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lemon pound cake with raspberries
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Lemon Pound Cake Recipe

Lemon Pound Cake that moist, buttery, and full of lemon flavor. Perfect served alone or with lemon curd, whipped cream, and berries.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings 12 servings
Calories 459kcal
Author Leigh Anne Wilkes

Equipment

Ingredients

Lemon Pound Cake

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 Tbsp freshly grated lemon zest
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Lemon Glaze

  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1-2 Tbsp milk

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees.  
  • Combine sugar and butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. 
  • Continue beating, adding eggs one at a time, until well mixed. 
  • Reduce speed to low. Gradually adding flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt alternately with buttermilk and scraping bowl often, until well mixed. 
  • Add lemon peel and 1 Tbsp lemon juice. Continue beating until well mixed.
  • Spread batter into a greased and flour 12 cup Bundt pan or a 10 inch angel food cake pan.  
  • Bake for 55-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  
  • Cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.

Lemon Glaze

  • Stir together powdered sugar, 2 tsp lemon juice and enough milk for desired glazing consistency in small bowl.  
  • Drizzle over cooled cake.

Notes

  1. Use fresh lemon juice. Freshly squeezed lemon juice will give you the brightest, freshest lemon flavor. Skip the bottled juice if possible.
  2. Don’t skip the lemon zest. The zest contains the natural oils of the lemon and adds even more lemon flavor without adding extra liquid to the cake. Be sure to zest only the yellow portion of the peel, not the bitter white pith.
  3. Use room temperature ingredients. Allow your butter, eggs and other refrigerated ingredients to come to room temperature before mixing. This helps everything combine more evenly and gives the cake a better texture.
  4. Don’t overmix. Once you add the flour, mix just until everything is combined. Overmixing can make your pound cake tough instead of tender.
  5. Don’t overbake. Pound cake should be moist and tender. Begin checking it a few minutes before the suggested baking time. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
  6. Let it cool before slicing. Allow the cake to cool before removing it from the pan and slicing. Pound cake slices much more cleanly once it has cooled.
  7. Dress it up. This Lemon Pound Cake is delicious on its own, but my favorite way to serve it is with lemon curd and freshly whipped cream. Fresh berries are also a delicious addition.
  8. Butter is an important ingredient in pound cake so be sure and use a good quality butter.

Nutrition

Calories: 459kcal | Carbohydrates: 71g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 323mg | Potassium: 100mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 47g | Vitamin A: 577IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 2mg