Grinch Pound Cake

From the outside, this pound cake looks so cute and ready for Christmas. But inside, there’s a special surprise, a nod to our favorite Christmas villain: A heart can be seen in every slice, reminiscent of the Grinch’s heart that’s three sizes too small. With a few boxes of cake mix and a bit of red food dye, it’s actually really easy to make this effect. You can even turn the outer pound cake Grinch green! Serve Grinch pound cake with other recipes inspired by the Grinch for a full Whoville-worthy spread to enjoy at a holiday party or during a Christmas movie marathon.

Grinch Pound Cake Ingredients

• Pound cake mix: Since we’re technically baking two loaves of pound cake (which will be joined into one—more on that later), you’ll need two boxes of pound cake mix. Or, feel free to use your favorite homemade pound cake recipe!
• Food coloring: Red food coloring will turn the pound cake red to make the heart. You can use red food paste if that’s all you have on hand.
• Almond extract: Almond extract creates a pleasant nutty flavor that’s popular around Christmastime. You can substitute peppermint if you’d like.
• Confectioners’ sugar: I always like to sift my confectioners’ sugar a bit to knock out any lumps. It’s hard to whisk them all out once you add the milk.
• Milk: Milk mixes with the confectioners’ sugar, turning it into a lovely glaze for the top.
• Sprinkles: Top the loaf with red and green sprinkles for an on-theme Christmas decoration.

Directions

Step 1: Bake the red pound cake

Preheat the oven according to the pound cake’s package directions. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.

Prepare one of the pound cake mixes according to the package directions, adding the food coloring and almond extract before mixing the batter. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake and cool the pound cake as the package directs.

Step 2: Cut it into hearts

Cut the cooled pound cake into 1-inch-thick slices. Cut the slices with a 2-1/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, then cut a small piece off the bottom of each heart to create a level base. Save the remaining cake for another use.

Step 3: Line them in the pan

Stand the heart slices in the center of a greased 9×5-inch loaf pan, packing them into a straight line.

Step 4: Pour the other batter over the hearts and bake

Prepare the other pound cake mix according to the package directions. Pour the batter around and over the heart slices. You will not need all the batter. Bake and cool the pound cake as the package directs.

Step 5: Decorate the pound cake

In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, almond extract and enough milk to reach your desired glaze consistency. Pour the glaze over the completely cooled pound cake, allowing some of the glaze to flow over the sides. Top the glaze with sprinkles, if desired.

Recipe Variations

• Turn it Grinch green: Use food coloring to turn the pound cake batter for the larger loaf green like the Grinch’s fur.
• Make the heart “grow”: If you have more than one size heart cutter, you can cut three sizes of the heart and line them up consecutively in the pan to mimic the scene where the Grinch’s heart grows three sizes.

How to Store Grinch Pound Cake

Store Grinch heart surprise pound cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. You could also store it in the fridge for up to four days, but keep in mind that the pound cake will dry out a bit.

Can you freeze Grinch pound cake?

Yes, you can freeze Grinch pound cake. Once it cools completely to room temperature, skip the decorating step and wrap it in a few layers of storage wrap. Place the pound cake in an airtight container and freeze for up to two months. Thaw the pound cake on the counter, then decorate as desired.

Grinch Pound Cake Tips

Can you make the pound cake or heart in any flavor?

Yes, you can make either pound cake any flavor you’d like, but keep in mind the flavor’s color. The heart pound cake can be red velvet flavored if you want to keep it red. For the larger pound cake batter, feel free to make it French vanilla, butter, banana, buttermilk or lemon-flavored. If you’re not worried about the colors, use any pound cake recipes you’d like, so long as they bake in a 9×5-inch pan.

How else can you decorate a Grinch heart surprise pound cake?

Decorate the Grinch heart surprise pound cake by turning the glaze a Grinch green and using all green sprinkles. You could also swap in vanilla buttercream or cream cheese frosting for the glaze.

Can you bake this pound cake in an 8×4-inch loaf pan?

You can bake this Grinch heart surprise pound cake in an 8×4-inch loaf pan, so long as the heart cutouts aren’t too big to fit in the pan. You don’t want them to touch the long edges or the red will show through the sides. Also, be careful not to overflow the pan since there will be a lot of extra pound cake batter due to the smaller size pan.