Lemon Pound Cake is a light, fluffy and velvety moist lemony delight. It has the perfect freshness of lemon zest and other interesting ingredients added to the cake flour. Why shell dollars at Starbucks for a slice when you can make the whole cake in that amount? So, for all the lemon cake lovers, here’s how to make this easy Homemade Cake Recipe from Scratch!
The season of cold and lazy days is back in India. And, this time is just perfect to sip piping hot Saffron Tea, Kahwa with biscuits or a not so heavy on tummy snack like Lemon Pound Cake.
Therefore, no reason to not make it!
As the lemon flavor is always a hit in the house, this Lemon Pound Cake Recipe is received with much excitement in my house!
The best thing about this dessert is the delish Lemon Glaze for Pound Cake which takes this decadent cake to the next level.
Hence, if you like Chocolate Chip Pound Cake, or even a simple Vanilla Pound Cake then you are so going to love this lemon treat as well.
Work this recipe at your ease, follow my guide and you are sure to bake a mind blowing cake with literally no effort.
About This Recipe
It is a lemony variation of the traditional Pound Cake where typically the weight of flour, sugar, and butter is the same, and yes, as the name suggests it’s a pound each.
They are either bakes in a bundt pan or a loaf pan and are perfect as tea cakes or even desserts.
You can serve this cake for evening tea as is or with a dollop of whipped cream on the side.
This cake is
- Easy to make
- Moist
- Made from scratch
- Super lemony
- Refreshing
- Buttery
How to make Lemon Glaze?
Making the glaze for Lemon Pound Cake is very easy. All you have to do is mix powdered sugar with lemon juice and zest.
Make your sugar is lump-free. If there are lumps in the sugar, sieve it through a strainer. This is very important as you don’t want a lumpy frosting.
If the glaze becomes too thin, add some sugar to it and if it’s too thick, add some more lemon juice.
Pour the glaze over the cake only when the cake is nicely cooled.
Process
To make Lemon Pound Cake, start by whisking butter with sugar until it is very light and fluffy.
This is a very important step as it incorporates the air in the batter making the cake lighter and with great crumbs.
Then add eggs. Make sure to add them one at a time. Mix well after adding each egg.
Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and add half of it in the batter.
At this stage, do not over mix the batter. Just mix until everything comes along and then leave.
Mix the milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. The milk will curdle immediately after adding the lemon juice and becomes buttermilk.
You can also use buttermilk in place of milk but I prefer plain milk as it anyways curdles to make buttermilk after the addition of lemon.
Add this milk mixture in the batter and mix just until combined. Add the remaining flour and mix just until combined.
Now transfer the batter in the prepared pan and bake.
Do not open the door of the oven for the first 20 minutes for anything. The cake needs a uniform temperature to rise and if you open the door of the oven, it might not rise.
If the cake is getting browned from the top too quickly, you can cover it with aluminum foil after 30 minutes and then bake for the remaining time.
Variations
To this basic recipe of lemon pound cake, you can add fruits of your choice like blueberries or strawberries.
You can replace the all-purpose flour with whole wheat for a healthier cake.
You can also try using gluten-free flour in this recipe. The result will be slightly different but good.
Make a lemon sour cream pound cake by replacing milk with sour cream.
You can also make a Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake. Just replace milk with cream cheese.
Poppy seeds also go very well in this recipe. Try adding some in the batter.
Can you freeze this cake?
This cake can be easily frozen. Just wrap it in plastic wrap tightly and freeze for up to 6 months.
When ready to serve, thaw until it is softened. Then either keep it in an oven at 120 degrees for 10-15 minutes or microwave on high for 40 seconds.
Storage Suggestions
You can cut this cake in small pieces and store it in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. I just micro it for 10-15 seconds and the cake comes back to life.
If you are a little weird like me, then try eating it cold, I love it like that 😉
How to make it from cake mix?
To make lemon pound cake from a cake mix, mix all the below mentioned ingredients in a bowl until smooth.
Pour the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 50-55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Lemon Cake Mix – 1
- Sour Cream – 1 cup
- Vegetable Oil – 1 cup
- Eggs – 4
- Warm water – ½ cup
- Lemon Zest – 1 tsp
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Step by Step Recipe
Mix all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and keep aside.
Mix milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest in another bowl and keep aside.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, whisk butter and sugar until light and fluffy. ( Approx 5-6 minutes on medium-high speed ).
Add eggs, one at a time and mix well after each addition.
Add vanilla extract and mix well.
Add ½ of the flour mixture and mix until combined.
Add the milk mixture and mix until combined.
Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until combined.
Pour the batter in the prepared pan.
Bake for 55-60 minutes until a tooth pick comes out clean.
Transfer the cake on a cooling rack and cool completely.
For the glaze, add the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add more sugar if the glaze is too runny. Pour the glaze over the cooled cake.

Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¾ cup Milk
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice
- 2 teaspoon Lemon Zest
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar
- 5 Eggs
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
For the glaze
- 1 and ½ cup Confectioner's Sugar
- 2 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 350 Degrees F (180 degrees C).
- Grease and dust a bundt cake pan.
- Mix all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and keep aside.
- Mix milk, lemon juice and lemon zest in another bowl and keep aside.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, whisk butter and sugar until light and fluffy. ( Appox 5-6 minutes on medium high speed ).
- Add eggs, one at a time and mix well after each addition.
- Add vanilla extract and mix well.
- Add ½ of the flour mixture and mix until combined.
- Add the milk mixture and mix until combined.
- Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until combined.
- Pour the batter in the prepared pan.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes until a tooth pick comes out clean.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack.
For the glaze
- Add the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
- Add more sugar if the glaze is too runny.
- Pour the glaze over the cooled cake.
- Cut the cake into slices and serve.
Shibani Rangaraj
What’s the bundt cake pan size?
Neha Mathur
It’s 6 cups
Jay Bee
Good, quick and repeatable recipe.
Neha Mathur
Thank you 🙂