Calling all lemon lovers. This sweet, moist, and very lemony pound cake has sour cream for a perfect dense crumb, lemon zest and juice for that bright lemon flavor we all love, and a wonderful golden brown top. Easy to make, it is versatile (variations included in the post) and fantastic with a simple glaze!
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 remarkable recipe holds the number one spot.
Pound cakes are vintage and wonderful and keep well (always well wrapped in plastic wrap or under a cake dome, of course), and the ingredients are everyday staples.
This recipe is the best of both worlds in every bite.
Our fav homemade lemon pound cake recipe so far if you like a dense crumb. Different from, say, this fluffier and more traditional lemon cream cake.
Lemon is a crowd-pleaser, we all know that. Just look at the mouthwatering lemon brownies or the lemon poppy seed muffins, and I'm sure you can agree.
Ingredient list
- 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.
- Vanilla: I use pure vanilla extract or pure vanilla paste when available, but a good vanilla essence (artificially flavored) also works and is infinitely cheaper.
- White, granulated sugar.
- Unsalted butter.
- Eggs: fresh, large.
- Flour: I use cake flour for this recipe because the texture is softer, but all-purpose flour can be used, and the result will be excellent.
- Baking soda: is used as leavener to help the cake rise, so make sure it isn't expired.
- Salt: I like to use kosher salt when baking. But regular table salt works just fine.
- Powdered sugar: also called icing or confectioners' sugar, you can easily buy it online. Domino powdered sugar is a very popular one.
See the recipe card towards the end of this post for quantities.
Sour cream
As the title highlights, it is the star ingredient, making this recipe a fantastic one.
It's a dairy product that results from mixing regular cream with types of bacteria that ferment and thicken it, giving it a tangy and slightly sour flavor.
Why use it in a cake?
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 sour cream in a cake is one of the best things ever discovered!
How to make a 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.
Vintage Kitchen 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.
Watch our step-by-step videos
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!
The powdered sugar (also called confectioners' or icing sugar) is mixed with a liquid, lemon juice in this recipe, because, well, it's a lemon loaf cake.
- 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: if you have cake flour, I like to use it for pound cakes. It lightens up the crumb, while still keeping the traditional dense quality. But keep in mind that all-purpose will work just fine also.
- Creaming: thoroughly cream the butter, sour cream, and sugar. It makes the cake rise better and makes for 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. So if the pan is too small, it 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. And for us lemon lovers who want an extra moist lemon cake, you can add some lemon syrup before the glaze, while the cake is still hot. You mustn't let the cake cool down. Similar to what we do to the Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins.
Simply 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 and raspberries, strawberries, or a mix of berries, or lemon curd. Or 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.
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.
And I've baked my share of pound cakes in my 30+ years of baking. Being surprised by a sour cream pound cake recipe was not what I was expecting.
So go ahead and keep this recipe close. It's worth it.
Why is my pound cake heavy?
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.
How do you keep a pound cake moist?
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.
Do you add baking powder or baking soda to a pound cake?
I like baking powder to help the cake rise and get the characteristic crack on top. Baking soda can also be used, but it needs an acidic ingredient to work properly, and some recipes might not include it. You can also use both.
Originally, a pound cake relied on beating to incorporate air and help it rise in the oven. Nowadays, recipes are adapted to a more hectic life and the need for easier baking, so most use some form of chemical leavener (baking powder, baking soda, or a mix of both).
How long do you leave pound cake in the pan before removing it?
I recommend cooling it for 15 minutes on a wire rack in the pan before removing the cake. Otherwise, it'll be too tender, and you might risk tearing it. Run a smooth-bladed knife around the edges before removing it to ensure it doesn't stick to the sides.
What is the difference between a butter cake and a pound cake?
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).
Origin of pound cake
Pound cake originated in France and was made with only four ingredients: butter, sugar, flour, and eggs.
A pound of each! Can you imagine that? Heavy would be a big understatement, I imagine. The famous French cake quatre quarts (which means four quarts).
This was before ingredients like baking powder were discovered, which, in my opinion, turned an already delicious recipe into something even better because it made it lighter but dense, with a moist crumb.
Variations
There are so many ways you can vary this fantastic recipe!
- 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.
Related recipes you might like:
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PrintThe BEST Lemon Pound Cake
Calling all lemon lovers. This sweet, moist, and very lemony pound cake has sour cream for a perfect dense crumb, lemon zest and juice for that bright lemon flavor we all love, and a wonderful golden brown top. Easy to make, it is versatile (variations included in the post) and fantastic with a simple glaze!
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 â…” cups all-purpose or cake flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 9 tablespoons (130g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Zest from 1 lemon (about 1 teaspoon)
For the glaze:
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven 325ºF/170°C.
- Butter or spray one 9x4 loaf pan.
- Spray or butter the pan and line the bottom with parchment if you want. It makes it easier to remove it later.
- In a large bowl beat butter and sour cream until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Add lemon zest and mix.
- Add sugar gradually and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes more.
- Add eggs, one at a time, incorporating each one before adding the next.
- Add vanilla and juice.
- Sift flour with baking soda and salt and add it to the butter mixture at low speed, in 2 additions, beating 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 the powdered sugar and 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.
Notes
- Organization: always read the recipe first and make sure you have all the ingredients, at the right temperatures, and also the rest of the equipment and space to make it. 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 that is placed inside the oven (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 to with good results.
- Flour: if you have cake flour I like to use it for pound cakes. It lightens up the crumb a little, while still being dense. But keep in mind that all-purpose will work just fine also.
- Creaming: take your time to cream butter, sour cream, and sugar. It makes the cake rise better and makes for 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. So if the pan is too small it will color too much on the outside before being fully baked on the inside.
- Storing it: well wrapped it keeps for 3 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 so I can 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.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cooling time: 60 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10
- Calories: 347
- Sugar: 37.7 g
- Sodium: 120.9 mg
- Fat: 13.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 53.4 g
- Fiber: 0.6 g
- Protein: 4.7 g
- Cholesterol: 86.5 mg
Keywords: lemon pound cake
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.
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.
Maca says
Wow, we all loved it! I made it for a brunch with friends and it was very welcomed. The glaze was yummy too.
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.