Calling all lemon lovers. This sweet, moist, and very lemony pound cake has a perfectly dense crumb, that bright lemon flavor we all love and a wonderful golden brown top. It is easy to make, versatile (variations are included in the post) and fantastic with a simple glaze!
A remarkable lemon pound cake recipe
A simple title for a wonderful old-fashioned lemon pound cake you'll want to make often.
Considering the years I've been baking and the number of lemon cakes I've baked, this unforgettable recipe holds the number one spot.
Pound cakes are vintage and wonderful. They keep well (always well wrapped in plastic wrap or under a cake dome, of course) and the ingredients are everyday staples.
It's different from this fluffier and more traditional lemon bundt cake. I sometimes add lime zest together with the lemon for a unique and deep citrus flavor.
Lemon is a crowd-pleaser, we all know that. This blog has a very active lemon recipe archive, in case you're interested.
Step-by-step VIDEO
Ingredient Notes
- Sour cream: the regular type, full-fat sour cream cheese is used for richness and creaminess.
- Lemon: fresh lemon juice and zest are used for extra lemon flavor.
- Eggs: fresh, large.
- All-purpose flour or cake flour: both are excellent and get great results.
- Baking soda: make sure it isn't expired.
- Powdered sugar: also called icing or confectioners' sugar.
Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
Sour cream in cakes
As the title highlights, it is the star ingredient, making this recipe a fantastic one.
Sour cream substitutes some of the butter and/or milk, adding moisture to the cake and making for a tight but soft and tender crumb.
The slight tanginess offsets the sugar and other rich ingredients, like butter. I personally think using sour cream for cakes is one of the best things ever!
FAQ
The first one has more butter than eggs, while the second should have equal amounts (in weight). Nowadays, pound cakes have gotten lighter and easier to make, and most don't maintain the exact proportions as the very old ones, which were a pound of each ingredient (flour, butter, sugar, and eggs).
Don't overbake it, and keep it well covered in plastic wrap or an airtight container. If you have leftovers, store them in the fridge or freezer after three days at room temperature.
Overmixing or overbeating can lead to a heavy, stiff pound cake, especially after adding the flour. Make sure you beat at a low speed after you add the dry ingredients, or do it by hand with a whisk or silicon spatula. Also, some recipes have a lighter crumb than others while maintaining a pound cake's characteristic dense structure, so try different ones and find your favorite.
Steps to make lemon pound cake
Baking is all in the details, like having room temperature ingredients when specified in the recipe.
- Mixing the batter: I use a large bowl and an electric mixer, and you can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Make sure you don't overbeat it after the flour mixture is added.
- Loaf pan: prepare it beforehand as specified in the recipe card below.
- Preheated oven: it's crucial if you want the cake to bake and rise as it should.
Top Tip
After incorporating flour in a cake batter, we don't want to develop gluten, as it will toughen the cake. So mix *just* until it's all well incorporated but don't overbeat. I like to end mixing with a silicon or rubber spatula to ensure the ingredients are fully integrated.
Delicious lemon glaze
The most common and best way to glaze loaf cakes is with a powdered sugar glaze. It’s versatile, easy, and a crowd-pleaser!
- Cold cake: make sure it's completely cooled down. Otherwise, the glaze will melt when you drizzle it and hardly cover the cake.
- Thicker glaze: use less liquid if you want it to be thick but not drip much down the sides (like this zucchini bundt cake).
Kitchen Notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Baking time: keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look the same or very similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer(like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Sour cream: full fat is what I always use because it makes for a richer cake, but low fat can be used with good results.
- Flour: I sometimes use cake flour for pound cakes. It lightens up the crumb while still maintaining the traditional dense quality. All-purpose flour also gives excellent results.
- Creaming: it's important to cream the butter, sour cream and sugar well so the cake rises better and creates a wonderful crumb.
- Baking: pan sizes are important (see variations below) because dense cakes such as this lemon pound cake take a while to bake. If the pan is too small, the cake will color and dry too much on the outside before being fully baked on the inside.
- Storing it: well wrapped, it keeps for three days at room temperature, a week in the fridge, and a month or more in the freezer. I love to freeze leftover pound cake in slices and toast them whenever I get a craving.
- Bundt cake: you can easily double this recipe and bake it in a bundt pan or tube pan. I do it all the time.
- Lemon syrup: this is a pound cake, so it's dense by definition. For an extra moist lemon cake, you can add lemon syrup before the glaze, while the cake is still hot. Just like we do for the lemon poppy seed muffins.
Mix ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice with 2-3 tablespoons of sugar and brush over the cake just as it comes out of the oven.
You can also poke it with a brochette stick or something similar so the syrup seeps into the cake faster. - Serving it: if you want a lemon dessert, serve a thick slice topped with sweetened whipped cream or lemon curd, and fresh berries. Make a trifle using the same ingredients and layering them in individual glasses (like the creamy peach trifle recipe) or a large glass trifle bowl.
Variations
- Possible pans sizes: double the recipe and bake it in a 10 or 12-cup bundt or tube cake pan like the lemon bundt cake, or a sheet cake like the chocolate chip pound cake. Bake mini bundt cakes like blood orange cakes or chocolate Kahlua cakes.
- Flavorings: add other citruses (I sometimes make this a lemon-lime loaf), add a tablespoon of liquor (replacing some of the lemon juice), use ground spices (cardamom, cinnamon), and add ½ cup of chopped nuts or chocolate chips.
- Chocolate glaze: the combination of lemon and chocolate is highly overrated. Cover this lemon loaf with chocolate ganache and taste for yourself.
- Vanilla pound cake: if you omit the lemon in this recipe and use more vanilla extract, you have a fantastic plain pound cake recipe.
The first time I took this lemon sour cream cake to the office, it not only disappeared in a nanosecond but even I was impressed by the texture.
In my 30+ years of baking, I've baked my share of pound cakes. However, I was not expecting to be surprised by a sour cream pound cake recipe.
So go ahead and keep this recipe close. It's worth it.
Related recipes you might like:
Let me know in the comments below if you made this recipe and loved it and if you had issues so we can troubleshoot together. I love to hear what you think, always. Thanks for being here. It's much appreciated.
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Lemon Pound Cake (the BEST recipe)
Click the stars to Rate this Recipe!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest , from about 1 lemon
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the glaze:
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 or 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 325ºF (170°C). Grease the pan with shortening and flour it. You can line it with a strip of parchment paper covering the bottom and the two narrow sides. It's what I do as it makes it easier to remove the cake.
- Beat 9 tablespoons unsalted butter and ½ cup sour cream in a large bowl until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Add 1 teaspoon lemon zest and mix.
- Add 1 ½ cups sugar gradually and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes more.
- Add 3 eggs, one at a time, incorporating each one before adding the next.
- Add ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice.
- Sift 1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour with ¼ teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon salt and add it to the butter mixture in 2 additions, beating at low speed only until well mixed. Don't overbeat.
- Pour batter into the pan and smooth the top.
- Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean. It might take longer depending on your oven and the type of pan you use. If the top is browning too quickly, tent with a piece of aluminum foil for the last part of the baking.
- Cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire rack, run a smooth-bladed knife around the edges to loosen and remove from the pan carefully.
- Let cool completely before glazing.
For the glaze:
- Mix ¾ cup powdered sugar and 1 or 2 tablespoons lemon juice until smooth.
- Put the cake on a wire rack and a piece of parchment paper below to catch the drippings.
- Slowly drizzle the glaze along the center of the cake, letting it drip down the sides.
- You can scoop the glaze that drips onto the paper and pour it over again. Do so quickly before the glaze sets.
Gerda Godschalk says
I live in the Netherlands and the flour here is different then in America The cake is lovely an soft. But I have a few comments:
My batter was very moist, And I wonder why there is so much sugar in it.
A pound cake should have equal amounts of flour, fats and sugar in it. Yes?
Next time I make this cake I will add les sugar, more lemon zest.
Harriet says
Could u do this with oranges
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Harriet, yes you can but the cake will be sweeter as orange is not as tart as lemon.
Regina says
Hi, I was wondering, can I bake this cake in a ceramic loaf?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Regina! I like metal pans because the bake more even and faster. I never tried this particular recipe, but ceramic (or glass) pans work better for recipes that need to bake slower. I've had adverse results when using non-metal pans as cakes and brownies never fully baked as they should.
Naoko W. says
I decided to make this so as not to waste the leftover sour cream and lemons. It turned out so well and was a huge hit with my family. It's a perfect medley of sugar and lemon. I will never go back to making regular pound cakes. Thanks for sharing a great recipe.
Kim says
Simply the best pound cake! The second time baking this now. Doubled the recipe for a Bundt. 65-70 minutes was my time. Thank you for sharing. This is a keeper!
Patricia Matzke says
I get that bloggers want us to read the entire piece and not just the recipe, but if you make a specific note (amongst many others) to use baking POWDER, but list baking SODA in the ingredients, one like myself may not get to that note until my cake is baking and not rising very well. Please write your recipe as you make it, not with note tucked away telling your readers the way to make it better.
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Patricia, I checked the recipe again and it only uses baking soda as specified in the instructions, so there must be another issue why your cake is not rising well. Can it be that the soda was expired or maybe something with the oven? You can send me a picture of the final cake and we can troubleshoot.
But rest assured that I don't post the recipes without testing and proofreading them. I can make mistakes and sometimes do, but this particular recipe was made by dozens of readers and myself as written with great results.
Dolores L Beauchamp says
Hello Paula. I love all things lemon especially baked but I'm also a diabetic can I use a sugar substitute and how would I measure that . Thank you and Happy Holidays
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Dolores, unfortunately I don't bake without sugar and am not qualified to advise on that, especially since you're a diabetic which is a medical condition. I can suggest googling for diabetic-specific sites. Have a great holiday week.
Suchita says
I would like to try this recipe.Could you please let me know the measurements in grams.
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Suchita, there's a button in the recipe card that you can toggle to alternate between US and metric measurements.
Suchita says
Hi
I could not find any button in the recipe card to convert measurements into metric.,... could you please help with the conversions.,... kindly reply in my mail.
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Suchita, you can now toggle the button and it'll show the metric measurements. Happy baking!
Jayne says
I baked this lemon pound cake yesterday and it came out wonderful. Best lemon cake I have made, and I have made many. I will be making it again. I have a few questions and comments. My cake did not rise like yours. I used 9x5 pan. I think the pan may have been too large. Next time I will use a smaller loaf pan, 8x4. I think that may have been why it did not rise like yours did. Also I had to bake the cake longer than 50 minutes, more like 70 minutes. Look forward to hearing from you.
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Jayne! I'm happy you liked it so much. A bigger pan produces a shorter cake, so that might've been the case of not growing so much, but it would've required less baking time. So I'm thinking if you're oven's temperature is well calibrated or if you baked it at a lower temp. That might account for the extended time. Also, some pans have finishes that distribute and bake better than others.
Cristina says
En ves de baking soda puede ser baking powder...use crema acida...
Cristina says
Hola hoy hice el pancake y se me hundio un poco del centro....aqui estamos a 2300 metros sobre el nivel del mar....en ves de bicarbonato se puede usar baking powder...o a lo mejor agregar un poco mas de harina...son sugerencias mias....gracias
Cristina says
Hola..voy hacer la receta....me ha pasado que el panque se hunde quisiera saber como hacer para que no pase.....
Paula Montenegro says
Hola Cristina, a veces se hunde porque se bate demasiado la mezcla después que se agrega la harina. No abras el horno antes de 20-25 minutos.
10ecgrannie says
UNBELIEVABLE!
I’ve baked pound cakes for 50 years! My favorite recipes incorporate cream cheese and butter. But THIS sour cream lemon pound cake brings something else to the game!
This cake has a remarkably fine crumb and the lemon is pronounced without being overpowering!
Next time I’m baking it in a binder pan because a loaf is just not enough!
Paula Montenegro says
SO happy to know you loved it! Have a great week.
10ecgrannie says
Correct comment to read:
Next time I’m baking in a Bundt pan because a loaf just isn’t large enough!
Lisa Greene says
Not gonna lie. This was the best cake I've ever made. You know how people substitute ingredients in a recipe then give a rating of one star? I hate that. Well, I did substitute the lemon zest with lime because my lemons were too old and soft to grate. The juice was ok, though. And I stupidly bought low fat sour cream the last time I shopped. I over melted the butter and when I added the eggs the batter "broke" (I think it's called )and looked curdled. I think my eggs were still too cold. I wasn't even precise with measuring my dry ingredients either but this did smooth out the batter. I was a mess and it STILL turned out to be the best dang cake I ever made. We can't stop eating it! It's calling to me now and my mouth is watering. This is going in my "Best of" file.
Paula Montenegro says
OMG Lisa, thanks for letting me know! So happy it worked in spite of lol. Enjoy it and have a great week.
Rietta says
In your notes you say you use baking powder but the recipe states baking soda. Which one should it be?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Rietta, the cake uses baking soda only. Have a great week!
Lisa says
I can't wait to try this! It look fabulous. We have rain later today and tomorrow here in SoCal and a lemon cake will definitely brighten up our afternoon.
Chris says
HI Paula:
Can this recipe be doubled two make 2 loaf pans? If so, should I add the 6 eggs one at a time or can I add 2 eggs at a time? Also, does the bake time change if baking two pans at once?
Thanks!
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Chris! You can double it, no problem, and use two loaf pans or a tube pan. It's better to add the eggs one at a time so they integrate well. The baking time shouldn't change if using 2 pans. If using one tube or bundt pan, it'll probably take 15 more minutes. It depends a lot on your oven.
Madeleine says
Wow delicious and I didn't even put the glaze on. I was generous with the zest, lemon juice and even added a splash of lemon extract. Used 250gm sugar because I always reduce the sugar. This went into my permanent cake baking files as I've been searching for a really good pound cake recipe.
Paula Montenegro says
So happy to know you loved it Madeleine!
Julia says
Has anyone tried to add poppy seeds? I am just curious if it would work, or if it would make it dry?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Julia, it should work just fine. Make sure you don't overbake it.