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 made this cake, and it was great! I tried it first without the glaze, and I was impressed, so I added lemon glaze, and I was very pleased. This is a recipe that will stay near the top of my list for future family events. Just a note, I make cheesecakes regularly, so whipping up cream cheese is part of my routine. I learned that the long whipping of cream cheese, butter and sugar is not necessary for this recipe. The cake was so fluffy it overflowed from the cake pan during cooking. It sure was yummy!
You don’t whip the cream cheese, sugar, and butter for a long time, Kim. I just use my regular mixer paddle and cream these together until they are light. If you whip these for a long time, you will add too much air to the batter.
A friend told me that she loved lemon pound cake. I remembered this recipe from last year and was able to find it easily. I’m at my lake house in NC and wasn’t sure if baking time, etc would be affected by the altitude. Although the top browned quickly ( I should have lowered the rack ) the caked baked beautifully in 1 hour and 10 min in my gas oven. It is perfect! It’s so moist and wonderfully dense as a pound cake should be. Don’t skip the glaze! I’ll be making this again!
Mark, I’m so glad the cake worked so well for you at your lake house. I agree; don’t skip the glaze! Thanks.
Grandson requested Lemon Cream Cheese Cake for his birthday turning 13 yo. Haven’t baked a cake in many years. Thanks to you he said “ It taste like heaven, it’s perfect “. Made this pound cake Bundt style and am so much pleased with the appearance of it. Thx for the pleasure knowing he got what he asked for from me with A+ success
Deborah, I’m thrilled your grandson loved this cake so much. It is always a joy when you can make a special dessert for someone and they love it. xo
Does the cake need to be refrigerated?
It does not have to be refrigerated, Shelley. Of course, you can, if you prefer for it to be chilled but it doesn’t require it. Hope you enjoy it!
First time making cake. Overall it was good. Not as lemony as I expected and it came out much darker too. I used a bundt cake pan. Maybe I should not have greased the pan with liquid oil as instructed because I think it is a non stick pan. Will try it again. My Husband loved it.
I use solid shortening like Crisco or butter to grease the pan and then flour it. I don’t use liquid oil. I do grease and flour my non-stick pans, too. You could use lemon extract instead of the vanilla if you prefer a more lemon flavor. I hope this helps.
My first time baking a pound cake and i followed your recipe i did a very good job
That’s great! I’m so glad this recipe worked so well for you, D.
This is the best recipe ever! I have used it for a few years now and it always comes out perfect. It is such a loved recipe I’ve shared with and baked with many! I follow your recipe to the letter because why mess with perfection 😉
Thanks so much, Mata!
May I add a 3.oz of instant lemon pudding to this recipe?
I have never added instant lemon pudding to this cake, Annie, so I can’t tell you how the cake would turn out.
Best cake. Period. Love this recipe. This is my second time making it in two weeks.
Thanks, Latoya! So glad you like it so much. xo
Hey it was my 1st making this cake and it came out pretty good the recipe was perfect but I think I could’ve left It in the oven a lil longer the bottom of the cake wasn’t all the way done when I cut into But it was still really good
Brittney, try testing the doneness of a pound cake by inserting a long wooden skewer into the thickest part of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake should be done throughout. Hope this helps.
Dear Robyn, this recipe is fabulous! I made this pound cake two weeks ago for my sister’s birthday and it was a hit. I’m making another one right now to slice up and freeze. This puts other pound cake recipes to shame in my opinion. I like adding the salt to the cake batter, because the sweetness of the glaze will gives it a powerful punch.
Thank you and keep up the good work.
Cheers.xoxo
Thanks, Marcketa. I’m so happy you enjoyed the cake. xo