Sing it with me: lemon pound cake tastes so niiiice! I love lemon desserts, they’re indulgent without being too sweet or rich thanks to the tart lemon flavour. With it’s simple glaze and lemon zest topping this easy-to-make lemon pound cake is a classic for a reason!
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Pound cake is so called because it used to be made with a whole pound each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. The resulting cake is OK but can be a bit dense and dry, so for my version I added some sour cream to make the crumb nice and tender, and some baking powder for lift. It’s probably not often that you’d need to make four whole pounds of cake, so this recipe is scaled down to fit in the perfect-sized pan for a loaf cake. There’s also plenty of bright lemon flavour in the form of lemon zest and extract, and some fresh-squeezed lemon juice in the glaze.
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This recipe was featured as the Level 1 cake in this video. Enjoy!
Ingredients for Lemon Pound Cake
- Unsalted butter adds richness and flavour to the cake. You can use salted instead, just reduce or omit the salt called for in the recipe.
- Granulated sugar is whipped with the butter to aerate the cake and give it its light texture.
- Eggs bind the cake, add liquid and fat, and help the cake rise in the oven, and an extra yolk adds some richness. Use large eggs, and make sure they’re at room-temperature so your cake batter doesn’t split or curdle.
- Sour cream keeps the crumb tender and moist, and adds a nice tangy flavour that goes well with lemon. Use full-fat sour cream for the best flavour and texture.
- All-purpose flour adds structure to the cake. You can use cake flour instead, for a more tender result.
- Lemons are used both for their zest and juice.
- Lemon extract amps up the lemon flavour in the cake
- Vanilla extract rounds out the bright and tangy flavour of the lemon.
- Salt enhances the flavour of the cake. I like using fine sea salt.
- Baking powder aerates the cake for a nice light texture.
Tips for Making the Best Lemon Pound Cake
- Use room temperature butter. Meaning, around 68˚F (20˚C). It should be soft enough to poke your finger in and leave an indentation without going all the way through. This makes sure your butter and sugar will whip up nice, light, and fluffy to give your cake the best texture.
- Use room-temperature eggs. Cold eggs straight from the fridge will make the butter firm up, resulting in a curdled batter.
- Add the eggs gradually to the batter, to keep its texture smooth and emulsified. If you add the eggs too quickly, the batter could split. After adding each egg beat on medium-high speed until the batter is nice and smooth again, about 30-60 seconds.
- Use the right size loaf pan so the dough will fill it up and dome nicely! I like using this 7.75 x 3.75 x 2.5-inch pan which is perfectly-sized for this recipe. If your loaf pan is a different size, see the chart below for the ingredient quantities you should use.
- Let the cake cool completely before topping it with the glaze, or the glaze will slide right off!
If you love lemon desserts as much as I do, you should also try my amazing Velvety-Soft Lemon Pound Cake recipe (the crumb is unbelievably soft and moist and it’s topped with candied lemon slices!). If you like unique flavours and presentation, you’ll love my Gourmet Lemon Bundt Cake with Preserved Lemon. Or if you’re in the mood for something lemony but you’re not feeling cake, make this Lemon Meringue Pie ice cream (it’s full of buttery & crunchy shortbread bits!), these Lemon Poppyseed Macarons, or these Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies!
Classic Lemon Pound Cake
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat your oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Spray a loaf pan with baking spray and line with a piece of parchment paper overhanging the long sides of the pan, to use as a sling for removing the cake.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, rub the zest of 1 lemon into 140 g granulated sugar until the sugar resembles damp sand and is very fragrant.
- Add 140 g unsalted butter to the mixing bowl and cream together with the lemon-infused sugar until lightened in colour. Use the paddle attachment if you're using a stand mixer.
- Add 3 large eggs and 1 large yolk one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 40 g sour cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 teaspoon lemon extract and beat well to combine.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together 140 g all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ½ teaspoon fine sea salt. Add to the batter and mix on low speed just until combined.
- Pour into the prepared baking pan and smooth out the top. Bake until the top is golden and cracked and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45-55 minutes. Leave to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the glaze: whisk together 120 g powdered sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and a pinch fine sea salt until smooth. Add more lemon juice a little bit at a time to reach the consistency you want.
- Pour the glaze over the top of the cake and let it drip over the sides. Before the glaze sets, sprinkle on some more lemon zest if you like. Let the glaze set for 20-30 minutes, then serve!
Video
Notes
- You can swap in a different loaf pan, but keep in mind it will change both the bake time and how the cake turns out. I don’t suggest going too far off size because the batter might overflow or bake too thin. This is the loaf pan I used, and I highly recommend it. Fat Daddio is my go-to for cake pans!
- It’s really important that your eggs, butter, and sour cream are all at room temperature (around 68˚F or 20˚C) so the batter comes together nicely. If the butter is cold, it won’t cream properly with the sugar. If the eggs or sour cream are cold, it could cause the butter to firm up and separate out of the batter—in other words, your batter could curdle.
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