This lemon pound cake recipe is absolutely divine! A super moist and tender crumb with a dash of lemon and a delicious buttermilk glaze. It's so easy to bake up for last-minute guests or bring to a special occasion.
If you're looking for a super moist and lemony pound cake with a velvet smooth crumb, this is the one for you. I've had my fair share of dry pound cake so when I was testing recipes, super moist was my #1 goal without losing that classic pound cake denseness and texture. Truthfully though, the real star of this lemon pound cake is the tart lemon glaze made with buttermilk. It's the perfect sweet and zesty topping and really gives this lemon pound cake its WOW factor!
Table of contents
Moist pound cake ingredients
Buttermilk adds much-needed moisture but it's also acidic which breaks down the gluten in the flour, resulting in a very tender and moist crumb. For the glaze, we're using powdered buttermilk instead of fresh because it adds a ton of flavor without making the glaze too thin.
Cake flour makes the pound cake incredibly light but if you can't get your hands on cake flour, all-purpose will still work just fine. Just replace two Tablespoons of flour with cornstarch and sift together. Be very careful not to over-mix which will make your pound cake tough and hard.
Baking powder gives the pound cake just enough lift to make it light without losing that classic pound cake texture.
Lemon extract and lemon zest together bring out the bright lemon flavor in this cake. You can easily switch these out for other flavors if you prefer.
Making Lemon Pound Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and make sure the rack is in the center of the oven.
- Prepare your 5"x9" loaf pan with cake goop or any kind of preferred pan release. If you don't have loaf pans, you can use bundt pans or even cake pans.
- Weigh out your wet and dry ingredients using a scale instead of using measuring cups for a more accurate recipe, and bring your ingredients to room temperature. When your wet ingredients are room temperature or even a little warm, they will mix together more easily and your lemon pound cake will have a better texture.
- Sift together your cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until light, white, and fluffy. If your butter is too cold, your butter and sugar are not going to cream very easily.
- While mixing on low, add in your room temperature eggs, one at a time, letting each mix in fully before you add in the next. I'm using a stand mixer, but you can also use a hand-electric mixer if you'd like. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Add the lemon extract and zest to the buttermilk and set aside.
- While mixing on low, add ⅓ of the buttermilk mixture, then ⅓ of the flour mixture, repeat two more times with the remaining flour and buttermilk mixture and mix until just combined. Don't overmix.
- Pour your cake batter into a prepared 5"x9" loaf pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out cleanly.
- Cool it for 10 minutes, then flip the cake onto a wire rack. If you want extra moisture, add a simple lemon syrup to the top straight out of the oven.
- Let the cake cool at room temperature or wrap the whole cake in plastic wrap and freeze it to lock in the moisture.
Making Lemon Buttermilk Glaze
- Combine the powdered sugar, salt, buttermilk powder, and lemon juice in a large bowl.
- Mix until smooth with a hand mixer or whisk. Make sure to spend enough time beating the mixture so you don't have lumps.
- Add in your softened butter and mix until smooth and creamy.
- Pour the glaze over the top of the cake (I put mine on a cooling rack over a pan to catch the glaze) and then garnish with fresh lemons if you like.
How to flavor pound cake
Don't like lemon? No problem! You can flavor this pound cake in so many different ways with simple ingredients! Leave out the lemon zest and replace it with fresh blueberries or raspberries. Add a layer of cream cheese frosting or mix in some chocolate chips. You can also add vanilla extract and add in some spices to make a spice pound cake! Replace the buttermilk with pumpkin puree for a yummy pumpkin pound cake. The options are truly endless!
FAQ
Yes, you can absolutely make this lemon loaf cake in a bundt cake pan. Double it to make sure you have enough batter, and bake it for longer.
Lemon juice actually doesn't have a lot of lemon flavor and it adds a lot of liquid to the recipe. For true lemon lovers, try adding more lemon zest and extract.
You can use regular milk plus 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar as a buttermilk substitute or you can check out my buttermilk substitute blog post for more substitutions.
Pound cake first came from Europe around the 1700s. A typical pound cake was made of one pound of butter, flour, sugar, and eggs. This type of cake was very heavy, dry, and dense. The only sort of lift in the cake came from the eggs.
The difference between a pound cake and a regular cake is how dense the cake is. A pound cake usually only has a glaze or is paired with whipped cream and berries because of how heavy it is while a traditional cake is much lighter in texture and can therefore be paired with richer fillings and frostings. Pound cakes are typically baked in a loaf pan or a bundt cake pan and take much longer to bake than a traditional cake.
I find that cake flour makes a very light and fluffy pound cake. All-purpose will also work just fine, Just replace two Tablespoons of flour with cornstarch and sift it together. Be very careful not to over-mix which will make your pound cake tough and hard.
Related Recipes
Recipe
Equipment
- 5-inch by 9-inch loaf pans
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
Ingredients
Lemon Pound Cake
- 4 ounces unsalted butter softened but not melted
- 8 ounces granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 8 ounces cake flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 ounces buttermilk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest
Lemon Buttermilk Glaze
- 6 ounces powdered sugar sifted
- 2 ounces fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons buttermilk powder
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter very soft but not melted
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Making Lemon Pound Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and make sure the rack is in the center of the oven.
- Prepare your 5"x9" loaf pan with cake goop or any kind of preferred pan release. If you don't have loaf pans, you can use bundt pans or even cake pans.
- Weigh out your wet and dry ingredients using a scale instead of using measuring cups for a more accurate recipe, and bring your ingredients to room temperature. When your wet ingredients are room temperature or even a little warm, they will mix together more easily and your lemon pound cake will have a better texture.
- Sift together your cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until light, white, and fluffy. If your butter is too cold, your butter and sugar are not going to cream very easily.
- While mixing on low, add in your room temperature eggs, one at a time, letting each mix in fully before you add in the next. I'm using a stand mixer, but you can also use a hand-electric mixer if you'd like. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Add the lemon extract and zest to the buttermilk and set aside.
- While mixing on low, add ⅓ of the buttermilk mixture, then ⅓ of the flour mixture, repeat two more times with the remaining flour and buttermilk mixture and mix until just combined. Don't overmix.
- Pour your cake batter into a prepared 5"x9" loaf pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out cleanly.
- Cool it for 10 minutes, then flip the cake onto a wire rack. If you want extra moisture, add a simple lemon syrup to the top straight out of the oven.
- Let the cake cool at room temperature or wrap the whole cake in plastic wrap and freeze it to lock in the moisture.
Making Lemon Buttermilk Glaze
- Combine the powdered sugar, salt, buttermilk powder, and lemon juice in a large bowl.
- Mix until smooth with a hand mixer or whisk. Make sure to spend enough time beating the mixture so you don't have lumps.
- Add in your softened butter and mix until smooth and creamy.
- Pour the glaze over the top of the cake (I put mine on a cooling rack over a pan to catch the glaze) and then garnish with fresh lemons if you like.
Video
Notes
- If you can’t get your hands on cake flour, all-purpose will still work just fine. Just replace two Tablespoons of flour with cornstarch and sift together.
- If you want to make your pound cake EXTRA moist you can brush on some simple syrup right out of the oven or you can add in 2 ounces of vegetable oil to the liquids in the recipe.
- Don't forget to grease your pans! Using cake goop is the best way to make sure your loaf doesn't stick to the pan.
- Weigh out your ingredients using a scale and bring ingredients to room temperature. When your ingredients are room temperature or even a little warm, they will mix together more easily and your lemon pound cake will have a better texture.
- You can use regular milk plus 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar as a buttermilk substitute or you can check out my buttermilk substitute blog post for more substitutions
- If you don't have buttermilk powder for the glaze, use 2 Tablespoons of real buttermilk and add an extra ¼ cup of powdered sugar.
- I recommend using a nonstick metal pan, but if you want to use a glass pan, bake for an extra 10 minutes.
- To bake this in a bundt pan, double the recipe to make sure you have enough batter and bake for longer.
Nutrition
350 f 40-45 mins
Sinead O'neill says
If I was going to make these as mini loafs… how long would you suggest baking? Then loaf sizes are 8cmx4cmx4cm
Elizabeth Marek says
Start with 12 minutes and then check until they are done baking
Celestine says
it looks so mouth watering and feasible. I love anything lemon and moist!!!!!