Enjoy classic bakery flavor at home with this Philly Fluff cake recipe! This extra-rich cream cheese pound cake uses the reverse creaming method for a supremely tender, velvety soft crumb. It's one party-perfect Bundt cake that stays moist for days.

A cross-section of a Philly fluff Bundt cake, dusted with powdered sugar.

As a kid I was TOTALLY unaware of how good I had it that a relative would bring a Philly Fluff cake from one of the local, old school New Jersey bakeries to family parties. I assumed everyone could tuck into Philly Fluffs on a semi-regular basis before realizing it was a tri-state area specialty.

Now living far outside Philly Fluff territory, I've had to take matter into my own hands if I wanted a taste of what I think is the world's most perfect cream cheese pound cake. This recipe delivers!

What makes Philly Fluff cake special?

A fabulous creation originating from the now-closed Bruce's Bakery on Long Island, NY, a Philly Fluff is an ultra rich, even more velvety soft, and seriously impressive cream cheese pound cake with a very fine crumb thanks to the reverse-creaming method used. Despite its name, it's not a overly squishy, spongy, or airy kind of cake.

While I'm most familiar with the plain variety of Philly Fluff baked in a Bundt pan, you can sometimes find it available in loaf form and/or with chocolate swirled in. No matter the shape, a heavy dusting of powdered sugar over top is a delicious must.

A partially-sliced Philly fluff cake on a cake stand.

The Recipe 4-1-1

This Philly Fluff recipe is adapted from the one shared by Bruce himself. I bought a used copy of the Bruce's Bakery cookbook so I could see with my own eyes how he makes it. Three things jumped out:

The Philly Fluff recipe uses reverse creaming. In short, this is when you mix together the fat and the flour before adding liquids. This hinders gluten development. Hello, tender, fine, ultra soft and moist crumb.
The original also calls for shortening... I'm not anti-shortening by any means (I use it in cucidati pastry), but my preference is to use butter in cakes like this for a deviation from the original. I replaced the shortening with European-style butter (slightly more fat than standard American butter) to make up for some of the missing shortening fat and find the result truly decadent. Could it be a smidge more light if I use shortening? Possibly, but I find my all-butter version of a Philly Fluff so nicely soft from the reverse creaming method that I think the better flavor that comes from using butter a worthy trade-off.
...and chocolate. I omit this for a pure cream cheese pound cake, like the one I grew up eating. Just my personal Philly Fluff preference.

Other tweaks I made include reducing the amount of cream cheese by two ounces to more conveniently use one 8-ounce block, and slightly bumping up the sugar to account for the lack of chocolate. Oh, and adding a smidge more salt to counter the extra sugar.

The verdict? Absolute perfection. It nailed my scent memory from the jump, and my taste memory followed in short order. This Philly Fluff cake recipe produces one seriously decadent, perfect cream cheese bundt cake. From personal experience, my crowd goes nuts when this thing shows up.

A slice of powdered sugar dusted Philly fluff cake on a plate.

What You'll Need to Make a Philly Fluff

The below is just an overview of some of the key ingredients for Philly Fluff. See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for all of the specifics.

Philly fluff cake ingredients text-labeled in separate bowls.

Cream cheese: This is cream cheese in block form (not whipped in a tub). I highly recommend using full-fat cream cheese and not the reduced-fat Neufchâtel alternative for the most decadent flavor.
Butter: I like to be a little extra and use European-style butter sticks as doing so will net you around 4% extra fat (remember I'm replacing some of the original recipe's shortening, which is all fat, with butter, which contains some water). That said, using standard American butter sticks are just fine, as is replacing one stick of butter with shortening (see recipe card notes). The other ingredients certainly don't skimp on richness.
Flour: Weighing your flour is the gold standard to ensure a perfect bake, but if you don't use a scale, go with the spoon-and-level method detailed in the recipe card. Too little flour can cause a sunken, dense cake, while too much will dry it out.
Baking powder: Philly Fluff batter is heavy (and there's a lot of it) so making sure your baking powder is fresh is key in making sure it rises high. I prefer to use a double-acting baking powder that's also aluminum-free to avoid any stray metallic tastes that some people can pick up.

All this comes together in a 12-cup Bundt pan (paid link, this is my Nordic Ware pan), which you'll thoroughly grease with butter and flour, or coat with a non-stick pan release spray that does the job (like Baker's Joy) or your favorite tried-and-trusted homemade cake goop.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Thoroughly grease and flour your Bundt pan, taking care to cover all of the angles, creases, and crevices of your particular Bundt pan.

Creamed butter and cream cheese in a glass mixing bowl with a spatula.

Step 2: Cream the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes until lighter in color and fluffier in texture.

Flour mixed into the creamed butter and cream cheese.

Step 3: Separately combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, and fully mix it into the creamed cream cheese/butter on low speed.

The batter after mixing in part of the sugar and all of the eggs.

Step 4: Add 1 cup of the sugar and the eggs (add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition). Scrape down the sides as needed.

The finished Philly Fluff batter in a glass mixing bowl.

Step 5: Mix in the remaining 1 ¼ cup sugar and the vanilla extract until nice and smooth. Take care to scrape down the sides and up from the bottom to ensure even mixing.

Philly Fluff batter poured into a prepared Bundt pan.

Step 6: Pour/dollop the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, gently leveling off the top so it's even.

Baked Philly Fluff pound cake in a Bundt pan.

Step 7: Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350°F, or until deeply golden-brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the Philly Fluff cool in the pan for 15 minutes.

Philly Fluff inverted out of the pan onto a plate to cool completely.

Step 8: Once the time is up, very gently run a thin spatula alongside the edges of the pan to ensure the cake will remove cleanly, then invert it onto a plate to cool completely.

Tips and Tricks

Don't skip greasing and flouring. Even with a non-stick Bundt pan, it's so important to thoroughly coat the pan with pan-release spray or with butter and flour to ensure a clean release. With all the work and ingredients that goes into making a big cake like this, I'd hate for you to have any trouble right at the end.
Room temperature ingredients for best results. Softening both the butter and cream cheese and bringing the eggs up to room temperature allows the batter to come together most efficiently for an even, soft texture.
Don't use a smaller pan. There's a lot of batter here and you'll overflow a smaller (10-cup) Bundt pan.
Take its temperature. While you can use the toothpick test to determine when your Philly Fluff cake is done, an instant-read thermometer can help you tell when it's perfectly baked. Aim for around 205-210°F.
Wait to coat with powdered sugar. Powdered sugar will melt and disappear into a warm cake, so hold off decorating it until it has completely cooled.
Serving suggestion. I usually serve Philly Fluff cake alongside fresh berries. It has such a rich flavor and moist texture that I don't find it needs whipped cream, ice cream, or anything extra like that (though go for it if that's your preference).

Three slices of Philly Fluff pound cake on plates with berries.

Serving and Storing

Serving: If possible, I recommend baking a Philly Fluff the day before you plan to serve it. In my experience this leads to ultra smooth, clean slices as the cake has more time to settle in.

Once it's entirely cool it's still fine to slice and serve same-day, but the slices may be a bit more shaggy. See the difference below: the slice on the left side of the cake was made hours after baking, while the right slice was made the following day.

A portion of the Philly Fluff Bundt cake, one side sliced the day of baking, the other sliced smooth the following day.

Storage: Once cooled, store Philly Fluff cake at room temperature for up to 4-5 days covered with plastic wrap to retain moisture. The refrigerator can dry out baked goods.

Freezing Philly Fluff: If you know you won't be able to get through all of the cake in that time frame, snugly wrap individual slices in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer bag (with all excess air pressed out) and freeze for up to several months for optimal freshness. The slices thaw pretty quickly at room temperature when ready to enjoy.