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Perfectly moist and bursting with lemon flavour, this Lemon Pound Cake is the recipe you might not have even realized you’re missing. The whole recipe only needs one lemon which most of you probably have stuck in your fruit drawer. It might technically be a dessert but it is great paired with a nice cup of tea for an afternoon snack.

This lemon pound cake is all about balance. It’s light and not dense, sweet but not too sweet, lemony but not overpowering. Actually most of the lemon flavour comes from the glaze, both the cake and glaze have lemon in them but the glaze is very concentrated. So don’t skip out on the delicious glaze! This is also the perfect loaf to gift to a neighbour or friend.

Lemon Pound Cake

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup butter, salted, or unsalted, at room temperature
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest, from about 1 large lemon
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp table salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature
  • Glaze
  • 1/2 cup icing/confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice, plus more, as needed
Lemon Pound Cake

Tips & Tricks:

  • Room Temperature Ingredients: It’s important to remember to take all of the ingredients out of the fridge to warm up before the recipe. If you forget it will change the texture of the loaf dramatically.
  • Glaze: When making the glaze make sure that it is not super runny. You can add extra powdered sugar to thicken it or extra lemon juice to thin it out. It should be just liquidy enough to drizzle on top of the loaf. The glaze is of course optional, but it provided a great lemon flavour pop.
  • Storage: You can store this in an airtight container for up to a week or in the freezer for a month or 2. If you are looking to eat a slice as you desire then freeze the loaf cut into slices so you don’t have to defrost the whole loaf or attempt to cut a slice off while its still frozen.
Lemon Pound Cake
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Lemon Pound Cake

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Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Servings

4

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

40

minutes
Calories

300

kcal
Total time

1

hour 

10

minutes

Citrusy sweet lemon pound cake. Great for dipping in chocolate fondue or just eating every time you walk past the fridge.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter, salted, or unsalted, at room temperature

  • 1 cup white sugar

  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature

  • 2 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest, from about 1 large lemon

  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice

  • 2 tsp vanilla

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

  • 1/4 tsp table salt

  • 1/4 tsp baking soda

  • 1/4 tsp baking powder

  • 1/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature

  • Glaze

  • 1/2 cup icing/confectioners’ sugar

  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice, plus more, as needed

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease an 8×4-inch loaf pan with baking spray or butter and line with a piece of parchment paper that covers the bottom and long sides, with an inch or so extending past the top of the pan.
  • In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter with the sugar at medium speed until light coloured and fluffy. (Don’t skimp on this process. It should cream about 3 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time and beat in well after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl, as needed. Beat in the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla.
  • In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. With mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternating with the sour cream, starting with 1/3 of the flour, 1/2 of the sour cream, 1/3 of the flour, last of the sour cream, then finally the last of the flour.
  • Scrape into the prepared loaf pan and level batter the best you can. Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
  • Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then run a knife along the short ends and use the parchment paper edges to lift and remove from pan. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.
  • While loaf is still a little warm, prepare the glaze by stirring together all the glaze ingredients in a small bowl, adding enough lemon juice to make a pourable glaze. Try not to make it too runny. Place a baking tray under the cooling rack to catch any drips and spoon glaze slowly over top of loaf, allowing it to drip down the sides a bit. Cool completely, then slice and enjoy.

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