Dense, buttery pound cake gets a lemon lift in this bright and cheery citrus version. Iced lemon pound cake is super moist and bursting with the flavors of fresh lemon, creamy butter, and sweet vanilla. A creamy lemon icing that sets on top is the only decorating this small-yet-stunning cake requires.
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 when it’s citrus season: grapefruit Greek yogurt cake.
But if grapefruit isn’t your ideal choice, iced lemon pound cake is another home run. I originally published this dessert recipe on my website in 2017 and I make it at least once every winter season. Imagine a coffee shop lemon loaf, but with a tighter crumb and with supremely fresh flavor you only get from homemade. (Nothing compares!)
Do you enjoy pound cake? My favorite is this cream cheese pound cake, which has an upgraded flavor, tight and dense crumb, and remains wonderfully buttery and soft. Brown butter pound cake has a similar texture and comes with the addition of brown butter flavor. Nutella swirl pound cake has the classic pound cake crumb with defined Nutella swirls throughout. 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
- Caramelized around the edges
- Dense and satisfying without tasting heavy
- Super rich and buttery
- Extra smooth with a velvety crumb
Best Ingredients to Use & Why I Don’t Recommend Substitutions
You need just 9 ingredients in the lemon pound cake batter. With so few ingredients, it’s best to stick to the recipe because each has an important job. I’ve tried my hand at many variations, and keep coming back to this recipe because of its careful ratio of ingredients. I don’t recommend straying.
Dry Ingredients: You need all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. The amount of flour isn’t a misprint. You really only need 1.5 cups, or 188g. Somehow, it just works!
Wet Ingredients: Grab your room-temperature butter and sugar, then you’ll need eggs, sour cream for moisture (it also keeps the crumb a bit light), vanilla extract, and lemon zest + juice.
Helpful Tip: You need lemon zest and juice and it’s easiest to zest the lemon before juicing it. Here’s the citrus zester and the citrus juicer I use if you need recommendations.
Expect a Thick Lemon Pound Cake Batter
This is a thick batter. Unlike vanilla cake or chocolate cake, there’s no milk to thin things out. The only real liquid is from the lemon juice, and there isn’t too much of it. Pound cakes do not typically include liquid besides eggs. (If you consider those liquid!)
You can bake this in a 9×5-inch loaf pan, but lately I have been using my 1-lb. 8×4-inch loaf pan. It yields a taller loaf, and needs a little extra bake time. I include instructions for both pans in the recipe below. If all you have is a 9×5-inch loaf pan, which is what you use for banana bread and pumpkin bread, you can use it, but expect the bread to be a little shorter than pictured.
Spread the batter into the greased loaf pan. There isn’t much pouring involved… more of a spoon-and-spread situation here!
Lemon Icing That Sets
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 I do with lemon poppy seed bread.
This recipe is too small for a Bundt pan. In you want a larger lemon pound cake in a Bundt pan, here are 2 options: (1) Double the recipe, but use 3/4 cup (180g) of sour cream to ensure there is enough moisture. The rest of the ingredients are simply doubled. Follow the same baking time and temperature from my cream cheese pound cake. And (2) Use my lemon poppy seed Bundt cake recipe, and feel free to skip the poppy seeds.
Absolutely. You can fold 1 cup (about 140g) of fresh blueberries into the batter. I try to avoid frozen blueberries because they turn the batter and cake grayish blue, but feel free to use them if that’s all you have. No need to coat them with flour before folding in, but feel free to do so if you’d like. This batter is quite thick, so they don’t really sink.
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
Dense, buttery pound cake gets a lemon lift in this bright and cheery citrus version. Iced lemon pound cake is super moist and bursting with the flavors of fresh lemon, creamy butter, and sweet vanilla. A creamy lemon icing that sets on top is the only decorating this small-yet-stunning cake requires.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) 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
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 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 an 8×4-inch loaf pan (like this one or this one) with nonstick spray. Or you can use a 9×5-inch loaf pan for a shorter loaf.
- 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. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) 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 very thick.
- Spoon/spread the batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 55-65 minutes if you used an 8×4-inch pan and 45-60 minutes if you used a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Tent 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, so freeze it without the icing.) Bake it, cool it, then wrap it in a layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil. Freeze the loaf for up to 3 months. Allow the cake to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before topping with icing and serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8×4-inch Loaf Pan (like this one or this one) or 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack | Citrus Juicer | Citrus Zester
- 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. For best results, I recommend full-fat sour cream.
- Bundt Pan: Here are 2 options for making a lemon Bundt pound cake in a Bundt pan. (1) 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. Follow the baking time and temperature from my cream cheese pound cake. (2) 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.
- Can I Add Blueberries? Yes, absolutely. You can fold 1 cup (about 140g) of fresh blueberries into the batter after it comes together. I strongly recommend fresh blueberries, as frozen blueberries can turn the batter and finished cake a grayish blue. Keeping that in mind, you can use them if you’d like. I have better luck with fresh.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Could I possibly use a lemon extract instead of vanilla? Thoughts?
Hi Tracie, we would still add the vanilla extract, but you could add a little lemon extract if you would like. We prefer the natural lemon flavor, but you could extra for a flavor punch!
I like my lemon cake a little tart. I’m cutting the sugar in half next time.
Best lemon pound cake recipe ever! the cake was so fluffy and full of lemon flavour & zest without the need to poking holes on top. Like the instructions wrote it is a bit moist and lumpy, I guess that was the key. I freeze with icing, take them out and rest on counter top for a few mins still so good. So moist & fluffy. 1000x better than Starbucks needless to say, and was easy to make.
This is a fantastic Lemon Loaf. I made the first one, I nuked the butter to warm it a little, and it was a little melted when I creamed it with the sugar… it made the fluffiest batter ever – it was so delicious even before it baked! I made a second one the next day and the butter was much cooler. The description of the batter looking separated and the promise that it would come together was the only thing that kept me mixing – and like the miracle of baking – and Sally – it did. I gave this one away and received high praise. This Lemon Loaf is now one of my go to’s
Many thanks
I love all your recipes. This one was hard to like, it could be user error. Cake was dry and crumbly, i needed to drizzle water on the slice of cake before microwaving.
Flavor was a little off to me, maybe i didn’t grab a good lemon, not really sure :((
Hi Steven, this cake shouldn’t be dry as you describe. It should be moist and butter with a tight crumb, like pound cake. I wonder if you accidentally missed a step or ingredient, or over-baked it?
This had great flavor, but when I made it in the smaller loaf pan it overflowed in the oven.
Made this new (to me) recipe yesterday … and yet another of Sally’s recipes that will be my go-to when looking for a deliciously lemony crumb, simple to make in an afternoon, with ingredients I most often have in my pantry and fridge! The flavours from the fresh-squeezed lemon, in the juice and zest, add such a beautiful tangy/sweet taste! 10/10 rating from this home cook/baker!
Sally’s Lemon Pound Cake!
If there was a law against the the best Lemon Pound Cake this recipe would be arrested ❤️
Hi, I was going to make this recipe tonight but I was wondering if I could substitute the full cup of butter with half a cup of oil + half a cup of butter? Please let me know as soon as possible, thanks!
Hi Layla, if you’re going to do that we would recommend room temperature (solid) coconut oil. Let us know how it turns out if you do!
Is it possible to use 2eggs and not 3. It came out good but tasted eggy.
Hi Tracy, you can certainly try it. You may want to add a little more sour cream to add back some moisture.
Could you do this as mini loaves? I would love to gift them for Valentine’s Day and think they would look super cute in miniature!! Wondering what the time adjustment might be, if you’ve tried it.
Hi Rachel, you can bake this batter in mini loaf pans. We’re unsure of the exact bake time and yield, so keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Enjoy!
These came out AMAZING. I did 4 mini loaves, although 3 would have made them a bit fuller. I tried your method for jumbo muffins (baking at 405 for 5 minutes, then reducing to 350 for the rest of the bake) and I’m so happy with the results. They took about 40-45 minutes total (not 100% sure because I kept setting short timers, and I’m sure opening the oven didn’t help!).
Gifting one to my mom for Valentine’s Day, and I’m sure she will love it.
Can I double this recipe and bake 2 of them at the same time?
Hi Victoria, for best results, we recommend making 2 separate batches rather than doubling.
This pound cake is very buttery and lemony. It’s heavy like a pound cake.
I have. Lemon poppyseed loaf that I tweaked which is lighter and more lemony but not the buttery flavor. Between mine and this pound cake they are both great recipes but I prefer my poppyseed loaf over the pound cake.
Hello in my country we don’t have sour cream, can we use Greek yogurt or are there other substitutes for the sour cream? Thank you
Hi Kirina, absolutely, you can use the same amount of plain Greek yogurt instead.
This was the best lemon pound cake we have ever eaten. Easy to make, absolutely delicious
I love all your recipes. I particularly like that you give weight measures. I only bake with weight measurements. I find it makes things so much easier.
Omg!! The best thing I’ve ever tasted !! My first attempt at a pound cake , it was amazing.
This turned out great! I did have to make a small substitution, swapping the sour cream for some blueberry greek yogurt since thats all i had, but its delicious! My husband agrees 🙂
I made it yesterday and it disappeared so quickly that I made it again this morning.
Delicious!
Cake was buttery and tender with a lovely soft texture but the lemon flavor left a lot to be desired by our household. I even added 1/2tsp of lemon extract to the batter and additional zest from the lemon that was to be used to make the glaze.
Will try the recipe again in the future with more zest/extract as the crumb really is great.
For a lemon Bundt cake I usually do 2 tbsp zest and 2 tbsp lemon extract skip the juice. And still do a little vanilla extract as well so it balances the flavors. So for one loaf I would probably do
1 tbsp zest 1 tbsp lemon extract with a tsp of vanilla. Omitting the lemon juice. It just works so much better. If you still want more lemon flavor increase to 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp of lemon zest and same for lemon extract. The flavor is the best with that combo.
Hi Sally! I LOVE every single one of your recipes, they have filled my cookbook binder!
I just wondering if there was anyway in the future recipes that you post, if you could put what kind of salt to use? There are so many kinds and I just want to be sure that I use the correct one. I usually use kosher salt in your recipes but I want to be 1000% sure for the future. Thank you again for all of your baking knowledge!
Hi Andrea, we’re so glad you are enjoy our recipes! We always use table salt in our recipes unless otherwise noted.
Thank you so much!
I’m excited to give this recipe a try! Just curious whether I should just use a regular lemon, or would you recommend using a Meyer lemon?
Hi Bonnie, We find Meyer lemons have a slightly sweeter flavor and lower acidity. There will be less of a *bite* in desserts if you use Meyer instead of regular, but it should work just fine without any adjustments to the recipe.
I just took my cake out of the oven. It looks good, except the edges seemed to have baked up faster and they look a bit dry and crispy. I’ve never experienced this before. But also mainly bake cookies, muffins, and breads (such as banana). Any tips for next time to prevent this from happening? Thank you!
Hi Bonnie, if you make this again and see the top starting to brown you can tent the pan with foil.
So good! Next time I will add more zest and maybe 1/2 tsp of lemon extract to batter and glaze.
I made this pound cake with gluten-free flour and it turned out perfectly. Delicious!
I used an 8 x 4 pan & the batter spilled over onto the rack & bottom of the oven. Looks like about 1/2 to 3/4 cups of spilled batter. What a smoky mess.
The taste is too buttery
Eggs are expensive right now. Can we substitute applesauce for eggs? I heard you can in some recipes. Would that change the texture, taste, or structure of the lemon pound cake? I have a ton of lemons right now I can use for the recipe.
Hi Katie, we haven’t tested that substitution, but fear it would lead to a gummy pound cake. We do recommend sticking with eggs here.
My family and I LOVED this cake! Perfect recipe which was very easy to make! Thank you!
I made the lemon pound cake and put it in your first choice pan (8 by 4). I knew it was too full, but had never made it before. In ten minutes i smelled burning and the batter was bubbling over the edge. I’m crying now.
In the recipe,it stated that you could make it into a pound cake. That is what I did. It turned out perfect. It was moist and dense. The only thing that I did that was different, was I added extra zest to the cake recipe and also added zest to the glaze. It was FANSTATIC. Would definitely make this again.