Amaretto Pound Cake with a hot Amaretto Butter Glaze is the perfect dessert for every occasion! Classic pound cake gets an Italian spin with a hint of Amaretto Liqueur!
Amaretto Pound Cake is a rich and dense cake made from just a few ingredients. You’ll love the rich texture and hot butter glaze of this classic amaretto cake.
If you love Italian desserts, try this classic Ciambella, Olive Oil Bundt Cake recipe, or these Italian Pistachio Cookies! For more pound cake recipes, try this Sour Cream Pound Cake, Mascarpone Pound Cake, or this Cannoli Pound Cake recipe.
You’ll Love Amaretto Pound Cake
Traditional pound cake gets it name from how it is made: a pound each of butter, sugar, flour, and eggs. Pound cake tastes moist, rich, and slightly dense, and is staple in any baker’s kitchen.
Amaretto Pound Cake is similar to the traditional, but with a hint of amaretto flavor and a hot amaretto butter glaze. Letting the hot glaze soak into the bundt cake, adds a delicious layer of flavor with a slightly sticky texture.
Amaretto Pound Cake is the perfect recipe to have on hand for the holidays, birthdays, coffee dates, or brunches. This cake is both decadent and dense, tasting almost like a condensed yellow cake, but with a hint of almond flavor.
Amaretto bundt cake is a great treat for almond lovers. Amaretto is an almond liqueur that cooks off in the cake leaving the most amazing almond flavor.
So, if you love almond desserts, be sure to give this Amaretto Pound Cake a try! This is sure to be your new favorite pound cake recipe!
Ingredients
Butter: use room temperature unsalted butter or salted butter.
Sour cream: full fat sour cream adds a rich flavor. You could substitute cream cheese instead.
Sugar: regular granulated sugar works best.
Amaretto: the classic almond-flavored liqueur adds flavor to the base of the cake as well as the glaze.
Vanilla: vanilla extract is a great addition to the Amaretto pound cake. For more almond flavor, add a teaspoon of almond extract.
Flour: use regular all purpose flour.
Eggs: the eggs act as a leavening agent for the cake. You’ll need six large room temperature eggs total.
How to Make Amaretto Pound Cake
Amaretto pound cake comes together quickly and is made in one bowl. The key is start with room temperature butter and a very large mixing bowl.
Firstly, preheat oven to 325 degrees. You want this cake to cook low and slow, otherwise you risk the edges being done before the middle. Next, grease a standard size bundt cake pan with butter and flour, or nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
Step 1: prepare the batter
In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, use an electric mixer to cream butter, sour cream, and sugar and together until light and fluffy; about two minutes.
Then, add in the Amaretto and vanilla (and almond extract, if using) and mix until combined. Add in the flour mixture and mix until thickened.
Lastly, beat in the large eggs, one at time on low speed, until the cake batter is fully combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl.
You’ll notice that there is no leavening agent (i.e. baking soda or baking powder) in this recipe. Rest assured that this is not a typo as pound cake does not need these to rise.
Step 2: bake
Pour batter into the prepared bundt cake pan and bake in preheated oven for 65-75 minutes, or until the cake edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan. You can also test the cake doneness using a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake.
Amaretto Butter Glaze
During the last 5-10 minutes of baking, make the glaze for the cake. Note that this glaze is not going to be poured over the top of the cake, but rather allowed to seep in through holes poked into the bottom of the cake.
Step 3: make the glaze
To start, add butter, sugar, amaretto, and water to a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk mixture while bringing to a low simmer. Reduce heat and continue whisking mixture for about 3 minutes. Turn off heat.
Step 4: poke holes in cake and add glaze
Once the Amaretto pound cake is done, remove from oven. While the cake is in the pan, use a fork or skewer to poke holes all over the cake. Use a butter knife to pull the sides of the cake away from the pan, including the center.
Carefully pour glaze over the cake. Let the cake cool and allow the glaze to seep into the cake entirely, before removing cake pan. To do so, simply loosen the cake edges, place a plate over top of the cake, and carefully flip the pound cake over on to the plate.
To serve, dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar. For a more decadent serving option, top with a dollop or fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
For a prettier presentation, you could also whip up a quick glaze for the top of the cake using powdered sugar, amaretto, and milk. Just stir together and drizzle over the Amaretto Pound Cake. Top with sliced almonds if desired.
Tips on the Perfect Bundt Cake Pan
When it comes to Bundt Cake pans, there are so many different styles to choose from. What all of these cake pans have in common is that they are circular in shape with a hole in the middle – similar to a giant donut.
The standard 12-cup bundt pan is a fluted cake pan with waves or ridges around the side. I have my used my simple Cuisinart Classic Non-Stick Bundt Cake pan for the past 10 years, and it’s still great! It is durable, non-stick, and light in color, which helps yield a more even cooking time and is perfect for this Amaretto Pound Cake recipe.
One of my favorite Bundt Cake pans is the Nordic Ware Jubilee Bundt Cake Pan. This pan creates a gorgeous diamond-patterned shape, that’s perfect for holding glaze or even blueberries, like I did for my Blueberry Lemon Bundt Cake.
When it comes to unique Bundt Cake pans, Nordic Ware has the best options. You can get an elegant heart-shaped bundt pan for Valentine’s Day, a pine forest bundt pan for the holidays, or a copper rose bundt pan that’s great for any special occasion.
No matter what pan you choose, always make sure to throughly grease and flour the pan before adding the batter. The non-stick coating just isn’t enough to keep the cake from sticking. Spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray or use Baker’s Joy Non-Stick Spray with Flour to make sure your cakes come out clean every time.
Delicious Bundt Cake Recipes
Amaretto Pound Cake with Amaretto Butter Glaze
Equipment
- standard bundt cake pan (10-12 cup pan)
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened (two sticks)
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 cups sugar
- ¼ cup Amaretto Liqueur
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 6 large eggs
Amaretto Butter Glaze
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup butter (half a stick)
- 2 tablespoons Amaretto Liqueur
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat a nonstick bundt pan very well with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sour cream, and sugar until fluffy; about two minutes. Add in the amaretto and vanilla and mix to combine. Pour in the flour and mix to combine. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until mixture is fully combined.
- Pour batter into prepared bundt cake pan and bake for 65 to 75 minutes, or until the a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean or the sides of the cake start to pull away from the pan.
- During the last 5 minutes of baking, make the glaze. In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the glaze ingredients: sugar, butter, amaretto, and water. Bring to a low boil, reduce heat, and simmer for three minutes.
- When cake is done cooking, remove from oven and use either a fork or skewer to poke holes all over the cake while it is still in the pan. Use a butter knife to loosen the cake around it's edges in the pan, including the center hole. Carefully pour the hot glaze over the cake allowing the glaze to seep into the cake.
- Once all of the glaze has been absorbed, loosen the edges and center of the cake again using a butter knife. Flip cake over onto serving platter. Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar before serving.
This cake is so delicious. It’s very hard not to have another slice when you get up in the morning. 🤭 I saved a little of the glaze and poured it over the top after removing the cake from the pan.
Ingredient amounts for us rookies!
All of the ingredients amounts are in the recipe card. Let me know what I can help you with ?
Can you use almond flour instead of regular flour?
You could but almond flour would make the cake more dense and moist. I would suggest using a combination of both flours, or if you are looking for a gluten-free option, just stick with a GF cup-for-cup flour brand. Hope this helps!
Hi, Can I use cake flour instead of all purpose flour?
Sure! That works
You said if wanted, to make a glaze with sugar, Amarreto and milk. But how much of each? Is it the powdered sugar or regular sugar? Im new to baking and not understanding. I want the pretty heavier glaze with almonds. How much of thise three things should i use?
I would do about 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar whisked with about a tablespoon each of milk and Amaretto. Enjoy 🙂
No leavening? I assume the eggs create the rise? I have had other pound cakes that were just too dense and sometimes gummy– does this cake have adequate expansion?
Pound cakes don’t have leavening agents.
Will be making this cake for Christmas. Would it be ok to use a stand mixer??
yes! So much easier that way too. Enjoy!
It was very good! I loved the glaze and how it was put on the bottom of the cake.
Thanks for the comment. So happy you enjoyed it!
Just mouth watering! I adore almond anything and this beautiful bundt cake is right up my alley. Can’t wait to make it! Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe!
Can you use almond extract instead of Vanilla or maybe half and half?
Almond extract can be really strong and overpowering. You can add it, but I wouldn’t do anymore than 1/4 teaspoon to start.
Husband said one of the best cakes he had ever ate!!! Will for sure be making it again and again!!!
Thanks for the comment! So happy you all loved it!! 🙂
Hi – Loved the recipe. Used salted butter since the recipe did not call for salt otherwise. Used salted butter for the glaze, too. Topped it with a heavier powdered sugar glaze and tossed on dry roasted sliced almonds. Everyone loved it. Thank you!
Thanks for the comment! So happy you loved the recipe 🙂
okay I am not an experienced baker and have a tendency of my food coming out not good. This cake was awesome! The only thing is when I went to flip out on my platter, it fell apart. I’m thinking maybe I should have let it cool down first. But the way I read the recipe after the glaze absorbs and you run your knife around the edges then you flip it right after. So what do you think?
Glad you enjoyed the cake! I would say that you want to make sure you use a butter knife to loosen the edges before flipping the cake out. Also, be sure to adequately grease the bundt pan. And yes, letting it cool for at least 10-15 minutes in the pan before flipping it out would’ve helped as well. Thanks for the comment. Enjoy!
HUGE HIT!!! Even the No-Carb eaters couldn’t resist and said it was well worth the “cheat”.
I’ll be making this over and over.
Thank you!
So happy to hear that you loved it! It’s definitely cheat-worthy 🙂
We love Amaretto flavored desserts! So tasty and good! That glaze is perfect on top of this cake!
This is such a gorgeous cake! It was a huge hit with my family.
This cake is so moist and makes a great after dinner treat! 🙂
This pound cake is on a whole new level with the amaretto added to the recipe. One of my favorite flavors to use in baking.
I love your recipe, I’ll be making it again!
Just made this tonight. Used frangelico instead of ameretto and didn’t use the butter glaze and this tasted just like my Ukrainian grandmother’s poundcakes. I’ve been trying for years to recreate that memory because unfortunately no one got that recipe from her. Thank you! I will be making this again!