Not only do I love Glazed Lemon Pound Cake on a normal occasion, but this recipe holds a dear place in my heart. I was testing this recipe the week that I was admitted into law school, so I consider it my congratulatory cake!
The first time I made it, it was a horrific mess. The cake rose too much and collapsed and it was soapy and coarse. It was also as hard as a rock. But I redeemed it, and I think this is one of my best recipes yet.
Dare I say it, I think this is a pretty good copy cat to the Starbucks Lemon Pound Cake.
For the Lemon Pound Cake
It’s really important for this cake that all of your ingredients are room temperature. This will ensure that the cake rises and sets properly.
In your main mixing bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly, for at least 30 seconds. This step is very important!
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract, and buttermilk. Don’t whisk too hard, only until the yolks are properly incorporated. If you whisk too hard, you’ll incorporate too much air into the mixture which will affect how the cake rises.
In a smaller bowl, set aside the fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. Take the time to squeeze the lemons by hand and zest your lemons. Don’t zest past the pale yellow color of the lemons, the white part is very bitter! You’ll need about 6 – 8 lemons for this recipe!
Cut the butter into smaller, tablespoon size pieces and place it in your main mixing bowl with the dry ingredients. On a low speed, incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. It’ll end up looking like a lightly damp sand mixture.
Add half of the liquid mixture and mix lightly. It will be a thick batter. Add the final half of the mixture and mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Don’t mix it too high, it’ll also add too much air into the cake. Add in the lemon mixture and stir slowly until fully incorporated.
At this stage, the cake will take on a pale yellow color, it will be more yellow once it bakes and on camera, but there i1s the optional choice to add a touch of lemon coloring.
If you do this, use gel coloring and only a small toothpicks worth. Mix this in with a spatula.
Lightly grease with butter and tap sugar into the bundt pan. This recipe serves 1 bundt pan or two standard loaf pans. The baking time will be around the same. Between 55 – 70 minutes. The large time variation tends to occur in large batches and varies oven to oven.
At the 55 minute mark and every few minutes after that, begin to check your cake with a cake tester. A toothpick or tester should come out clean when it is done.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and letting cool fully. This can take up to an hour. Mine needed about 45 minutes.
For the Lemon Glaze
No Lemon Pound Cake is complete without a Lemon Glaze!
The glaze is very simple! All you need is about 3.5 cups of powdered sugar and definitely 1/3 cup of lemon juice.
Start with the full amount of lemon juice and then add .5 cup of powdered sugar at a time. Mix thoroughly before adding more. Depending on your preferred consistency, you may want less or more than 3.5 cups powdered sugar.
FOr The Mixed Berry Compote
This mixed berry compote is totally optional for the Glazed Lemon Pound Cake. The cake with its glaze is perfect on its own.
All you have to do is throw everything into a saucepan and let it cook.
Assembly
Once the cake is fully cooled you can drizzle and spread the lemon glaze over it. Be patient with this and do it increments.
Share this recipe!
Glazed Lemon Pound Cake
Equipment
- 1 10 inch Bundt Pan or 2 Standard Loaf Tins
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment or Hand Mixer
Ingredients
Lemon Pound Cake
- 2½ Cups All Purpose Flour
- 2½ Cups White Sugar
- ½ tsp Kosher Salt
- ½ tsp Baking Powder
- 1 Cup Buttermilk no substitutes!
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 4 Eggs
- 1 Cup Softened Unsalted Butter 2 sticks or 16 Tbsp
- 4 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Zest
Lemon Glaze
- 3.5 Cups Powdered Sugar
- ⅓ Cups Lemon Juice
Mixed Berry Compote
- 1 Cup Blueberries preferably frozen, fresh is ok
- ½ Cup Chopped Strawberries preferably frozen, fresh is ok
- 2 Tbsp White Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Water
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
Instructions
Lemon Pound Cake
- Preheat oven to 325°. Grease and tap sugar into a 10 inch bundt pan or 2 standard size loaf tins.
- Measure out flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir thoroughly, about 30 seconds. Low speed setting.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla extract, and buttermilk. Whisk only to incorporate the eggs but don't beat too hard or you will add unnecessary air into the mixture. Set aside
- Juice lemons for 4 Tbsp, about 3 Lemons. Zest lemons for 2 Tbsp, about 6 lemons. You can put the juice and zest in the same bowl, set aside.
- Cut the butter into smaller pieces and place into large mixing bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Cream the butter and the dry ingredients until well incorporated. It will look like lightly damp sand. This is the only time you should use a higher speed setting.
- Add half the egg and buttermilk mixture and mix well. Low speed setting.
- Add the final half of the egg mixture and mix well. Low speed setting.
- Add the lemon juice and zest and mix well. Low speed setting.
- Pour batter into the bundt pan or evenly between to two loaf tins and bake.
- Cakes will need about 65 minutes in the oven but check regularly at the 55 minute mark.
- Once the cake is out of the oven, run a blunt knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning it out onto a cooling rack. Allow it to cool for a minimum of 30 minutes.
Lemon Glaze
- In a bowl with all the lemon juice, whisk in the powdered sugar in ½ cup increments.
- Depending on your prefered consistency, you may want more or less. I used about 3.5 cups of powdered sugar.
Mixed Berry Compote
- In a small saucepan, place the water, lemon juice, sugar, blueberries, and strawberries.
- Cook until the berries soften and the juices cook down. A simmer to low boil should be enough.
Check out some of my other recipes!
Brown Butter Peanut Butter Cookies
Rich brown butter peanut butter cookies with the classic cross fork pattern for all your childhood nostalgia!
Overnight Tiramisu
This overnight tiramisu cake is coffee packed, rich and creamy, with the pillowiest cake layer one can imagine!
Hotteok (Sweet Korean Stuffed Pancakes)
Hotteok is a Korean style sweet pancake that is stuffed with cinnamon sugar and walnuts! Made with a simple yeasted dough and can be stuffed with any flavor of your choosing!
Chewy Maple Clove Cookies
Chewy, soft not too sweet with a good all spice-esque flavor! Maple Clove Cookies are super simple and sure to curb your sweet craving with just around 100 calories!