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 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. 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.
More Lemon Recipes
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:Â 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 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.
Hi,
I’m going to make this recipe this weekend and had a quick question. Would I be able to make this into a cake using two 8-inch square/circle pans to make it into a two layer cake? Would it be enough or would I need to double the recipe? And could I put rum into the cake or would it be too much with the lemon?
Sorry for all the questions lol.
Hi Gabriela, Any time you wish to change the size of a pan from a recipe you can refer to my post on Cake Pan Sizes and Conversions to help you figure out how much batter you would need. I haven’t tested this recipe with rum, but you can always add a rum soaking syrup after it’s baked if you don’t want to test it out yourself. Enjoy!
The recipe is great and I thought I followed it exactly but it had an odd taste…maybe like uncooked flour? I aerated and spooned the flour and leveled it carefully so I didn’t pack it…help!!!!! I want to make the browned butter but am afraid to until I figure out what went wrong. Thank you for posting the amount of salt for when baking with salted butter!!
I have had issues getting cakes and loaf out of the pans. For this recipe should I use parchment sprayed with oil, or should I just use butter? If I cover my pan with a ton of butter will that mess up the texture of the cake? I use stoneware loaf pans
Hi Elizabeth, When making quick breads I usually reach for metal loaf pans for the most consistent results. For stoneware how to best use them depends greatly on how your particular pan was made. If it is not coated then generally your stone pan should be seasoned to become non-stick. You can certainly try to line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. I don’t recommend coating the sides with a lot of butter.
Apologies if you’ve answered this already (I quickly scanned the comments and didn’t see this): in your adjustments for making the recipe in a bundt pan you wrote, “Double this recipe, but use 3/4 cup of sour cream instead of 1/2 cup. ” However, the standard recipe only calls for 1/4 cup of sour cream. Is the standard recipe supposed to be 1/2 cup of sour cream, or is the bundt pan recipe only supposed to be 1/3 cup?
Hi Mary, I’m happy to help clarify. If this recipe is doubled (doubling each ingredient) you would use 1/2 cup of sour cream total. I advise you use 3/4 cup of sour cream.
This cake is amazing! The texture is just perfect- dense but not like a brick, lol! Definitely a new family favorite!
Hi! Just want to say that with all the time available from this quarantine, I decided to make this cake for my mother. Now I’m not that great at baking. However, my mother ( a pound cake fanatic) loved this cake and literally QUESTIONED how I made such a perfect cake. So thank you so much for being a little joy into my families life during such a difficult time! We loved this cake!
Baked this recipe and I didn’t put enough lemon zest so it came it out kind of bland. The second time I made it, I was sure to add more than enough zest and it was so delicious! Such a good recipe that I’ve already passed along to a friend. Can’t wait to bake it again! Only wish I could share it with my friends.
I am not a baker, but my son loves the lemon pound cake served at our neighborhood cafe…so I tried this recipe. It was amazing! Followed your directions precisely…and you were right about the last few minutes of baking – checked at 45 mins and wasn’t done – by 49 – it was perfect! This really was super delicious. Oh, and my other son, 18 years old, who doesn’t like anything with lemon – had two slices! ha! Thank you for sharing. Bright spot in a rainy quarantine weekend 🙂
I don’t have any sour cream, Could I substitute with buttermilk? Will the measurement be the same? Thanks!
Buttermilk is a fine substitution if you’re in a pinch.
Hi Sally! I made this for the first time. Unfortunately, I can’t taste it because I’m gluten-free. Although, I plan to test this recipe out with gluten-free flour. My kids gave it a thumbs up! But one question, the recipe doesn’t call for Baking Soda? Thanks for sharing your recipes!
I’m so happy they enjoyed it! No, there is no baking soda in this recipe. There is baking powder. If you wish to learn more about each feel free to check out my Baking Basics post Baking Powder vs Baking Soda.
made this yesterday. everyone loved it. thank you!!!
I’ve probably already commented, but there are few dessert recipes that I return to. This is without a doubt the tippy top of my greatest hits list. The texture is incredible, the flavor is rich and bright, and every time I make it I’m asked for the recipe. I don’t really care for pound cake normally; I bust this little cute out every month or two. Thank you for a keeper!!
Hi – have made this recipe 3 times and love it- but all 3 times have gotten a giant deep crack down the middle (while still baking, not from cooling too fast). Have never had this happen with other loaf cakes. Any idea what might be causing / how I can try to rectify? Thanks! Love your recipes!
Hi LC! That’s completely normal with quick breads or loaf cakes. It’s the air escaping from the loaf. The eggs *may* have been over-beaten but again– it’s totally normal for loaves to look like that.
Here’s a tip for the crack in the loaf I learned while working in a restaurant where we made a lot of quick breads… take a butter knife, and dip it in oil. Now drag the knife long ways through the center of the batter in the loaf pan just prior to putting it in the oven. You have now created a natural faultline in the loaf so the crack will form along it and you should get a controlled pretty looking break rather than one that is uneven and unattractive. Best of luck!
What a great tip, Susan!
YUM! Thank you! This is the Lemon Pound Cake we have been looking for!
Can I use cake flour instead of all purpose flour? Thank you for your help! Christi McCollum.
Hi Christi, you could certainly try it!
Could I use Meyer lemons for this recipe?
Absolutely!
I don’t have sour cream. Can i substitute with anything else? Greek yogurt maybe?
Plain Greek yogurt works, yes.
Sally,
I love this recipe! The flavor is phenomenal and I always get compliments. Despite my following your instructions, I’ve made this cake twice and both times I didn’t get much of a rise. Is that normal for this cake? Thanks for all your wonderful recipes!
Hi Rachel, I’m so glad this recipe is a hit! How is the texture when you eat it? It should be very dense with a rich, smooth velvety crumb but not taste super heavy. If you think it should be rising more the first thing you can do is to check that your baking powder is fresh.
This was delicious. Will absolutely make it again and again. I did add some pure lemon extract to boost the lemon flavor in both the cake and the icing.
Delicious and moist! Out of the 5 most recent recipes I’ve tried,this was the best. I added 1 tsp of vanilla to the icing, but that’s just the way my family likes it.
This was an amazing recipe! It was super easy to make and tastes so darn delicious. I used brown sugar instead of granulated sugar and it worked just fine because the recipe is already so good! I also used more zest and actually a little more lemon juice and gosh it was just so so so delicious. Thank you so much for this recipe – this is one of the recipes is both easily enjoyed by all age groups!
Absolutely LOVED this recipe. I’m a huuuuge lemon lover and this hit the spot for me. That icing!!! Super easy to make and everyone else in the house loved it. Thanks Sally! xo
My daughter and I made this recipe last night. It is delicious and a great way to use up all of my lemons!
Today I made these cake words cannot describe how soft, moist and delicious it was enough big hit sally, but it was not enough everyone wanted more.
can somebody tell me how to play around with the ingredients to get a bigger cake that can serve 15 people?
Thanks in advance
excellent recipe! Didn’t do syrup or glaze because it would be too sweet for me, but simply sprinkled confectionery sugar. PERFECT Thank you!!!!!
Love this recipe
This recipe was amazing! I actually used non-dairy (Earth Balance) butter alternative, and almond milk in place of sour cream (dairy allergy in the family). My extended family (Thanksgiving gathering) couldn’t tell that I had replaced anything. I also doubled the amount of lemon zest in the batter, and I added a little bit of lemon zest to the glaze as well.
Overall, an easy and very tasty recipe! Thank you!!!
Can I use oil instead of butter?
I don’t recommend it for this recipe.
Hi, Sally, Last year I made your mini-vanilla pound cakes for Thanksgiving dessert, and they were a huge hit. This year I wanted to try the your lemon pound cake, and wanted to know if I could use mini Bundt pans for this as well, using the same directions? Thanks!
Yes, you should be able to bake this one as mini Bundt cakes also. Enjoy!
Dear Sally: I loved this recipe!! It’s a super soft cake!! Absolutely enjoyed it, even without the icing as I’m not really into them. I added 2 lemon zest from my very own lemon tree as I really enjoy the lemon scent. As always, your recipes are the best!!