Lemon Pound Cake Recipe

4.91 from 122 votes
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This Lemon Pound Cake is a dream dessert for lemon lovers! Made with lemon juice, lemon zest, and topped with a lemon buttermilk glaze, this lemon pound cake recipe is scrumptious!

Looking for more scrumptious cake recipes? I think you will love my Carrot Cake, Hummingbird Cake, and Coconut Cake.

Side view of pound cake baked in bundt pan that is drizzled with a lemon glaze on a white plate 
 - // addapinch.com

The sweet and slightly tart flavor of this Lemon Pound Cake 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 that makes this homemade Lemon Pound Cake a favorite dessert recipe!

Lemon Pound Cake Recipe

White plate hold Lemon pound cake drizzled with glaze that shows lemon zest in it. ©addapinch.com

This Lemon Pound Cake is so good. In my mind, it’s the lemon pound cake that is the absolute best and tops all others! I was not a huge fan of them before developing this recipe. Others I’ve had before didn’t interest me – either they were dry, or the lemon didn’t taste right.

Determined to make the best Lemon Pound Cake, I created this recipe with my Mama’s delicious Cream Cheese Pound Cake recipe in mind. That was definitely the right decision because now 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.

The burst of lemon flavor coupled with the sweet deliciousness of the pound cake really does make each bite delicious perfection!

How to Make Lemon Pound Cake

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

For the Lemon Pound Cake

  • Butter – softened to room temperature
  • Cream Cheese – softened to room temperature – it gives the cake a rich, creamy taste and texture.
  • Eggs – you use six whole large eggs at room temperature
  • Lemon – you’ll use the fresh lemon juice and the lemon zest for a bright, delicious lemon flavor in this cake
  • Sugar – I use granulated sugar
  • Flour – this cake recipe uses all-purpose flour
  • Salt – a little bit of salt in sweet recipes helps to balance.
  • Vanilla extract – I love to use my homemade vanilla extract, but if using store-bought, be sure to use the highest quality you can. I don’t recommend using imitation vanilla flavoring as it can leave a bitter aftertaste, in my opinion.

For the Lemon Buttermilk Glaze

  • Confectioner’s sugar – also known as powdered sugar
  • Lemon – you use the zest from the entire lemon, along with juice from the lemon to make this glaze.
  • Buttermilk – this glaze only uses a tablespoon so if you don’t have it on hand, I can show you how to make a buttermilk substitute. The buttermilk is important to the flavor of the glaze, so please don’t skip it.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Get some ingredients to room temperature. Take the butter, cream cheese, and eggs out of the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature.

Prepare to bake. Preheating the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare your bundt or tube pan by coating it with shortening or butter and lightly flour the inside of the pan to prevent the cake from sticking. Set aside.

Cream the ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, mix together – or cream together – the room-temperature butter and cream cheese with the sugar until fluffy.

Add the eggs. Add one egg at a time into the creamed mixture and mix after each addition.

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 just combined well but do not overmix. Then pour the cake batter into the prepared bundt or tube pan.

Bake the cake. Place pan in preheated oven and bake the pound cake until it reaches a golden brown and a skewer inserted into the cake 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 out the cake on a wire rack and allow it to finish cooling on the rack. This step is important because if the cake is allowed to remain in the pan longer than 10 or so minutes before putting it out on the wire rack to finish cooling, the cake may possibly stick to the insides of the pan. Once cooled completely, place the cooled pound cake on your desired cake stand or cake plate and prepare to glaze it.

Drizzle the glaze onto the cake. Once the cooled cake is on a cake stand or cake plate, then drizzle the zesty Lemon Buttermilk Glaze on the cake. Serve and enjoy!

A bit of advice, please do not skip making this lemon buttermilk glaze. It is an amazing part of this cake!

Lemon Pound Cake slice with glaze on top. // addapinch.com

Perfect for Spring and Summer Entertaining

I love lemon and citrus desserts such as my Lemon Bars or Key Lime Pie anytime but especially in the warmer months of the year. And freshly squeezed Lemonade is a treat on warm days. But this Lemon Pound Cake is most certainly a star for spring and summer entertaining!

You’ll enjoy it for luncheons, showers, and parties of all kinds. It is a bright favorite to serve 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 Recipes for Citrus Lovers

Citrus Shrimp Avocado Salad

No Bake Lemon Cream Pie

Orange Salmon

Citrus Scones with Orange Glaze

Skinny Orange Chicken

Lemon Sugar Cookies

Here’s my Lemon Pound Cake recipe. I can’t wait to hear how you like it.

Lemon Pound Cake Recipe

4.91 from 122 votes
Lemon Pound Cake makes a delicious dessert for lemon lovers! Made with lemon juice, lemon zest, and topped with a lemon buttermilk glaze, this lemon pound cake recipe is a treasure!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings: 16 servings

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

Instructions 

For the Lemon Pound Cake

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare bundt or tube pan 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

Make Ahead and Storage Instructions:
Make Ahead – Store it under a cake dome on the countertop for up to three days. 
Freezer – Bake the cake as directed and allow to completely cool per recipe instructions. Do not glaze if planning to immediately freeze it. After cake is cooled, wrap it well and place in airtight container to freeze for up to 3 months.  

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 457kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 115mg | Sodium: 326mg | Potassium: 56mg | Sugar: 48g | Vitamin A: 635IU | Vitamin C: 1.5mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1.4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Enjoy!
Robyn xo

Lemon Pound Cake Recipe - Lemon Pound Cake makes a delicious dessert for lemon lovers! Made with lemon juice, lemon zest, and topped with a lemon buttermilk glaze, this lemon pound cake recipe is a treasure! // addapinch.com

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About Robyn

Robyn Stone is a cookbook author, wife, mom, and passionate home cook. Her tested and trusted recipes give readers the confidence to cook recipes the whole family will love. Robyn has been featured on Food Network, People, Southern Living, and more.

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Recipe Review




437 Comments

  1. Kelly says:

    5 stars
    Last summer I baked many, many lemon pound cakes, hoping to recreate the delicious Starbucks lemon pound cake. I could never find a recipe that created true pound cake with that crispy exterior and soft, velvety center, though a few did pack quite a delicious lemon punch I loved. I am SO glad I searched again today and found yours! I made it for my visiting family and I LOVE it! The texture is sinfully perfect! I do wish there was a stronger lemon flavor in the cake, though. Next time I will poke holes in the cake and douse it with a lemon sugar syrup. 🙂
    But truly, I loved this cake so much, I actually think I could have eaten it without any powdered sugar glaze at all. It was just that good!

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      I’m so glad you love it, Kelly! I love the idea of pricking it for even more lemon flavor!

  2. carolyn says:

    My one and only pound cake. It is truly divine. I was never a lemon lover but this changed my mind. Making it AGAIN as I am writing this review.

  3. Eileen says:

    Do you use salted or unsalted butter? I’m guessing unsalted because it has a tsp. of salt in the recipe. Please verify. Thanks.

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      You can use whichever you prefer, Eileen. Most professional bakers recommend using unsalted butter, but I generally keep salted butter on hand and just use it in all of my cooking and baking. If you are sensitive to salt, I would recommend unsalted.

  4. tina tranbarger says:

    Hello i just wantrd to let you know that yiur recipe looked good for the lemon pound cake so i yhink i will make it for mothers day and i will let you know how it turned out. Thanks

  5. Donna Pitner says:

    5 stars
    I made this today. I couldn’t wait for it to cool enough for the glaze, so my glaze is mostly in the circle in the middle of the cake. Oh my goodness, it’s so good! I made it because my children are coming home for the weekend. Today’s Thursday, so I may have to make another tomorrow! Just kidding…maybe!

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      I’m so glad you love it, Donna! And I totally understand why you had to make one today for “testing purposes” and another tomorrow for serving. {hint hint}

  6. Veronica says:

    5 stars
    I made this for my brother who was coming into town. We were all blown away by this recipe! The fresh lemon juice and zest were just right (we LOVE lemon) in the cake and the glaze. It barely lasted for 2 days in my home. Thank you for sharing and for making my first homemade cake a hit!!!

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      Oh my goodness, I’m so glad everyone loved it and congratulations on making your first homemade cake! I can’t wait to hear what you make next! xo

  7. kendra says:

    Um, is it me, or does this cake have no baker powder or soda?? How does it rise?

    1. Eileen says:

      It has 6 eggs in it. Eggs leveling power and is the old-fashioned way of making cakes.

  8. Tracy Sigler says:

    5 stars
    THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing this recipe! It just came out of the oven and it has been smelling absolutely amazing! I cannot wait to try it! How can you go wrong with creme cheese, right? Mine took the 1.5 hours to bake; simply pressing on the top gently was proof enough that it definitely needed more time. Hopefully I didn’t under mix as I did so with a spoon just until the flour was absorbed. I added a bit more lemon but only because the lemons I picked up were somewhat small so, definitely use your judgement in regards to how much since I have seen lemons nearly the size of grapefruit as a Southern California native. Much appreciate the Internet and those who share such wonderful things!

  9. cheryl says:

    4 stars
    loved the cake, but it wasn’t as yellow as the picture. don’t know what I did wrong

  10. Jeanne says:

    I made this for a Superbowl party and was disappointed in myself that I left it in the oven for the hour and thirty minutes suggested without checking. I was busy in the kitchen and didn’t check it till the timer went off. I think I probably overcooked it about 15 minutes. So – I sliced up some fresh strawberries and poured a mixture of lemon juice and sugar over them and let them sit covered in the fridge for half an hour. Used the berries to try and mask the fact that the cake was over baked…but really not many at the party liked my dessert. So I wrapped it up in plastic wrap and took it home and was about to throw it out this morning – but tried a piece and GUESS WHAT – it tasted fantastic. So – lesson learned…and quite possibly the frosting helped to remoisten the cake – but whatever happened I am delighted and want to thank you for the great recipe – and I will check it earlier next time I make it – and for sure I will make it again.

    1. Robyn Stone says:

      Oh no! I hate that it over baked for you at that time! That’s the perfect time for my oven and when others have tested the recipe, but I’ll update the recipe to check it after an hour and 15 minutes based on your experience. I’m so glad you saved it with your quick thinking on the lemon and sugar syrup!

    2. Jaquana Williams says:

      Can you add food coloring to the glaze to get it very yellow