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 huge 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’m in love with this Lemon Pound Cake, and so are 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! I know you’ll love it too!
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, amazing flavor! Let me tell you how I make it.
To make this, you’ll need:
Ingredients
Butter, Cream Cheese and Eggs
Allow the butter and cream cheese to soften to room temperature before mixing so that 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 whole 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 important 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 small 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 important to the glaze’s 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.
How to Make Lemon Pound Cake
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 an amazing 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.
Dessert for Spring and Summer Entertaining
I love lemon and citrus desserts, such as my Lemon Bars or Key Lime Pie, any time of the year, but especially in the warmer months. And freshly squeezed Lemonade is a treat on warm days.
But this Lemon Pound Cake is certainly a spring and summer entertaining star!
You’ll enjoy it for luncheons, showers, and parties of all kinds. It’s a bright favorite on your Easter dessert table, and everyone loves it for Mother’s Day celebrations.
But don’t just save it for holidays and parties – it is the perfect complement to warm-weather barbecues, family picnics, and Sunday suppers!
More Favorite Warm Weather Desserts
Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream
If you tried this Lemon Pound Cake Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!
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 wanted to know, Do you sell your pound cakes and Can I order online?
So sweet of you, Victoria!
I don’t sell them – I share my recipe and hope that you will enjoy making them (and eating them)!
This is delicious – enjoy! xo
Do you really cook this cake 1 hour and 30 minutes? I did so and it is way, way overdone! Mine “looked” right at about l hour 10 min but did not test done inside (using the clean skewer method) until almost l hour 30 min. I had covered the top with loose foil at 1 hour 10 min because it was too brown. The top crust was still very over-browned and the bottom and sides were even worse! It was dry as well. I have an oven thermometer that shows my oven as accurate. I cook pound cakes often (but never lemon) and know getting the baking time perfect is a delicate matter, but never had one over cook so badly.
Hi Brenda,
I have made this cake so many times and have never had an issue with it being dry or overcooked. It always bakes in 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes as noted in the recipe. I do not have to use foil to keep it from browning too much. I’m sorry yours was overcooked, but I’ve never had that happen. Thank you so much!
Hello, Thank you so much for sharing your recipe, I made the Lemon Pound cake and it came out perfectly… it was delicious. 😊😉
Wonderful to hear, Annette! I’m so happy when I hear this! xo
I always thought the way Starbucks made the Lemon Pound Cake was the best ever. After I made this accordingly and tried it, I believed this one was the best I had ever had.
Glad you gave it a try and enjoyed it! I’m personally fond of it too! thanks!
How do you make lemon zest?
Lemon zest is made with the yellow part of the lemon peel. Use a grater…like a box grater and use the smallest holes. Use the whole lemon to grate and then you can juice the rest of the lemons for the recipe. You can also use a hand grater or a lemon zester utensil made especially for zesting lemons…you can find them in the grocery store.
Wash your lemons well and then run them (whole) up and down the grater like you would when you grate cheese. Use the yellow peel only and don’t grate too deep because that will get into the pith (white part) of the lemon and the white pith of the lemon is bitter, so be careful not to get any white pith into the yellow zest.
Omg. The best cake ever.
Love hearing this, Renee! xo
Made this cake today and it is delicious
So happy to hear that, Christina! Thanks so much!!!
This is the best lemon pound cake I have ever made. Just follow the directions exactly , and use the recommended tube pan or bunt pan’s do not alter the. Ingredients an you will have a perfect lemon pound cake.
Thanks so much Patrick! I appreciate you sharing your experience and tips too!
I’m so happy that you enjoyed it – my family and I have loved this one for years! 🙂
I made this pound cake and everyone said it was the best pound cake I’ve ever made.
Wonderful to hear this Belinda! I’ve so happy you like it! xo
Does the pan make a difference? Can I use a simple round cake pan?
I’d suggest using using a bundt or tube pan like in the recipe for desired results, Lorraine, since the recipe is for a pound cake. Enjoy!
Lorraine: I’ve made this wonderful recipe many times in a standard square 9x9x2 cake pan and it works just fine, so a round pan would work as well. No need to buy a special pan.
I’ve baked this a couple of times and add a little lemon extract to the cake….it was very lemony