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 dessert 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.
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: 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.
Delicious recipe! A big hit with everyone who I shared my poundcake with.,
I want to make this recipe for friend’s Christmas gifts but small loafs. How long should I bake them in 3×51/2 inch loaf pans. Also I live in Denver CO. Any hints for high altitude?
Hi Sheryl! We’re unsure of the exact time needed for that size pan. I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
I’ll let you know how it goes..
can i replace the lemon with orange? the zest, the juice, etc
Yes, absolutely!
The cake turned out great! I will definitely be making more.
Hi! I don’t have a loaf pan and was wondering if a normal cake tin would work? I have 2 8 inch circular cake tins
Hi there, if you look at this post on cake pan sizes and conversions, you’ll see that a 9×5-inch loaf pan holds 8 cups of batter and an 8-inch round pan holds 6 cups, so you’d need to adjust the measurements accordingly, and the bake time would be different. However, if you happen to have a Bundt pan, there are instructions for adapting this recipe for a Bundt pan in the Notes section of the recipe.
This came out fantastic. Well explained, easy to follow recipe.
A real hit.
Incredible! This is the most delicious cake I’ve made in a long time. My husband loved it as well and asked what is in it! How does this recipe have 4.7 stars and not 5. It is insanely good!
Would this recipe work for giant cupcakes?
Made the lemon cake tonight. It was amazing!! Best lemon cake! Family loved it!
I did not like this recipe. I made it exactly as directed with room temp ingredients. It did not mix well. I am curious as to why the eggs were not added after creaming the butter and sugar. It certainly did seem to curdle and never mixed properly. The finished product had pockets of dense butter and did not have enough lemon flavor in the cake if you did not want to add icing. Disappointing because I usually love the recipes from Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Hi Kat, did you accidentally skip the eggs? You will add them after creaming the butter and sugar. The batter should come together to form a uniform batter after adding the flour. Was yours not thoroughly mixed I wonder? For a little more flavor, you can add more lemon zest or add a splash of lemon extract.
The texture of this pound cake was chalky, i wouldn’t make this again.
I really enjoyed this cake but if I run out of flour can I use almond?
Hi David, we don’t recommend it. Almond flour has very different properties than regular flour, and we don’t recommend it as a substitute.
Amazing lemon cake! Great flavor and texture! Family loved it!
My daughter loves it
I bake this cake every month since December last year
So buttery and tender and delicious!
I didn’t have sour cream so I subbed yogurt as suggested and it was still wonderful!
Another winner, even without icing!
Made this recipe as experiment. I’m a middle school teacher and thought it would made be fun for the kids to cook their own cakes. Because of the lack of ovens I needed another way. Enter the mini waffle iron. Worked pretty good. Kids will love the activity and treat. Thanks.
I’m liking this lemon pound cake. It doesn’t take much flour & sugar. Real simple if you follow instructions. Baked at 180 C degrees in an electric oven for 60 minutes in a 8 x 4 loaf pan, third rack in oven
It came out very dry. We didn’t like it at all. It could be that it was in the oven too long. I’d make sure to take it out when there are still crumbs on the toothpick.
Hi E K, what a helpful tip for others. Thank you for your feedback.
Can you freeze the icing
Hi Jeannette, see the recipe notes for make ahead and freezing instructions. We prefer icing it right before serving, so freeze it without the icing.
Hi Sally & Team,
I tried this recipe today and I made sure I followed the exact measurements and didn’t overmix. When it came out from the oven, I also made sure it’s done thoroughly and let it rest for an hour. It looked real promising, but it turns out that the bottom is still wet and in the end, the cake crumbled. The sides are also not firm and brown like yours, they’re just slightly brown.
I wonder what did I do wrong. Do you think I shouldve baked it longer next time? Thanks!
Hi Jessi, it does sound like the loaf could benefit from a few additional minutes in the oven for next time. All ovens can be a bit different, so not a worry if it’s a bit longer than the time listed. Thank you for giving this one a try!
Can I use the convection mode of the oven to bake this cake? What modification do I need to do in regards to temperature and time?
Hi Reva, if you have the choice, we recommend conventional settings when baking cakes, breads, etc. The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use the convection setting to bake this cake, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake. Hope you enjoy it!