Strawberry Lemonade Cake

An overhead of a lemonade pound cake with a strawberry swirl slice ready to enjoy

4.30 from 40 votes

This Strawberry Lemonade Cake is a moist, buttery lemon pound cake filled with a delicious strawberry swirl and coated with delectable strawberry and tangy lemon glazes! Each bite is bursting with lemons and lusciously sweet strawberries.

Prep Time40

Cook Time1 20

Total Time2

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 512kcal

Author: Jocelyn Delk Adams

Equipment

Ingredients

For the Lemon Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature (3 sticks)
8 oz cream cheese room temperature
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs room temperature
3 cups sifted cake flour
3.4 oz lemon instant pudding package
2 tsp lemon zest

For the Strawberry Swirl

1/3 cup freeze dried strawberries powder
2 tbsp melted strawberry preserves
red food coloring if desired

For the Lemon Glaze

1 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar sifted
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
lemon zest optional

For the Strawberry Glaze

1 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar sifted
4 tbsp strawberry preserves melted
5-6 tsp whole milk
optional: fresh strawberries and lemon slices for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Pound Cake Batter

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 to bowl and cream until light and fluffy which takes about 5 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.
Remove ⅓ of the batter from the mixer and set to the side.
Add half of the lemon pudding mix and lemon zest to the mixer and mix in until just combined.

For the Swirl

Add freeze dried strawberry powder and preserves to the set aside ⅓ of batter and whisk until combined.
Finally add in food coloring until you reach a color you like. I went with a moderately bright pink.
Add half of the lemon cake batter to the pan and smooth out. Next spoon strawberry cake batter on top and smooth out. Finally add the remaining lemon cake batter and smooth completely covering the strawberry cake batter.
Bake for 1 hour and 10 -20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert cake on serving plate for at least an hour or until the cake is cool to the touch.

For the Lemon 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. Set aside.

For the Strawberry Glaze

In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients until smooth. If it is too runny, add a bit more sugar or if too thick, more milk.
Finally to assemble the cake, alternate drizzling both lemon and strawberry glaze on top of the room temperature cake making sure both icings are seen.
Add strawberries and lemon slices to center of cake and serve.

Notes

If you don’t have powder, add freeze dried strawberries to your high power blender or food processor and blend until it reaches a fine powder.

Pound cakes have a high moisture content that will begin to dry out from the moment you cut into it. Though they can be kept at room temperature for 1-2 days, I find that it’s best to refrigerate a pound cake. Cover the leftover cake with either foil or plastic wrap then, place in the refrigerator for up to a week.

To Freeze: Wrap the cake in aluminum foil or plastic wrap then, put it in a heavy-duty freezer bag. A frozen pound cake will keep for 4-6 months. When ready to consume, thaw overnight in the fridge.

Nutrition