featured on this list. I tasted Bimbo's Homestyle Pound Cake, though the line also includes variations with pecans, chocolate, and raisins. The pound cake is sold as a small, pre-sliced loaf (about 10.5 ounces) that's simply wrapped in cellophane and priced at a budget-friendly $3.29 at my local store. Unfortunately, that low price makes sense.

This pound cake was an easy choice for last place. Made with all shortening and sweetened with both sugar and corn syrup, it is also, not surprisingly, artificially flavored. As a result, the flavor is highly artificial and vaguely chemical, with a cloying taste that very quickly turned unpleasant. The texture wasn't any better. It was quite dry and crumbly, breaking apart easily when I handled it. This was one cake I was more than ready to move on from — quickly.

Smart & Final is a grocery and warehouse-style retailer that operates over 250 stores across California, Arizona, and Nevada. The chain sells a variety of private-label products under its First Street brand — everything from paper goods and fresh meats to beverages and desserts. One such item in the company's bakery lineup is the First Street Classic Pound Cake — a 16-ounce, unsliced loaf priced at $7.49, making it one of the higher-priced cakes on this list.

At first bite, the imbalance in the recipe was obvious. My immediate reaction was that this had way too much flour, which gave it a dry, pasty mouthfeel. In fact, its texture was more bread-like than cake-like, closer to the worst store-bought white bread — light, flavorless, and oddly chalky. Although butter does appear on the ingredient list, it's buried far enough down that it does little to help with flavor. Artificial flavor is present and unmistakable. While I can't speak to Smart & Final's other bakery items, this cake alone is enough to discourage me from trying them out in the future. As for why the First Street Classic Pound Cake ranked higher than Bimbo's Homestyle version, it came down to texture. First Street held together much better, while Bimbo's was way too crumbly. 

Pavilions is an upscale grocery store that's part of the Albertsons companies, with numerous grocery brands operating nationwide. Pavilions is considered one of its higher-end supermarkets, so I had high hopes for its in-store pound cake.

Pavilions' pound cake is sold unsliced and weighs just over 1 pound. It's baked in an attractive paper liner and wrapped in cellophane, which makes it perfect for gift-giving. Sadly, I wouldn't advise doing so. The cake is artificially flavored with sugar listed as the first ingredient. Butter is absent, replaced instead by canola oil, and the result is a flavor that's flat, fake-tasting, and ultimately unpleasant. Adding to my disappointment was the overly browned crust, which gave the cake an unappealing look. Despite these disappointments — and unlike the First Street Classic Pound cake — the Pavilions In-Store Pound Cake had a nice, tight crumb, an appealing yellow color, and truly looked homemade.

Walmart's take on pound cake is a modest 12-ounce, unsliced loaf baked in a paper liner and sold in a plastic clamshell container. It's made with an oil-based recipe that uses both natural and artificial flavors. It has an appealing golden color and a notably light feel for a pound cake, which initially gave me some hope.

Upon removing the loaf from the packaging, my hopes faded. The top crust was unusually wet and sticky, making the cake awkward and messy to slice. Still, I ventured on. Flavor-wise, the cake is straight-up sweet and has a distinctly artificial taste that unfortunately lingers on the palate for too long. The texture is equally disappointing — soft but quite pasty with no richness (there's no butter in the ingredient list.) Overall, this cake felt more like a mass-produced product, not the homemade, nostalgic treat we all crave. While it certainly wasn't a standout pound cake, Walmart's version surpassed Pavilions' because it delivered closer to what I expect from a budget bakery. On the other hand, Pavilions, an upscale grocer, set the bar much higher, and its cake fell far shorter.

As we reach the top four pound cakes in this ranking, I can finally say that we've reached a store-bought pound cake worth buying. The Entenmann's Pound Cake Snacks come packaged in the brand's signature white-and-blue box, which contains six individually wrapped mini cakes. The cakes have an appealing golden color and feel soft and light in hand. At about 1.5 ounces each, the portions are just right — enough to make me feel like I was getting my own personal treat without being overindulgent.

Once unwrapped, the tops were a bit sticky, but that didn't deter me. The cakes were pleasant to eat with a nice balance of sweetness, though the overall flavor was a bit muted. Texturally, they definitely resemble sponge cake more than a rich, buttery pound cake, and that's why this product lost some points. That said, they're made with both butter and shortening and have a soft, tender crumb that's enjoyable and easy to eat, unlike Walmart's Freshness Guaranteed Pound Cake, which failed to be appetizing in any way.

While this product didn't rank in the top three, it won me over in one specific way: my 8-year-old loved them. Thanks to the individual wrapping and lunchbox-friendly size, these mini cakes will definitely be making regular appearances in his school lunches.

Simple Joys Bakery offers cafe-style sliced cakes — locally, I've spotted them at Sprouts Farmers Market and Ralphs. The line offers a variety of cake flavors like vanilla, marble, and lemon, and they're typically sold in clamshells and pre-sliced for convenience. The Simple Joys Vanilla Iced Cake comes in eight slices, which I must admit, I didn't realize I'd appreciate so much. The individual slices make serving and snacking a breeze.

Pound cakes always deserve high-quality ingredients, and this cake's taste definitely shows why. The cake is made with butter and soybean oil, and it's wonderfully moist and flavorful. The vanilla flavor is strong, and the icing is creamy and downright irresistible. I made sure to try the cake without the icing, and it still impressed, but the frosting definitely takes it up a notch.

While it's not a true pound cake and lacks the classic richness, it ranked higher than Entenmann's because of its wonderful, natural flavor and higher-quality ingredients. The only reason it didn't place even higher is that it feels more like a celebration cake than a traditional pound cake. Still, it's delicious, and I would definitely buy it again.

Sara Lee Classic Pound Cake is a long 13-ounce loaf with a smooth, caramelized crust and a pale yellow interior. The crust is tight yet tender, with just enough heft to call it a pound cake. Sure enough, the first four ingredients are flour, sugar, butter, and eggs, and it's naturally flavored — a promising start.

This cake is simply delicious. I immediately understood why my mom chose it all those years ago to serve guests. Moist and buttery, it's delicious on its own and doesn't need any embellishments to jazz it up — though I certainly wouldn't turn down a slice topped with good ice cream, just like my mom used to enjoy. Its sweetness is perfectly balanced, making it an easy crowd-pleaser. Ultimately, Sara Lee Classic Pound Cake edged out Simple Joys Vanilla Iced cake because it tastes like a true pound cake. 

One important note: Don't look for this cake on the bakery shelves. It's stored in the freezer section alongside other desserts. So, a little planning is required, as it needs to be sliced and thawed before serving, but it defrosts quickly (about 15 minutes) and is well worth the wait.

This Costco pound cake is a whopping 31-ounce loaf, unsliced and baked in a simple paper liner. Priced at $6.99 at my local Costco, it's a great value. The cake boasts attributes that I look for in a good pound cake: light yet hearty, with a tight crumb that's easy to slice. Of all the cakes I tried, this one most closely resembles a homemade, classic pound cake recipe. 

It's made with all butter — thank you, Costco — along with sugar, flour, and eggs. While the cake contains both natural and artificial flavoring, there's nothing off-putting about the taste. In fact, the flavor is familiar and pleasantly balanced. With its rounded dome, dense yet tender texture, and satisfying level of moistness, it delivers classic pound-cake appeal. While Sara Lee's version excelled at consistency and comfort, Costco's Kirkland Signature All-Butter Pound Cake won out with its delicious, completely homemade flavor and all-butter formula. 

This pound cake is also quite versatile. It'd be fantastic layered with ice cream, slathered with whipped cream, or topped with summer berries. If I'm ever in a pinch and need to whip up a trifle in a hurry, the Kirkland Signature All-Butter Pound Cake is the cake I'd use.

I selected pound cakes based on what was readily available at my local grocery stores. To ensure the most accurate comparisons, I avoided flavored varieties like marbled or lemon, as well as any with mix-ins like nuts. Price was not a factor in selecting the pound cakes.

I tasted the pound cakes on the day they were purchased to ensure peak freshness. Each cake was tasted without any accompaniments, so I could fully appreciate the flavor of the product itself. My rankings were primarily based on flavor and texture. A pound cake ranked higher if it had a rich buttery flavor with balanced sweetness and if it had a soft, tender crumb that was even and tight. Ingredient quality (such as the use of real butter versus shortening or oil) and versatility — is the cake enjoyable on its own, or does it need toppings — were also considered.