Lemon Pound Cake

Stephanie Hamley
May 16
3 min read

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This yummy pound cake is such a delicious and vibrant dessert for spring or summer!

Pound Cake Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks, 226g) butter, softened

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

1 TBS lemon zest

3 large eggs

1 ½ cups (188g) all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

¼ cup (60g) sour cream or Greek yogurt

3 TBS lemon juice (about 1-1 ½ lemons)

1-2 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze Ingredients:

1 cup (120g) powdered sugar, sifted

1 ½ TBS lemon juice

1 TBS heavy cream

1 TBS lemon zest

Lemon Simple Syrup:

(This is optional! Use as much or as little as you’d like. This keeps in the fridge for 1 week)

½ cup hot water

½ cup granulated sugar

1 TBS lemon juice

How to Make it!

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan or you can line it with parchment paper for easy release. You can also use a 9x5 inch loaf pan but it will make a shorter loaf.
With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar, and lemon zest on high speed in a large bowl until creamy and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bottom of the bowl as needed.
With the stand mixer on low speed, add the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix on low speed for about 1 minute before adding sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Mix again on low until everything is incorporated and there are no more dry bits at the bottom of the bowl. DO NOT OVERMIX! Overmixing will create a lot of air bubbles which can cause your cake to deflate or collapse.
Spoon or spread the batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-65 minutes. Baking times vary so keep an eye on yours and don't be alarmed if it takes a while to bake. To prevent over-browning, tent the cake with aluminum foil halfway through the baking time. The cake is done with a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean but a few moist crumbs are ok!
8x4 inch pan -- bake for 55-65 mins
9x5 inch pan -- bake for 45-60 mins
Remove cake from oven and place on wire rack to cool for 1 hour. You can add the icing while the cake is still slightly warm or you can wait until it has cooled completely.

Making the Icing

whisk all the ingredients together (powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla) and pour over cake. Serve immediately or wait until the cake cools completely.

Making the Simple Syrup* optional

in a heatproof bowl or a saucepan, heat water, granulated sugar, and lemon juice together and stir until sugar is dissolved. Spoon as little or as much as you'd like over the cake after you've removed it from the oven. Any leftover syrup will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 1 week in an airtight container.

Notes

Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the pound cake ahead of time by freezing it. (I suggest icing it right before serving, so freeze it without the icing.) Bake it, cool it, then wrap it in a layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil. Freeze the loaf for up to 3 months. Allow the cake to thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before topping with icing and serving.

Sour Cream: If you don’t have sour cream, you can use Greek yogurt, plain yogurt or dairy/nondairy milk instead. If using milk, your pound cake won’t have a super tight crumb that is signature to pound cakes. Instead, the cake will have a lighter and cakier texture. For best results, I recommend full-fat sour cream.

Can I Add Blueberries? Yes, absolutely. You can fold 1 cup (about 140g) of fresh blueberries into the batter after it comes together. I strongly recommend fresh blueberries, as frozen blueberries can turn the batter and finished cake a grayish blue. Keeping that in mind, you can use them if you’d like. I have better luck with fresh.