Finding the best Lemon Pound Cake recipe is a triumph! This recipe never disappoints and is fantastic right until the very last crumb! (Getting better on days 2 and 3!) If you love pound cake, don’t miss my famous Cream Cheese Pound Cake or Peach Pound Cake!
What is a Lemon Pound Cake?
The definition of pound cake is this: a rich cake containing a pound, or equal weights, of each chief ingredient, typically flour, butter, and sugar. One of the original pound cake recipes was:
(THIS IS NOT THE RECIPE, THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF A TRADITIONAL POUND CAKE. ACTUAL RECIPE in the recipe card below.)
- 1 pound sugar
- 1 pound butter
- 1 pound flour
- 1 dozen eggs
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
With updates in the sourcing of flours, accessibility of ingredients, quality of butter, and the addition of extracts in baking, some changes have been made to that original recipe.
Technically speaking, this lemon pound cake recipe does not have equal parts of flour, butter, and sugar as it has more flour. However, it still maintains the rich flavor and beautiful, dense crumb that is commonly associated with a pound cake. Try my Lemon Loaf for another lemon-flavored dessert with a dense crumb.
What Kind of Pan Do You Use for a Pound Cake?
The standard pans for pound cakes are either a Bundt cake pan or a loaf pan. Pound cakes tend to release beautifully from pans and that is where you can have fun! Decorative Bundt pans help to create the most beautiful looking pound cakes and showcase “naked” cakes beautifully. A simple glaze is all that is needed to showcase the beauty of the cake itself!
Loaf pans (longer rectangle pan) are also common when making pound cakes. A standard loaf pan size is 9x5x3. If you want to use mini loaf pans for this recipe I recommend dividing the batter equally into 3 smaller pans.
Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
The ingredients are fairly simple for this recipe, but it is important to find good quality and make sure they are fresh to ensure that beautiful crumb!
- Unsalted Butter – we add salt separately so no need to use salted butter here. Make sure it is not cold though.
- Eggs – room temperature is best. I also prefer to use extra-large eggs.
- All-Purpose Flour – measure properly! Use a fork to sift the flour in the bag, then a spoon to add the flour to the measuring cup. Level the cup with a knife and add to the recipe.
- Salt – I prefer kosher salt (a larger granule) in baking
- Buttermilk – allow the buttermilk to come to room temperature. If you don’t have any you can make your own by adding vinegar or fresh lemon juice to whole milk. Check out four recipes for homemade buttermilk here!
- Lemon Extract – One tablespoon of fresh lemon juice is equivalent to 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract, so if you are opting for fresh lemon juice in this recipe instead of extract, use 1/4 cup.
- Lemon Zest – grated fresh works best
If needed, check out my High Altitude Baking tips if baking at a higher altitude.
Lemon Glaze for Lemon Pound Cake
Although this lemon pound cake is flavorful enough to stand on its own, I love what a perfect lemon glaze does to it. My method is unique in that I add some glaze when the cake is hot and let it soak into the cake, then add more after it has cooled. This means amazing flavor and a beautiful presentation!
How to Make Glaze
The ingredients are simple, just whisk confectioner’s sugar, lemon juice, and butter together in a bowl until glaze is smooth. (You can use a hand-held mixer or stand mixer as well as by hand.) I prefer softened butter to melted, as I find the softened butter incorporates better and doesn’t appear greasy. I have also used a salted butter, as I find it cuts the richess of the sugar just a bit. If you don’t have salted, feel free to use unsalted.
More Pound Cake Recipes
Lemon Poundcake with Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
LEMON POUND CAKE
- 2½ cups granulated sugar
- 1½ cups unsalted butter, softened
- 4 eggs
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
LEMON GLAZE
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons salted butter, softened
Instructions
LEMON POUND CAKE
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
- Beat white sugar and butter together in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, thoroughly beating each egg into the butter mixture before adding the next.
- Sift flour, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture; mix well. Pour in 1/2 the buttermilk and beat until combined. Repeat adding the remaining flour mixture and buttermilk, beating well after each addition, and ending with the flour mixture. Stir lemon extract and lemon zest into batter. Pour into prepared bundt pan.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325° F.
- Bake in the oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 60 to 75 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a cake platter or plate.
LEMON GLAZE
- Beat confectioner’s sugar, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons softened butter together in a bowl until glaze is smooth.
- Pour about half the glaze over the cake; let cool. Pour remaining glaze over the cake.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
Question not comment: if I wanted to make a small version of this lemon pound cake, say, an 8×8 or so pan, could I do that if I halved the ingredients?
That is not an exact halving of the recipe (the slightly smaller pan) so I would recommend simply dividing the recipe into two pans and freezing the other.
Can you substitute lemon juice for lemon extract?
I made this cake tonight and while it’s delicious, I made my cake in the standard loaf pan (as the recipe indicated was acceptable) and I filled it pretty full and there was still so much batter leftover. Obviously the batter overflowed and it took longer to bake, so I’m wondering… what did I do wrong? Tasted great, but way too much batter 🤔
Sorry Dale! If using a loaf pan I would recommend 3 loaf pans.
It looks horrible because it fell in the middle, yes, in the bundt pan. I live at 8000 feet and even though I used 2 Tbs extra flour, it still fell. It smells really good and I have not glazed it yet and fortunately it is only for my husband and me, THIS TIME. But what should I have changed for high elevation?
Hi Linda- I tend to not advise on this because it can vary so greatly from home to home. However, there is some good info here should you want to try the recipe again. https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
So funny story, my wife and I are pregnant and our child is 13 weeks. In line with growth milestones, our child is stayed to be the size of a lemon. To celebrate, because that’s what everyone does at week 13…lol, we decided to make a lemon Bundt cake. We used your recipe and hands down, it came out AWESOME!!!
My wife tasted it (She’s the official taste tester of the house) and said this recipe was “Bee-stamped Approved 🐝”
All in all, thank you for sharing your gift with the world and giving us a way to sweeten our 13 week milestone.
Take care Amanda and remain safe!!!
That is the best! <3 Love it!
Was so good. A dear friend of mine always makes lemon pound cake for church dinners said it was exquisite . Thanks so much.
Re inquiries about a substitute for eggs… I frequently use Egg Beaters, found in the refrigerator section with eggs, instead of fresh eggs. It works beautifully in baking..
Hi. You are the best the recipe you always give are the best.i love them since I am up coming beake, you help me a lot.thank you
Hello. Can I substitute lemon extract with fresh lemon juice??
Hi, Yan! I work with iambaker and am happy to help with questions. One tablespoon of fresh lemon juice is equivalent to 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract, so if you are opting for fresh lemon juice in this recipe instead of extract, use 1/4 cup. I hope this helps, and have a great day!
This looks and sounds amazing. I would like to bake in my regular size bread pans. I like to give to neighbors and shut-ns. Would by baking time be the same as for bunt pan.
What about for the mini bread pans?
Hi, Betty! I work with iambaker and am happy to help with questions. We have not tried baking this cake in other sized pans, so I can’t say how the baking time would be affected. Have a great day!