Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
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This easy Lemon Pound Cake recipe makes a dream dessert for lemon lovers! Made with fresh lemon juice and zest and topped with a lemon buttermilk glaze, this moist pound cake is bursting with delicious flavor!
This Lemon Pound Cake’s sweet, slightly tart flavor happily greets your tastebuds as you take your first bite. Soft, moist lemon pound cake is drizzled with fresh, luscious lemon glaze for an out-of-this-world taste, making this homemade Lemon Pound Cake a favorite dessert recipe!
This pound cake is amazing! I think it’s the absolute best lemon pound cake and tops all the others! I was not a big fan of lemon pound cakes before developing this recipe. Others I’ve had before didn’t interest me – either they were dry, or the lemon didn’t taste like real, fresh lemon.
I was determined when I set out to develop this recipe many years ago, and I created it with my Mama’s delicious Cream Cheese Pound Cake recipe in mind. That was definitely the right decision because I love this Lemon Pound Cake, and so do my family and friends. It’s not too sweet, not too tart, but just right. And it’s such an easy lemon pound cake to make! It’s perfect for Easter or Mother’s Day, as well as entertaining and family gatherings anytime!
But don’t just save it for holidays and parties – it is the perfect complement to barbecues, family picnics, and Sunday suppers!
The bright lemon flavor, coupled with the sweet, moist pound cake, really makes each bite delicious perfection!
This cake is simple to make, has only a handful of basic ingredients, yet is loaded with fresh, scrumptious flavor! Let me tell you how I make it.
How to Make Lemon Pound Cake
To make this, you’ll need:
Ingredients
Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full listing of ingredients, instructions, notes, and estimated nutritional information.
Butter, Cream Cheese and Eggs
Allow the butter and cream cheese to soften to room temperature before mixing so they will cream together well and combine with the sugar smoothly. This will give the cake a rich and creamy taste and moist texture.
Also, allow the eggs to reach room temperature before mixing them into the cake batter. As with most pound cakes, the recipe calls for a good many eggs—six large eggs are in this cake, giving it a sturdy yet tender crumb.
Lemons
Use fresh lemon juice and zest for this cake’s bright, delicious lemon flavor. Juicing and zesting fresh lemons is simple, and the result is worth it! You should need approximately two medium-large plump lemons—one lemon should yield enough juice and zest for the cake itself, and a second lemon should yield the same for the glaze. However, be sure to measure the juice and the zest to be sure you’ve got the correct amount for the recipe, just in case the lemons used are smaller than those I’ve described.
The fresh lemon gives this pound cake its perfect brightness, which makes such a difference in the taste of the cake – making it the best lemon pound cake!
Resource: How Much Juice Is In One Lemon
Sugar, Flour, and Salt
Sugar and flour are simple yet essential ingredients you’d expect in the recipe. I use granulated sugar for the cake itself and powdered sugar (confectioner’s sugar) for the lemon buttermilk glaze. All-purpose is the type of flour needed for the pound cake recipe.
Just a tiny bit of salt balances the sweetness of the pound cake.
Vanilla Extract
The vanilla extract enhances the flavor of this cake, and by using the best available, you can prevent any flavors that may detract from the recipe. I prefer using my homemade vanilla extract or a high-quality store-bought vanilla. I don’t recommend using imitation vanilla flavoring, as I’ve found that it can leave a bitter aftertaste.
Resource: How to Make Vanilla Extract
Buttermilk
Buttermilk is used for the lemon buttermilk glaze and is essential to its flavor, so don’t skip it. The glaze only uses a tablespoon, so if you don’t have it on hand, see how to make my buttermilk substitute.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Cream ingredients and add eggs. In a large mixing bowl, mix together – or cream together – the room-temperature softened butter and cream cheese with the sugar until fluffy. Then, add one egg at a time to the creamed mixture and mix after each addition until all the eggs are incorporated into the mixture.
Finish making the cake batter. Add the lemon juice and lemon zest to the mixture and combine well. Add the flour, salt, and vanilla and mix until the batter is just combined well but do not overmix.
Bake the cake. Pour the cake batter into the prepared bundt or tube pan. Place pan in preheated oven and bake until the cake becomes golden brown and a skewer inserted into it comes out clean. (About 1 hour and 15-30 minutes). You can follow my tips for how to tell when your cake is done.
Whisk together the glaze. As the cake is cooling, whisk together the ingredients for the glaze and allow it to sit until the cake is completely cooled.
Let the cake cool. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then carefully turn it out onto a wire rack and allow it to finish cooling. This step is important because if the cake is allowed to remain in the pan to cool too long, the cake may possibly stick to the insides of the pan. Once cooled completely, place the pound cake on your desired cake stand or cake plate and prepare to glaze it.
Glaze the cake. Drizzle the zesty Lemon Buttermilk Glaze onto the pound cake. Please do not skip making this glaze. It is a fantastic part of this cake!
Serve the cake and enjoy!
Storage Tips
To store: Place completely cooled cake in an airtight container or under a cake dome for up to 3 to 4 days.
To freeze: Wait to glaze if you plan to freeze the baked and cooled cake immediately. Wrap the baked and cooled cake tightly with plastic wrap, then foil. Store the wrapped cake in a freezer bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw and serve, unwrap and allow to thaw completely before slicing. Glaze the cake after it’s thawed completely and just before serving for best results.
More Favorite Desserts
Here’s my family’s favorite Lemon Pound Cake recipe. I hope you love it as much as we do!
Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Lemon Pound Cake
- 1 1/2 cups (339 g) butter
- 1 (8-ounce) package (227 g) cream cheese
- 6 large (300 g) eggs
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon (6 g) lemon zest
- 3 cups (594 g) sugar
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (2.8 g) kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon (14 g) vanilla extract
For the Lemon Buttermilk Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups (170.25 g) confectioner’s sugar
- 2 tablespoons (28 g) lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon (6 g) lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon (14.18 g) buttermilk
Instructions
For the Lemon Pound Cake
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare bundt or tube pan by brushing well with homemade pan release or by coating with shortening or butter and flouring light. Set aside.
- Let the butter, cream cheese, and eggs come to room temperature. Cream together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add lemon juice and zest and combine well. Add flour and salt and vanilla. Mix until just well-combined but do not over mix. Pour the cake batter into the prepared bundt or tube pan.
- Bake until golden brown and skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 – 30 minutes. When cake is done, cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Then carefully turn the cake out onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
For the Lemon Buttermilk Glaze
- As the cake is cooling, whisk together ingredients confectioner’s sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and buttermilk to make the glaze. Allow to sit until cake has fully cooled, then drizzle over top of lemon pound cake.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
I made this lemon pound cake for Thanksgiving and my family was impressed! The cake tasted amazing, the lemon flavors popped, and the glaze was the perfect addition. Thank you so much for this recipe! This was my first pound cake and I’m excited to make this again.
Thanks so much, Sarah. I’m so glad everyone loved your first pound cake.
Would this work with GF flour?
Alycia, you can use Gluten Free flour in this recipe. I hope you enjoy!
I just made this pound cake today. Followed the directions without any changes. It is so moist and absolutely delicious. Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Stephanie, I’m thrilled that you loved this lemon pound cake and the recipe worked so well for you. It is a favorite around my house.
I’ve never baked pound cake before so I decided to try your recipe & it’s so good. I forgot to add the salt but both the cake & glaze are perfect for each other. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I’ll try to make it with orange next time.
I love that your first time baking a pound cake turned out so well with this recipe, Danna. Let me know how you like it as orange pound cake if you try it.
by Far this was the best lemon pound cake I ever made, I did change the vanilla extract in the cake to lemon extract. but this was absolutely the best cake I ever made. I ate the whole cake myself. I couldn’t stop eating it.
Thanks so much, Traci! I’m so glad you loved this lemon pound cake. It has been a favorite around my house for years.
Made this cake today. Delicious!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the lemon pound cake, Cynthia.
I’d like to try with orange instead of lemon. Would I need to change anything? Less sugar?
Rosemary, I haven’t made this as an orange pound cake here is Heather’s comment: “I made this recipe for the first time last night, although I changed the lemon to orange, and it was perfect. It rose like it should and browned to perfection. This will be my go to recipe from now on.
Thank you so much for sharing!” If you try it an orange cake, I hope you enjoy.
This is the only and best version I have ever used. I’m a small town Southern Girl and this is one of the first things you learn in Grandma’s kitchen. This is similar, but this version is the one. I’ll include in my family collection. it’s that good. The cream cheese and buttermilk glaze is the key to moisture everytime, buttermilk add that compliment to the glaze make all the difference.
Thanks, Valencia! I love how moist this cake is, too. I appreciate that you are adding it to your collection of recipes.
Hi Robyn – love your recipes ! On this one, I have for years make a cream cheese pound cake just like this recipe except for the addition of the lemon/zest. What surprised me was 1 teaspoon of salt. My recipe calls for a pinch of salt (1/8th or so). Because of the lemon, is that why the salt is a full 1 teaspoon? Seems like a lot. But you are the expert, so am asking why. Thanks!
April, I’ve always used a teaspoon of kosher salt in my Cream Cheese Pound Cake as well as this one. That is the way my mother always made hers. This lemon pound cake recipe is based upon her cream cheese cake recipe.
Is there no leavening in this recipe??
There is no chemical leavening agent in this pound cake. The eggs and air beaten into the batter cause the cake to rise. I hope you enjoy the cream cheese pound cake.
Would it benefit from a lemon simple syrup being brushed over the cake?
Would that be too much?
Shevaun, I have not added a lemon simple syrup on this cake. I have found the lemon buttermilk glaze I add is enough. But you can try it and see if you like the added lemon syrup.