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Lemon Pound Cake is a bakery favorite. This foolproof recipe is easy to make and comes out rich and buttery with a golden brown crust.
This moist and tender lemon pound cake is rich in flavor and tastes great with a simple topping of powdered sugar or drizzled with a thick layer of lemon glaze.
When it comes to flavor and texture in a cake, it doesn’t get much better than pound cake. But let’s face it—it’s notoriously painstaking to make, but this fuss-free version changes all that.
Many classic pound cake recipes require fussy mixing methods to avoid a curdling batter, but I found that mixing the eggs well into the rest of the wet ingredients and then incorporating creamed butter and the dry ingredients a little at a time did just the trick!
Delicious By Design
We developed this Lemon Pound Cake recipe to create a dessert that combines the richness of butter with the vibrant zestiness of lemon. By incorporating lemon juice and zest into the batter, we ensure every bite bursts with citrusy flavor. Adding buttermilk adds moisture and tenderness to the cake, while vanilla extract enhances its aromatic profile.
Ingredient Spotlight
The star ingredient of this recipe is butter, which provides richness and flavor to the cake. For the best results, use unsalted butter softened to 60-65°F. If you prefer, you can substitute with margarine, but remember that it may alter the taste and texture slightly. When purchasing butter, opt for high-quality brands for superior taste and consistency.
Buying Lemons For Baking
When buying lemons for baking, always buy unwaxed lemons. Choose the ones that are larger and heavier in weight, as they will be juicer than lighter-weight and smaller lemons. Avoid any that are spongy or soft.
Erren’s Top Tips
- Don’t be afraid to beat your butter and sugar at a high speed. At this point, it’s impossible to overwork your batter.
- Be careful not to over-mix your batter. When in doubt, after creaming the butter and sugar, switch to mixing by hand.
- It’s always best to finish mixing by hand after adding the last of the flour. This helps to avoid tunneling in your cake, which is holes in your pound cake caused by overmixing.
- If you think you may have overmixed your batter, just set it aside for ten minutes to relax before baking to ensure that delicate pound cake texture.
- Before adding your pan to the oven, be sure to give it a good bang on the counter to draw out any air bubbles that may be trapped in the batter.
- Pound cake likes to take its time to bake. This can take anywhere from 60 to 70 minutes.
- To easily remove the cake from the pan, run a pallet knife along the inside of the pan, turn it over, and give it a little tap on the bottom to help shift it from the pan.
- A bread knife works best to slice a pound cake.
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Recipe
Lemon Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 8 oz butter ((1 cup/2 sticks) softened to 60-65°F)
- 1½ cups sugar
- 5 eggs
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1½ cups all purpose flour (sifting)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F/163°C. Grease a 9-x-5-inch loaf pan to prevent the cake from sticking.
- Using an electric beater or a mixer at medium speed, beat the softened butter and sugar together until they become light and fluffy. This should take about 3 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
- In another bowl, sift the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Add a third of the flour to the creamed butter to a third of the egg mixture, Mix until combined.
- Repeat with another third of each then fold the remaining flour and egg mixture by hand until fully incorporated, scraping off the bottom of the bowl to ensure all the ingredients are fully combined.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and tap it a few times on the counter to level it and allow any air bubbles to escape.
- Bake the cake for 65 to 70 minutes until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before glazing.
- Glaze with your favorite icing before serving.
Tips
- Beat butter and sugar at high speed without worrying about overworking the batter.
- Avoid over-mixing by switching to hand mixing after creaming butter and sugar.
- Finish mixing by hand after adding the last of the flour to prevent tunneling in the cake.
- If the batter is overmixed, let it rest for ten minutes before baking for a delicate texture.
- Tap the pan on the counter before baking to release any trapped air bubbles.
- Bake pound cake slowly for 60-70 minutes.
- Use a pallet knife to release the cake from the pan easily.
- Slice your pound cake with a bread knife for best results.
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