Lemon Pound Cake Recipe

Robyn Stone

Published Feb 15, 2025

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4.91 from 126 votes

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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!

Overhead view of lemon pound cake drizzed with lemon buttermilk glaze sitting on a white plate.

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!

Five slices of glazed lemon pound cake sit on a white tray.

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.

Ingredients for the Lemon Buttermilk Glaze sit in a glass mixing bowl with a whisk on a marble countertop. A small bowl with buttermilk sits beside the larger mixing bowl.

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

Bowl of a stand mixer holds block of cream cheese, three sticks of butter and sugar.

Bowl of stand mixer holds butter, cream cheese and sugar after creamed together.

Final egg is blended into other mixed ingredients in a stand mixer bowl. Egg shells sit on marble countertop behind the bowl in egg container.

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.

Freshly zested lemon is being added into mixed lemon pound cake ingredients in the stand mixing bowl.

Flour is slowly added to other mixed lemon pound cake ingredients in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer.

Lemon pound cake batter after all ingredients have been mixed together in the stand mixing bowl.

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.

Lemon pound cake batter is poured into a greased and prepared silver bundt cake pan with handles. Pan sits on marble countertop.

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.

A wire whisk whips together the ingredients for the lemon buttermilk glaze in a glass mixing bowl.

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.

Lemon buttermilk glaze is poured over top of a Lemon Pound Cake on a white dish.

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.