This simple lemon pound cake is buttery moist, rich, and tastes incredible under a thick layer of lemon glaze.
One reader, Laurie, says: “I’ve never made pound cake before but this turned out very well. It was moist and delicious. It took 50 minutes to bake and I’m glad you mentioned that a couple of moist crumbs on a toothpick is ok, otherwise I may have left it in the oven longer and it may have been a bit dry. I used the zest of 1 1/2 lemons as suggested as I love lemon. I’m making another one today!”
Here’s exactly what you need to make if it’s citrus season: grapefruit Greek yogurt cake. And if grapefruit isn’t your ideal choice, iced lemon pound cake is a home run.
Do you enjoy pound cake? My favorite is this cream cheese pound cake which has an upgraded flavor, tight/dense crumb, and remains wonderfully buttery and soft. Brown butter pound cake has a similar texture and is flavored with brown butter. Point being– I love adding flair and flavor to pound cake and lemon is always a lovely choice.
- By the way, if you’ve tried the lemon loaf recipe in my cookbook Sally’s Baking Addiction, you’ll appreciate today’s recipe too. The cookbook variation is a lighter-crumbed quick bread– soft and airy like birthday cake, but with big and bright lemon flavor that hits as soon as you take the first bite.
The Exact Texture of This Lemon Pound Cake
Today’s recipe has the same wake-up-your-tastebuds flavor as my cookbook variation, but the texture is a little different. It is:
- unapologetically moist
- very dense without tasting heavy
- super rich and buttery
- extra smooth with a velvety crumb
Quick Video Tutorial for Iced Lemon Pound Cake
Overview: How to Make Lemon Pound Cake
Today’s recipe is a lot like my brown butter pound cake, but I left 1 egg out to make room for lemon juice and sour cream. Here’s a brief overview of the process so you understand how to make it before starting with the full written recipe below.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together: You need flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Beat butter, then add sugar: Beat room temperature butter until smooth, then beat in granulated sugar until creamed and combined.
- Add room temperature eggs 1 at a time: Add the eggs 1 at a time, making sure each is incorporated before adding the next. When the eggs are room temperature, the mixer only needs a few turns and won’t over-mix them. Over-mixed batter = overly heavy lemon pound cake.
- Beat in remaining wet ingredients: You need sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. If you don’t have sour cream, you can use milk instead. Keep in mind that your pound cake won’t have a super tight crumb that is signature to pound cakes. Instead, the cake will have a lighter and more cakey texture.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
- Spoon/spread batter into greased loaf pan.
- Bake the pound cake. Halfway through baking, loosely tent the cake with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning.
Let the pound cake cool in the pan for awhile, then remove from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack or on a serving plate or platter.
Want to Make it in a Bundt Pan?
This recipe, as written, is too small for a Bundt pan. If you want a larger lemon pound cake served in a Bundt pan, here are 2 options:
- Double this recipe, but use 3/4 cup (180g) of sour cream. (If you were doubling the recipe, you would use 1/2 cup but make sure you increase to 3/4 cup for added moisture.) The rest of the ingredients are simply doubled. Spoon/spread into a generously greased 10-12 cup Bundt pan. (Use butter or nonstick spray to grease.) Follow the baking time and temperature from my cream cheese pound cake.
- Use my lemon poppy seed Bundt cake recipe. Feel free to leave out the poppy seeds. That cake has a lighter texture and isn’t quite as heavy as pound cake.
Lemon Icing for Lemon Pound Cake
I believe the saying goes… when life hands you lemons, make lemonade glaze. The icing on top of the pound cake adds a whole other level of lemon flavor. It’s thick and sets after a couple hours, producing a sweet and zingy layer you’ll want to save for last. You need heavy cream (or half and half or milk), lemon juice, and confectioners’ sugar.
Feel free to add candied lemons on the top for presentation, like we do with lemon poppy seed bread.
More Delicious Lemon Recipes
- Lemon Crinkle Cookies
- Classic Lemon Meringue Pie
- Lemon Blueberry Tart
- Oatmeal Lemon Crumble Bars
- Lemon Cake
- Lemon Berry Trifle
Iced Lemon Pound Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes
- Yield: serves 8-10
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This simple lemon pound cake is buttery moist, rich, and tastes incredible under a thick layer of lemon glaze.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (230g; 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60g) sour cream, at room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- zest of 1 lemon*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Lemon Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons (22ml) lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) heavy cream or milk (heavy cream produces a thick icing as pictured)
Instructions
- Lower the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- Make the cake: Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on high speed in a large bowl until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and beat on high speed for 2 minutes until creamed. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer running on low speed, add the eggs one at a time. Once the last egg is completely mixed in, stop the mixer. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract, then beat on medium speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. The mixture may look curdled as a result of the varying textures combining. This is normal and the batter will come together when you add the dry ingredients in the next step.
- With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients just until combined. If needed, run a whisk through the batter a few times to rid any large lumps. Avoid over-mixing. Batter is thick.
- Spoon/spread the batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-60 minutes, tenting the cake with aluminum foil halfway through baking to prevent the top from over-browning. Pound cakes are dense and take awhile to bake in the oven. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours and don’t be alarmed if yours is taking longer. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out *mostly* clean. A couple moist crumbs are OK.
- Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack. Allow cake to cool in the pan on the wire rack for 1 hour, then carefully remove the slightly warm cake from the pan. Let it continue cooling on a wire rack or on a serving plate/platter. You can add the icing while the cake is still warm or wait for it to cool.
- Make the icing: Whisk all of the icing ingredients together and pour over cake. Serve immediately or wait until the cake cools completely, which promises neater slices.
- Cover and store leftover cake for up to 3 days at room temperature or up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the pound cake ahead of time by freezing it. (I suggest icing it right before serving.) Bake it, cool it, then wrap it in aluminum foil and freeze the loaf as a whole. Allow the cake to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before topping with icing and serving. The cake freezes well up to 3 months.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Stand Mixer or Handheld Mixer | 9×5 Inch Loaf Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Zester | Mesh Sieve
- Sour Cream: If you don’t have sour cream, you can use plain yogurt or dairy/nondairy milk instead. If using milk, your pound cake won’t have a super tight crumb that is signature to pound cakes. Instead, the cake will have a lighter and cakier texture.
- Lemon Zest: I usually use zest from 1 and 1/2 lemons instead of just 1. I like a lot of lemon flavor and if you do too, zest more than just 1 lemon.
- Bundt Pan: Want to make this in a Bundt pan? See options/instructions in the blog post above.
Keywords: lemon pound cake, lemon cake, pound cake
Sally I’m a huge fan of your recipes!!! Could I use this recipe in a bundt pan or as cupcakes?
Hi Deedee! See the post above for instructions on making in a Bundt pan. Cupcakes should work as well—we’re unsure of the exact bake time, but keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
This was delicious! I used the extra amount of lemon zest in the batter and put a little in the icing. I took this to a church potluck and it was a hit! Very summery!
★★★★★
Lemonade pound cake bread! My girls decided it tastes just like homemade, fresh and not overly sweetened lemonade. Wow this is so subtly punchy – how is that possible? Incredibly moist, dense but in no way at all heavy. The heavy cream glaze is perfect! Finally found a great glaze. We doubled it but next time we think 1.5 is plenty. Thank you all this is completely sublime. Perfect summer-cookout hostess gift!
★★★★★
May I use buttermilk instead of sour cream?
Hi Rita, Buttermilk is a fine substitution if you’re in a pinch. Same amount.
Thank you so much! Love your recipes!
We love this recipe. Used both bundt and loaf recipes for different occasions. But when doing the loaf pan in a wilton 9×5 pan, the bottom and sides are scorching and have to be scrapped. Would parchment paper help or just the wrong pan.
Hi Karen, parchment paper would definitely help. Is your pan particularly dark? That could be contributing to the darker sides and bottoms as well. You could also try moving the pan a rack further from the heating element to see if that helps (bake time could be just slightly longer that way). Glad this one is a favorite for you!
This lemon Pound Cake was absolutely delicious!!!
Very dense and lemony…The icing was perfect! Ive tried other icing recipes, and this was the best.
THANK YOU, SALLY, YOU NEVER DISAPPOINT
Will definitely put this pound cake on my “to bake” list especially since it’s make in a loaf pan. You mentioned in this post your lemon loaf recipe that’s in your cookbook, but is it also listed somewhere on your website (can’t seem to find it). I’m always in search of a really good lemon loaf recipe and am sure yours will be delicious.
Hi Barbara, that particular recipe is exclusive to the cookbook Sally’s Baking Addiction. This is the closest version we have on the website, or you might also enjoy this lemon poppy seed bread. Let us know how you like it!
This pound cake tastes like summer sunshine! The lemon flavor is just perfectly balanced, and even with the icing it’s the perfect in it’s sweetness! It is just a perfect cake! I will definatley be making it often!
★★★★★
Is it possible to substitute lemon extract for the vanilla?
★★★★★
If you are looking for more lemon flavor, you can increase the lemon zest or try adding a small amount of lemon extract to the mix.
I think so many of your recipes all the time and they are always five-star. Today I actually have a different question. Do you have a link to the fort in the photo that says “eat dessert first”?
Etsy! We can’t seem to find the exact Etsy shop this one came from, but here is a similar one: https://www.etsy.com/listing/153747276/eat-dessert-first-recycled-silverware
I think my load pan is 8″ x 4 1/2″ x 2 3/4″. Can I still use it? Any modifications I may need to make? Thank you!
Hi L, Absolutely. The bake time will be a few minutes longer, but use a toothpick to test for doneness. Enjoy!
Hi there! Is there any reason a layer of raspberries or blueberries can’t be baked into the middle of this? I swear I made a lemon raspberry pound cake recipe of yours years ago but can’t find it so I’m sure I’m remembering wrong. Thank you so much!
Hi Liz! Could you be thinking of our raspberry swirl pound cake recipe? Blueberries would be a fantastic addition to this lemon pound cake – we would stir in about 1 cup to the batter.
If adding blueberries how do you keep them sinking? I tried dusting them with flour first but they all sank. Thanks!
Big fan, first time commenter! Does this icing set, or does it remain pretty liquify/sticky? Thank you!
Hi Megan, the icing will set. The moisture from the cake will seep into the icing if it sits for a while, though.
Hi, do you think this would work well with lime instead of lemon? I’ve had a request for lime drizzle and wanted to use one of your recipes.
Hi Asli, we haven’t tested it but the lime should be an even substitution.
Thank you!
Can I use whole wheat pastry flour in place of the all purpose for all or part of this recipe?
Hi Amy, for best results, we recommend sticking with all-purpose flour here. Swapping with whole wheat pastry flour will change the overall taste and texture. Hope you enjoy it!
I don’t know what I did wrong but the two loaves I made are very greasy. I double checked the butter thinking I put in too much but it was correct. Any ideas?
Hi Cathy! Happy to help troubleshoot. Could the cakes be under-baked? Also make sure to start with proper room temperature butter and other room temperature ingredients.
Hello Sally,
I‘d love to make this cake for my daughter‘s birthday. Does the cake need cooling? We‘re gonna go camping and might only have a cool bag available, which might not do in case the cake needs to be put in a fridge.
Hi Teresa, you can store this cake for up to 3 days at room temperature or up to a week in the refrigerator. Hope the cake is a hit!
This was amazing! It’s not every day you can make something perfect on your first try! I would highly recommend having a slice.. or five for breakfast.
★★★★★
Could I use the soaking syrup from the lemon poppyseed bundt cake recipe on this pound cake as well?
Absolutely!
Delicious! I made this for work and it was very well received. The recipe is great as is, or you can make (~18) personal-sized ones in a muffin tin, just shorten the baking time to 35 min.
★★★★★