Y’all, I am claiming it… this is the best lemon pound cake recipe, no lies! You know ya girl, the Queen of pound cakes made sure you taste the lemon, while keeping the crumb moist and buttery. Don’t believe me? Just bake it once, boos. I keep it tart and sweet but super moist with a tight crumb and classic pound cake texture. Plus, I add a secret ingredient to this lemon pound cake that makes it like no other. Get into it!
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How to Make a Lemon Pound Cake
These step-by-step photos show how to make a lemon pound cake with lemon glaze, but be sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and detailed instructions. Skip to the → Best Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
1. Add the cream cheese, butter, and salt to a large mixing bowl
Cream on high speed until completely smooth.
2. Slowly add the sugar and instant pudding mix
Continue to cream until the mixture looks light, fluffy, and pale.
PRO TIP: My secret ingredient is instant lemon pudding. Based on my research and recipe testing, I discovered that it added more moisture and changed the texture of the finished cake to be softer, along with adding more lemon flavor.
3. Lower the mixer speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time
Mix just until each one is incorporated before adding the next.
4. Reduce the mixer to its lowest speed and add the flour one cup at a time
Mix just until combined. Do not overbeat here.
5. Add the lemon zest and finish the batter
Mix briefly until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
6. Pour the lemon cake batter into a Bundt pan
Smooth the top evenly.
7. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
Let the cake cool briefly in the pan, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
8. Make the lemon glaze and pour it over your lemon Bundt cake
Whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth and pourable. Drizzle over the cooled cake, sprinkle with lemon zest, then slice and serve.
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Full Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
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Equipment
Ingredients
For the Pound Cake:
- 8 ounces cream cheese one brick, room temp
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 package lemon instant pudding (just the dry powdered mix as is, do not hydrate the pudding) 3.4 ounce
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 3 cups sifted cake flour
- 3 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
For the Lemon Glaze:
- 2 2/3 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice start with 2 then see if you need more
- Optional: lemon zest for garnish
Instructions
For the Pound Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Add room temperature cream cheese, butter and salt to large mixing bowl and begin creaming on high speed until smooth.
- Slowly add sugar and instant pudding to bowl and cream until light and fluffy which takes about 5-7 minutes.
- Lower speed of mixer to medium and add one egg at a time and mix until incorporated.
- Slow mixer to slowest speed and add flour one cup at a time into bowl until just incorporated.
- Do not overbeat at this point.
- Add lemon zest to bowl and mix.
- Once everything is incorporated, pour cake batter into greased and floured or baking sprayed 12 cup bundt or tube pan.
- Bake for 1 hour and 5-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove cake and place on cooling rack for an hour or until it is completely cooled.
For the Glaze:
- Whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. If it is too runny, add a bit more sugar or if it is too thick, add a little bit more lemon juice. You want to consistency to coat the back of a spoon but slide off easily.
- Drizzle on top of cooled cake, sprinkle with lemon zest and serve.
Video
Notes
How to Store
- Room Temp: Keep the cake covered in an airtight container or wrapped well on the counter for up to 3 days. Skip the fridge, boos. It will dry the cake out.
- Freezer: Wrap the whole cake or slices tightly in plastic wrap, then foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before enjoying.
Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients, boos. Let your butter, cream cheese, and eggs sit out so the batter mixes up smooth and bakes evenly.
- Cream it real good. Beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar for a full five to seven minutes to work in air. This cake doesn’t rely on other leaveners.
- Slow down when the flour goes in. Use the lowest mixer speed and stop as soon as it’s combined so the cake stays tender.
- Zest the smart way. Stick to the yellow part of the lemon only because the white pith will make your cake taste bitter.
Recipe Help
Cake flour, boos. I usually grab Swan’s Down and always sift it for a lighter, tighter crumb. If you don’t have any, you can make your own cake flour!
You can either add more lemon zest or even lemon extract to the batter.
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My lemon cake came out perfect! I made anther cake and used strawberry jello mix ,vanilla pudding mix, pureed strawberries and made a strawberry cake. I wanted to use strawberry pudding mix they have it at walmart but they were out.
I made this cake and followed the instructions to the letter…OMG!! It was fantastic!! I never considered myself to be a “pounder” but I’ll definitely be baking more pound cakes now!! Thank you for an awesome recipe!! Sorry I couldn’t include a pic. It went too fast!!!
8/7/20 – I just finished making your lemon pound cake today. I have never made a lemon pound cake before, but I make pound cakes and cakes and I’m pretty good at it. I followed your directives and watched the video. It turned out perfect! It is so so good! It’s everything you said it would be. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I love it, now that it’s mine!!! My catering niece had to come stage it! She couldn’t wait to cut the cake.
This is pound cake perfection! The only hiccup I had was a user error: it stuck to the pan. Like, completely stuck. I used a brand new non-stick Bundt Pan and sprayed it really well, but that cake was not coming out. Any thoughts/suggestions? I ended up gently pulling out what I could, then cutting it into “rustic” slices, but didn’t glaze. Served with a little scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, and it was still dreamy!
Update: I made another attempt yesterday and this one came out of the pan beautifully with ease. I used my old Bundt pan, greased and floured, and cooked it for 1 hr 10 min. Of course my family was very happy I tried it all over again, and it was even better the second time! Definitely one I will make over and over again!
I made this cake last night and it was delicious! So delicious that it didn’t last a whole day due to friends and family requesting more.
I just made this cake and omg! This cake is so good.. it’s very lemony and very moist. I bake a lot and I look for moist cake recipes and this one is definitely moist. I did not use the glaze, I had a lemon cream cheese buttercream frosting.. Thank you for sharing! I will post photo on Instagram..
Omgoodness! Better than Granma’s!! Thank you for sharing!! Gonna try my hand at the blackened shrimp nachos too! Thx Lady!!
what would happen if I left cream cheese out. Want the blueberries not sure I want cream cheese. Bad idea?
Sorry but it is a very bad idea. It is a large ratio of the recipe. You can always make this recipe instead because the ultimate lemon pound cake does not have blueberries in it. https://grandbaby-cakes.com/blueberry-lemon-pound-cake/
do you sift the flour before or after measuring?
For this recipe, you sift and then measure.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe–made the Lemon pound cake and it was AWESOME!! I shared with my friends and family. Everyone raved!! Cant wait to try your other cakes!
I usually don’t bake poundcake with cream cheese because they always fall and not cook completely. This was not the case. This was delicious and came out perfect. I even followed the recipe for making my on cake flour. All of the extra work was worth it. Delicious delicious delicious.
Great Lemon Pound Cake recipe. The lemon pudding mix added an excellent taste… Thank you