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 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. 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 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.
- White, granulated sugar.
- Unsalted butter.
- Eggs: fresh, large.
- All-purpose flour or cake flour: both are excellent and get great results.
- Baking soda: make sure it isn't expired.
- Salt.
- Powdered sugar: also called icing or confectioners' sugar, you can easily buy it online. Domino powdered sugar is a very popular one.
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!
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).
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.
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 this 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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PrintLemon Pound Cake (the BEST recipe)
This sweet, moist lemon pound cake with sour cream 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!
- 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 to 325ºF/170°C.
- Butter or spray one 9x4 loaf pan.
- 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.
- 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
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.
Baking: the pan size is important 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.
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
Sue Cis says
I recently make this as a lamb cake for Easter. I wanted a moister and flavorful cake.. I wasn't sure if it would work as a lamb, but it came our beautifully molded and the flavor was rich and texture moist.
I will definitely use thus as my go to pound cake recipe.
Thank you!£
Paula Montenegro says
So happy to know it worked so well Sue! Have a great week.
Susan says
I struggle with baking but really wanted to try this recipe. I meticulously followed all directions and pre measured the ingredients so I would not stress or leave anything out. I used a standing mixer and the paddle attachment. My cake did not rise in the middle like in your picture and I waited to ice it until it was cool so the icing did not drizzle down the sides like in your picture. It is also a bit dark around the sides and bottom, so obviously I baked it too long. It's a bit dry but still tastes good. I will give it another try soon as I have a ton of pink lemons on my tree in the yard. Do you have any suggestions to make my next try more successful?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Susan! Thanks for your comment and sorry it didn't turn out as you wanted it to, but I'm happy to know you'll give it another try.
From your comment I recommend you check your oven temperature to see if it's well-calibrated and that the loaf pan is the right size and not too small. If these are off that might account for taking too long to bake.
Sometimes loaf cakes don't rise as much but they should be the right texture. So if the texture was fine but dry that's due to the longer baking. Also, when cakes are overbeaten they tend to collapse in the middle. Sometimes after they're removed from the oven. Make sure you beat it no more than a minute or so after adding the last of the flour. Stop when it's well mixed and without lumps. You might want to use a rubber spatula at the end to manually give it a final mix making sure no flour remains at the bottom of the bowl. This way, you don't risk overbeating it.
The icing probably needed more lemon juice to be able to drip more down the sides.
If you want to send me a picture that would be great because it's usually easier to troubleshoot.
Susan says
Thank you for your response! You are awesome to take the time. I had not thought of calibrating the oven. It is pretty new so it might be my loaf pan. I have one that is a bit bigger and one that is a bit smaller than what you recommend in the recipe. I went for the smaller one and also used a mini loaf so neither would be too full. I think next time I will use the larger pan, and only use a spatula to mix in the flour so I don't over mix. I think it's easy to over mix with a standing mixer. Thank you, again for responding. I'm not sure how to send a picture so I'll skip it this time.
Jeanette Lee says
Just made it this morning. To die for!!! Absolutely delicious! This will be a staple at our house from here on out. Ten thumbs up!!!
Paula Montenegro says
SO happy you loved it so much Jeanette! Have a great week.
Li says
We really enjoyed this lovely lemon cake - thanks for the great recipe!
Paula Montenegro says
Thanks for letting me know Li! Have a great weekend.
Emily says
Made this cake three days ago, and it’s already gone! Delicious!
Paula Montenegro says
So happy you liked it Emily! Have a great week.
Ivyyyyy says
I have tried this recipe today, followed through the recipe carefully & reading all the notes, (without watching the video) I successfully completed it! I thought it would taste like some sour-ish cake but it is NOT! It is so tasty that I will like to bake it again! The cake is moist and not dry and flaky kind. It’s just so perfect. Will bake again 🙂 Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Paula Montenegro says
SO happy it turned out so well Ivy! Have a great week.
Rita says
Hi,
I want to make this recipe in mini bundts. What is the baking time adjustment for this type pan?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Rita, for the 6 mini bundt cakes pan from Nordic Ware it takes about 30 minutes. You should start checking at 25 and remove the cakes when the tester or toothpick comes out clean. Happy baking!
Joanne says
Excellent result and I plan to make it again! The lemon syrup was a great tip. There was a slight valley along the center line but that had no impact the texture or taste. Maybe the dark metal pan was the cause? I will try with an aluminum loaf pan next time.
Paula Montenegro says
Happy to hear it turned out so well Joanne! Yes, different materials have different results so when you find the ones you like, stick with them. Have a great week.
Irma Bartlett says
Thankyou for sharing your recipe, it tastes great.
Paula Montenegro says
Happy to hear that Irma!
Ewa says
I love this recipe, especially metric measurements. The cake was delicious. It will be definitely saved in my family cookbook.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Ewa
Paula Montenegro says
Happy to read that Ewa! We love it here as well, it's such a classic. Have a great week!
Gari says
Is the 1x recipe version good for 9 inch square cake pan?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Gari, the 1x is for a loaf pan (9x4 inches), so you might want to double it (2x) for a 9 inch square pan.
Mel says
I love this recipe. Just noticed that when you do 2x the butter amount doesn't double...think that explains why one of my cakes came out dry
Paula Montenegro says
Hey Mel! I just emailed the plugin support to have them see what is going on. Thanks for the heads up.
Patricia Beckmann says
Hi Paula,
Can I get away with only using 1/2 cup of white granulated sugar, I ran out of sugar and craving this pound cake?
Thank you,
Patty
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Patty! Do you have brown sugar, or coconut sugar, mascabo any other type? A third of the total amount is too little, but you can make up for it with different types. Can you manage to gather 1 cup with different sugars?
Brenda says
I am looking forward to trying this recipe! Can you please advise how long it took to bake when you doubled the recipe in a tube pan? Also how long you let the sour cream sit to be at room temperature? Thanks so much.
Paula Montenegro says
Hey Brenda! For me the tube pan takes between 50 and 60 minutes, depending on the material of the pan. Use a large one, 10-12 cup capacity. To get ingredients to room temperature depends on the temp of the room. But let's say an hour should be enough unless the space is very cool or cold. Hope this helps.
Brenda says
This turned out really lovely! The smell while baking was something else too. I just had a couple of other questions. I was wondering what your measurements were to make this a lemon lime version (the amounts and type of juice and zests used)? Also I wanted to keep this recipe on file and noticed the butter amount changed from 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon to 9 tablespoons above. I assume this is the same? Thanks again, Paula!
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Brenda! So happy to hear you loved it! I changed the measurement of the butter in the recipe card because it was acting funky when someone tried to 2x the recipe. The amount is the same (1/2 cup equals 8 tablespoons). I used to make this lemon-lime and used half of each, similar to the Lemon Lime Yogurt Cake.
Reggie says
I'm confused by the 2cup/2cup + 1 tablespoon butter. Does that mean 4 cups or you're just emphasizing to add 1 tablespoon?.
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Reggie! The amount is 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoons butter. It doesn't say 2 cups, that would be too much.
Vera Thomas says
I make this cake once a week since my husband had some in his lunch, and his co-workers tasted it. It's an absolute delicious hit for anyone I make it for thanks!!!
Paula Montenegro says
Thanks so much for letting me know Vera! Have a great week.
Jeanette says
if I double the recipe should I double the bake time?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Jeanette! It depends on the pan size you use. What type of pan are you using? For double the recipe I highly recommend a tube pan or simple bundt cake pan which will take 20-30 minutes more. For a sheet cake it might take the same amount of time as the loaf, or even a few minutes less if the pan is large.
Bob says
It turned out well and I added a few blueberries, BUT I have to say 45 minutes was not enough time and I don't think it was the addition of blueberries (about 15). I kept adding 10 minutes at a time. I think it total it was about 1 hour and 15 min. I've checked other similar recipes and they all have a bake time of over an hour.
Paula Montenegro says
Thanks Bob for the input. I will check and make a comment about the time.
Shi says
My cousin made this recipe for Mother’s Day. My husband & I ate the whole cake in two days. Super good and addicting.
Paula Montenegro says
Thanks for letting me know Shi! We also love it here and it disappears fast!
Valerie says
Absolutely moist and delicious. This recipe is a winner! Thank you! I had it in the oven a bit longer than 45 minutes....I just kept checking and sticking it back in. Probably a total of an 1 hour and 10 minutes. I have an electric stove though. Will definitely make again! YUMMY!
Paula Montenegro says
So happy to hear that Valerie! All ovens are different and baking times are always estimate. Glad it worked out. Have a great week!
Deborah says
This recipe worked great for me! I doubled it and adjusted only slightly for high altitude by reducing the baking soda, adding extra flour and reducing the temperature slightly (I am at 6,000 ft) and it was delicious! My kids devoured it after school. Thank you for such a nice treat!
Paula Montenegro says
So happy to read this Deborah! I don't know much about high altitude baking, but really glad it worked out so well. Have a great week!
Shirley. Huie says
This recipe sounds delicious. I particularly appreciate the high altitude adjustments from Deborah. I knew about the addition of flour but did not know about reducing the amount of baking soda. I love the combination of lemon and blue berries and wonder if I could add fresh blueberries here without affecting the consistency of the cake.
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Shirley! I never tried this one with blueberries, but it's a dense batter so there should be no issues. I would add 3/4 cup or so. The recipe that does work with blueberries is the Strawberry Pound Cake to which you can also add lemon zest instead of only vanilla.