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
Can this be used as a tier on 3 tier wedding cake? Does it hold well under fondant and for carving. Thanks, your site is lovely and recipes are easy to understand.
Thanks, Debbie.
I have not made this as a tier cake but I would think it would hold up for fondant and carving. However, I suggest you make a trial cake before making a wedding cake with this.
Hi. Looks like a great cake. Is the butter salted or unsalted?
Hi, Nakeshia,
I use salted butter. Hope you enjoy the cake!
This is absolutely stunning! I put poppy seed filling in a ring around the cake and it was amazing! I made it to take to a friend’s house as a dessert. She was happy and asked to keep half of the cake!
A few days after that I’ve made another as my boys wanted a dessert and it’s a hit!
I don’t have a fan oven, so I have to keep mine in the oven for an hour and 45 minutes. But I put it on the 2nd rack from the bottom so it doesn’t burn the top. I’d show you a picture, but there’s no option for that!
Thanks so much, M. This sounds delicious with the poppy seed filling. I’m so glad your friend and family enjoyed the cake.
I made this cake for the first time today for my daughter and I am very disappointed. I had to leave it the oven the full 1 hr and 30 min., and it is very dark on the outside and the skewer came out sticky when I tested the cake for doneness. Also, is the lemon juice supposed to come from fresh lemons or bottled lemon juice? This is one of a couple things in the recipe that were unclear. The recipe looked delicious, but time will tell . . . it’s tomorrow’s dessert.
Hi Marybeth,
I usually use fresh lemon for the zest and juice but you could use bottled lemon juice if you prefer. It can take at least an hour and half for the cake to cook completely in some ovens but I don’t know why it turned so dark on the outside. I have never had that happen. If the skewer was still sticky when you you tested the cake, it was not completely done. Hope you like the cake!
My cake turn out dark on the sides as well but the cake is still moist. I may have overly coated the bundit pan with oil instead of shorten or butter which cause the flour to burn.
No baking powder, how does it rise. Making now just confused
I’m wondering that too. I’m getting ready to make this and want to be sure that wasn’t left out in error.
The recipe is correct. You don’t use baking powder in this recipe. Hope you enjoy!
Help! I thought I’d followed the directions accurately. However, the cake mix looks more like whip cream, super light and fluffy. Did I over eat the eggs?
Tiffany, you would cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy. Then you just mix in your eggs and the other ingredients. You don’t beat the batter hard once you start adding the eggs. It shouldn’t be the consistency of whipped cream.
Not all cream cheese pound cakes require baking powder. I used a different lemon pound cake today and the recipe called for baking soda not powder and it fell in the center.
I’m going to try this recipe b/c I love making cream cheese pound cakes. The ingredients are simple which I know by heart.
For the glaze I will make 2 Gingers Glaze. 😁
Absolutely scrumptious! I took this to a friend’s house for a “ladies get together” and everyone liked it! I was asked for the recipe so of course I referred them to your website! I am thinking I will try it next time with orange juice instead of lemon. Just a great recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Sherry,
I’m so happy you and all your friends enjoyed this cake. If you try the orange juice, let me know how it turns out. Thanks! xo
I just made the lemon pound cake.Oh my it was much more then you said I absolutely love it. It was easy to make also.I would give this a 20 by far delicious.
Thanks so much, Carol!
The recipe calls for one tablespoon of vanilla flavoring. That sounds like a lot..much more than any pound cake recipe I’ve ever used. Is that correct, and does it have a strong vanilla taste?
The recipe is correct, Sharon. You do use 1 tablespoon vanilla flavoring. There is not a strong vanilla taste. Enjoy!
I made this cake for the first time and can’t say enough about! It is fabulous. I used juice from lemons – not the store bought bottled kind. It was perfection. Can’t wait to make it again. Thanks for the great recipe. This is my new favorite cake.
Pat,
Thank you so much for your sweet words. I think it tastes better, too with fresh lemon juice.xo
The recipe calls for 3 sticks of butter what is the equivalent in ozs as we do nothave sticks of butter in the UK only 250 grams
Jean,
Each US stick of butter is equal to 8 tablespoons, 1/2 cup, or 4 ounces. Hope this helps!
Delicious! It’s the perfect balance of velvety pound cake texture, sweetness and, of course, lemon tartness. This recipe is perfect!
Thank you, Paula! I love the combination of the sweet and tart in this recipe, too.
This is by far the BEST lemon pound cake recipe!!! I bake for all of my family events and I have people coming from near and far and some proclaim to be pound cake connoisseurs so I have to bring my A game… and this DELIVERS EVERY TIME!!! Sooo moist and delicious with the right amount of citrus and sweetness. You couldn’t ask for more. Make it, love it, become popular for it!!! Thank you thank you for this one and all of your AAAAHHHHMAZING recipes!!!
Thanks so much, Nancy!
You just made my day! So happy you like this cake. xo
Made this yesterday for today’s Easter dinner — it was really fun to make (fluffing up the butter, cream cheese, and sugar, especially :)), and turned out BEAUTIFULLY. It was a HUGE hit with the family, relatives asked to take extra slices home with them, and I’ve already shared your website with them! Many thanks for a fantastic recipe, this will be my go-to cake for family/friends/church/potlucks! Best regards to you!
Thanks so much, Neva! So glad everyone enjoyed this cake.