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 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.
I’m not a fan of pound cake, but I am a huge fan of all things lemon, so I reluctantly gave this recipe a try. Cannot believe the results, this is incredible!! Followed recipe exactly and loved every perfect bite!! Sorry I doubted you, Sally.
Finally made last night, I was super excited that when I cut into it….looked just as I expected. The sides were a little burnt and it tasted a little dry. Could I have overcooked. Otherwise, I’m very happy with the outcome.
Excellent pound cake. Very moist and nice lemon flavor. The only change I made was doubling the lemon zest. Making it again tomorrow to share with neighbors.
Thanks! I’m thinking I’ll make it today and ice it tomorrow. Should I wrap it in plastic wrap or in foil overnight?
Hi Ruby, either will work!
If I make this one day ahead of time, should I refrigerate it? Should I wrap it? Also, should I wait until tomorrow to ice it or do it today? So many questions, LOL.
Hi Ruby, you can make and ice it a day before you plan to eat it or ice it the day of! It will be fine at room temperature for a day. Enjoy!
Delicious. One of the most tasty things I have ever eaten. When making this I didn’t listen to the 3 hour cool time. Make sure you do because it will stick to the pan if you don’t.
This is the best pound cake I have ever had.
yummy in my tummy ⛹️
This was delectable, but I prefer a stronger lemon flavor. Would it mess anything up to add two more tablespoons of lemon juice, for a total of five tablespoons?
Hi Janice, we’re glad you enjoyed it! Instead of adding more liquid with lemon juice, we’d recommend increasing the lemon zest to your liking.
I did! And it turned out so moist! Perfection!
I love this recipe. Can this be turned into mini loaves or mini Bundt cakes?
Absolutely!
This recipe is so yummy. I love the frosting and I think I might try this icing the next time I make lemon sweet rolls. This pound cake was so good. I made this Sunday night and it is now Monday afternoon and it is gone. I’m going to make more today. This website truly helped me build my confidence in baking which I’m turn helped me build confidence to Cooke everything else. The recipes are so detailed which is so helpful as a new baker (or cook.) when I first had my son I had ppd and I would cry because I didn’t know how to make anything healthy for my kids. This website really helped me, I am so thankful. I know baked foods aren’t necessarily healthy but it beats all the artificial and preservatives in that’s in store bought foods.
Made this for my grandma’s 76th birthday cake. It came out perfect, will be making another cake like this again very soon!
Does using European butter work with this recipe? I just used it and some of the cake was stuck to the pan. I tasted it and it seems so buttery. I’m wondering if I should just use American butter for your recipes.
Hi Alex, European style butters often aren’t ideal for baking smaller items with short bake times such as cookies and cupcakes. Larger items like quick breads are usually fine.
Can I use milk instead of sour cream? I know a lot of other pound cake recipes use milk.
Hi Abbie! Milk will be too thin for this particular recipe.
Is there any way to make the cake a bit sweeter? I have a sweet-tooth, and I found that I love the flavor, consistency, and texture of this lovely cake. But I just want it to be a bit sweeter! If I increase the amouint of sugar will that drastically change this wonderful cake?
Hi Carol, I’m sure a little more sugar would be fine. I haven’t tested it though. Are you skipping the icing? Because that adds a lot of sweetness to it.
This one is a ‘go to’ for our place 🙂
I am wondering one thing though … the outside gets very dark (borderline burnt) … could I bake longer at a lower temp? Or perhaps get a light coloured pan?
Thoughts ?
Thank you
Hi Darci! Are you tenting the cake with foil halfway through baking? This helps prevent excess browning. A lighter colored pan does help as well!
I love all things lemon and this cake hit the mark. I will be making this again and again!
This is absolutely delicious and so easy to make! I’m planning on making miniature loaves and mailing them in Valentine Day care packages to grandkids in college.
How sweet, Cheryl!
Love it! Made as directed, can’t wait to have another slice! Easy and delicious
Made the Iced Lemon pound cake and it didn’t disappoint. Best that I have tasted in a long while – yes, better than Starbuck’s version. Pretty easy to make and the heavy cream lemon icing is a MUST. Keeping this recipe as a favorite.
Bummer! I just put my loaf in the oven and realized that I only put 2 eggs in. Yikes! Hope it’s good but now I am definitely going to make it again as the batter is delicious!
It was excellent! You’d never know I forgot an egg and now I’m whipping up another one to take to the snow.
16 year old child’s reaction: “Bro, it’s Buss!!” Highest praise. It was hard to find a Starbucks like loaf that wasn’t full of odd things like lemon pudding mix. This is fresh and real ingredients.
I’m glad it got some good praise! 😉
I made the Lemon pound cake but added 1 Tbsp. of poppy seeds. It sank a little in the middle even though I was trying not to make any noise in the kitchen BUT the flavour was spot on. Very light tasting. I made the icing because I couldn’t resist but it could stand alone without it.. Added it to my favourites. Tomorrow I will be trying your creamy chicken noodle soup and making your cornbread to go with it. I really enjoy your recipes and look forward to each one. Thanks Sally to you and your team.
I will definitely make this cake again!! It was soo good, and the glaze was very nice though there was just a little of it.
I made this cake for my family today, and it turned out tasting lovely but a disaster presentable-wise. I baked it too short of time since the oven is VERY old and bakes funnily sometimes. The center was moist but the toothpick came out almost clean, so I took it out of the oven. I then flipped it upside down on a large platter right after taking out of the oven, which was the 2nd bad mistake.
I rarely bake cakes but should have waited until it cooled more to take it out, but I was too excited to see it on a lovely platter and thought that it wouldn’t break.
When I put another platter on top and flipped it again so it was sitting on it’s bottom again, I saw that the middle wasn’t even cooked. Ugg!! So I put it back in the loaf pan and baked it for another 10 minutes, and then waited 20 minutes to take it out. It was cooked perfectly but still broken and clumpy from the former break, but tasted lovely. I added twice the amount of lemon zest and juice, and it turned out so nice and lemony, as I love lemon. I would double the glaze/frosting recipe though, as that was a tinnyyy amount for a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan cake.
What exactly does the sour cream do in the recipe?
Hi Havah! Sour cream adds structure and moisture. Glad you enjoyed the cake!
Hi!! Thank you for your reply 🙂 I sure did!!
I want to make it but I don’t have (always) butter. Can I use oil instead butter? Same grams? And yogurt instead sour cream fits not easy to find here) ?
Hi Angie! Yogurt will work instead of sour cream, but oil is not suitable for this pound cake recipe since the base of the recipe is butter creamed with oil.
Ended up sunken in the center; wondering what could have caused it
Hi Ana! Breads and cakes usually sink if they have been under-baked. Did you use a toothpick to test for doneness? An easy fix for next time!
Can I use a 6 cup bundt pan for this
Hi Jeanne, that should be fine. I’m unsure of the best bake time though. I would only fill the greased pan 2/3-3/4 full though.
Q. Can I use low salt in this recipe please?
Hi Heidi, I haven’t tried reducing the salt here, but I do feel like you’d lose some key flavor. Let me know if you test it.
Can I add some popey seeds to this
Absolutely. You can add 2-3 Tablespoons with the dry ingredients.