Calling all lemon lovers. This sweet, moist, and very lemony pound cake has a perfectly dense crumb (sour cream in the batter), that bright lemon flavor we all love thanks to a triple dose of citrus, and a wonderful golden-brown top. I have been making it for decades, and it's always a hit for brunch and coffee breaks. It's versatile (variations are included in the post) and fantastic with a simple glaze!
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A remarkable lemon sour cream loaf
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 is among the top three, so that's saying a lot.
It's different from this fluffier and more traditional lemon bundt cake.
The first time I took this lemon cake to the office, it not only disappeared in a nanosecond, but even I was impressed by the texture. It was maybe more of a hit than the lemon blueberry loaf, and that's saying a lot!
Pound cakes are vintage and wonderful, and in my 30+ years of baking, I've baked my share of them from scratch. However, I was not expecting to be surprised by a lemon sour cream pound cake recipe.
So go ahead and keep this recipe close. It's worth it.
Why add sour cream to this cake?
It substitutes some of the butter and/or milk, adding moisture while rendering a classic, tighter crumb with a velvety feel. The slight tanginess offsets the sugar and other rich ingredients, like butter. I personally love using sour cream for cakes; it makes a difference.
- Lady O ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This cake is most certainly a keeper for every occasion! Moist and delicious!
- Beulah ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hello Paula, I baked this cake & as you stated, it was a winner for its moistness & lemony! My husband begged me to hide it cause he couldn't stop eating it!🙂
Thanks for sharing, especially the extra tips!!!
- Malia ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fantastic recipe. This is the lightest, yet buttery dense, pound cake! It's hard to describe, except for YUM!!
Testing notes
Paula's baking tips that make a difference.
Creaming: It's important to cream the butter, sour cream and sugar well at the beginning so the cake rises better.
Sift the flour. It adds air to the batter and helps to create a good, dense crumb.
Pan size is important because dense cakes 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.
Don't overbake it! The second the tester or toothpick comes out clean, remove the pan from the oven.
Bundt cake: you can easily double this recipe and bake it in a bundt pan or tube pan. I do it all the time.
FAQ
The first one has more butter than eggs, while the second should have equal amounts (by 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).
Not creaming well and overmixing 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 silicone spatula. Pound cakes should have a tight crumb but not be pasty or heavy.
Ingredients
Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands I use.
- Sour cream: the regular type; full-fat sour cream cheese is used for richness and creaminess.
- Fresh lemon juice and zest: the bottled stuff just doesn't give you the same fresh flavor. Zest the lemon close to using it.
- 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.
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.
Creaming
Use a large bowl and an electric mixer, or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Take the time to fully integrate the butter, sour cream and sugar before adding the eggs. It should take several minutes.
Sifting the dry ingredients
You can do it in a separate bowl, or have the flour mixture measured and ready to sift directly over the cake batter (my choice).
Paula's Tip
After incorporating flour into a cake batter, you don't want to develop gluten, as it will toughen the baked cake. So mix *just* until it's all well incorporated, but don't overbeat. Also, I like to end mixing with a silicone spatula to ensure the ingredients are fully integrated.
Last mix with a spatula
I like (and recommend) using a spatula at the end to make sure the batter is fully integrated and no flour spots are left at the bottom of the bowl.
Prepared pan
Grease the pan and also line the bottom and two short sides of the pan with a piece of parchment paper. It will be easier to remove the cake and also reduce the chance of it sticking.
Delicious lemon glaze
The most common and best way to glaze this sour cream pound cake loaf is with a powdered sugar glaze. It's versatile, easy, and a crowd-pleaser!
Thicker glaze: use less liquid if you want it to be thick but not drip much down the sides (like this zucchini bundt cake).
Drizzle the glaze
You can spoon it over the loaf cake or pour it from a jar. Do so slowly, making sure it's distributed as evenly as possible. It will drip unevenly, and that is fine.
Cold cake: make sure it's completely cooled down. Otherwise, the glaze will melt and thin out when you drizzle it and hardly cover the cake.
Extra moist lemon cake
This is a pound cake, so it's dense by definition.
But 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 skewer or something similar so the syrup seeps into the cake faster.
Serving ideas
If you want a lemon dessert, serve a thick slice topped with sweetened whipped cream or the classic 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 as a stunning centerpiece in a large glass trifle bowl.
Variations
- Possible pan 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 in a 9x13 rectangular pan. 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.
Lemon Pound Cake (sour cream, lemon glaze)
Ingredients
Lemon cake:
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter, ½ cup + 1 tablespoon, 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
Lemon sugar glaze:
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Make the cake batter:
- Preheat oven to 325ºF (170°C). Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan with shortening and flour it. You can line it with a strip of parchment paper covering the bottom and the two narrow sides to make it easier to remove the cake. The two long sides are greased but unlined.
- 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 45-50 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.
Make the powdered sugar glaze:
- Mix ¾ cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon fresh 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.
Kathryn says
perfect!
Glends says
Very good, thanks
Lady O says
This cake is most certainly a keeper for every occasion! Moist and delicious!
Kay Irmiter says
Truly the best! If you love lemon, this one is for you!
Terry Brady says
I trusted your recipe and followed it exactly. You left out the baking powder!!!! Came out terribly:(
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Terry, it doesn't have baking powder, just the amount of baking soda stated in the recipe card. It's a very tested recipe, by me, my team and readers, and I checked the recipe and there's nothing missing. Can you give me more info or send me an email to paula @ vintagekitchennotes.com? I'll be happy to troubleshoot what might've gone wrong.
Noble Nicholas says
This cake is absolutely my children’s favorite. I’m making it for a bake sale today and realize I’m 1/4 short on cane sugar. Can I substitute with brown sugar? I only use 1 cup of sugar as 1.5 is too sweet for my kids.
Paula Montenegro says
Yes, Nicholas! Use light brown sugar. It will have a slightly darker color probably, but not much. If you use dark brown sugar it’ll be more noticeable. Happy baking!
Beulah Smith says
Hello Paula, I baked this cake & as you stated it was a winner from moistness & lemony! My husband begged me to hide it cause he couldn’t stop eating it!🙂
Thanks for sharing, especially the extra tips!!!
Caryn says
I love this recipe. Have made many times and so consistent. Have added a layer of fresh raspberries in the middle and so pretty!! Thank you!
Rhonda says
Amazing beyond Words
Suchita says
Hi Paula
Could you please let me know the measurements of this cake in grams .
Thanks in advance.
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Suchita, you can toggle the button that says US customary / Metric to get them. They will convert automatically.
Sharon says
hello,
What quantity of poppy seeds can be added to this recipe?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Sharon, you can add 2 to 3 tablespoons.
Anonymous says
Looking around for something to do on a lazy Sunday morning and having some sour cream open I chanced upon this recipe. I have to say it is brilliant! Move over lemon drizzle I will be making this all the time! Many thanks
Rachael Lewis says
Excellent pound cake. I like more lemon flavor so I made a lemon syrup to drizzle in after baking.
Amy Lim says
Can I do it in cupcakes instead of in a pan? Please advice. TQ
Paula Montenegro says
Yes Amy, you can. But keep in mind that pound cakes are dense, not as fluffy as regular cupcakes normally are.
Malia says
Fantastic recipe. This is the lightest, yet buttery dense, pound cake! It’s hard to describe, except for YUM!!
Angelica says
Hi! I want to make this cake but I have a question. In your notes you describe the sour cream as "sour cream cheese" Do I use cream cheese or sour cream? In the picture of ingredients the sour cream looks different than sour cream in American. The cream in the picture looks thicker (like butter) and more yellow. Our cream sour cream is very white and doesn't look like that. I just wanted to verify if I will be using American sour cream or cream cheese. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Angelica! It's sour cream (not cream cheese). Happy baking.
Susan says
Hi I'm so excited to find Vintage kitchen recipes! I can't wait to try some recipes. I was wondering if you double the lemon cake recipe how much time for baking? Thank you
Paula Montenegro says
Glad to know that Susan! I recommend a tube pan if you double the recipe. It should take about 1 hour. But ovens and pans vary, so start checking at about that time. It might take longer.