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This moist Lemon Pound Cake with cream cheese lemon glaze is so good Afroman would sing about it. Buttery, full of lemon, and easy!

So Good Afroman Would Approve

I’m not one to toot my own horn, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this lemon pound cake is so good Afroman would probably rap about it. It’d cause sheriffs to stop in their tracks. It’d make you stop overpaying at Starbucks for a mass produced version and finally make it at home, because not only is this way cheaper, but it’s also leaps and bounds better. And uses all real ingredients. 

And let me tell you this for free, the smells coming out of my oven made me want to swoon. The lemon flavor is out of this world. It’s dense, moist, smooth, and full of flavor, not to mention the most gorgeous color yellow from the lemons, eggs, and butter. 

Yeah, Afroman would approve. 

 Solving the Dry Pound Cake Problem 

The problem with so many pound cakes is that they can be dry, crumbly, and unevenly textured throughout. And this can be attributed to the mixing and ingredient temperatures. 

How We Solve It

This goes for all baking, but making sure you’re using the right temperature ingredients is vitally important. Room temperature eggs ensure that when mixed with melted butter, it won’t curdle the butter and cause uneven distribution of the butter. In the case of this recipe, we’re not suing a stand mixer, or a hand mixer for creating this batter. 

We’re using a food processor and hot melted butter. This will create and emulsion without cooking the eggs, but a fully smooth wet mixture to help create a beautifully, evenly dense lemon cake. 

Ingredients 

The best part about pound cakes, is that the ingredients are super simple. It’s a humble treat, but be mindful of taking the butter and eggs out of the refrigerator well ahead of time to ensure they are the proper temperature for success. 

  • All Purpose Flour – yes, you can use cake flour, if you have it. 
  • Baking Powder
  • Salt
  • White Sugar
  • Large Eggs, room temperature
  • Fresh Lemon Zest + Fresh Lemon Juice
  • Vanilla Extract 
  • Butter, melted and hot
  • Cream Cheese, room temperature
  • Powdered Sugar / Confectioners’ Sugar, sifted

How To Make Lemon Cake

This lemon cake uses one surprising tool to create the perfect dense bake. It’s a food processor. Yes, you can use a stand mixer or hand mixer, but the cake texture will not be quite the same. 

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. (This is important – the middle rack, not the lower middle.) Grease and line a 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pan with a parchment paper sling. 
  2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl, and set aside.
  3. In your food processor, blend sugar, eggs, lemon zest and juice, and vanilla until combined, about 10 seconds. Open the lid and scrape down the sides of the bowl. 
  4. With processor running, add in the hot melted butter in steady stream until incorporated. Pour the wet ingredients into a large mixing bowl. 
  5. Add the flour mixture over egg mixture in 2 additions, whisking to combine after each addition until few streaks of flour remain. Continue to whisk batter gently until almost no lumps remain, and scrape down the sides to ensure it’s evenly mixed. 
  6. Transfer the lemon cake batter to prepared pan and smooth top to a flat surface. The batter is loose enough this shouldn’t be a problem.
  7.  Wipe any drops of batter off sides of pan and gently tap pan on counter to release air bubbles. Poke any evident bubbles with a toothpick if needed. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 50 minutes to 1 hour, rotating pan halfway through baking. (Mine baked perfectly at 55 minutes. 
  8. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Run small knife around edge of cake to loosen, then lift the cake out onto wire rack. Let cool completely, about 2 hours, before serving. 
  9. When cooled, to make the lemon cream cheese glaze, use a cleaned food processor, or mini food processor, and add in the cream cheese, lemon juice and powdered sugar. Blend until smooth and pour over the cake. You can create a thicker frosting by adding more cream cheese to the mixture, and reducing the lemon juice by half. Adjust as needed. 

Tools for the Job

Tools For The Job

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Troubleshooting and FAQs

What loaf pan is best? 

As cake pans go, I prefer using aluminum pans, including aluminum loaf pans. They conduct heat the best and even baking. There are glass or porcelain loaf pans, and I do not recommend these.  My favorite loaf pans is the enameled Crow Canyon Home loaf pans. 

How can I store this pound cake?

Your lemon pound cake can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 5 days. Wrapped cake can be placed in zipper-lock bag and frozen for up to 1 month. You can also use a freezer safe Ziploc bag for storage as well. 

Can I make this in a bundt pan?

This is specifically made for a loaf pan. A bundt pan would require adaptation of the ingredient quantities, and bake time. 

Can I make a lemon syrup for this cake?

Yes, I love this trick for all cakes, including layer cakes! Omit the lemon cream cheese glaze, and make a lemon simple syrup. 

In a small saucepan, bring to a simmer equal parts lemon juice and granulated sugar, and simmer, stirring frequently until the sugar is dissolved. Allow it to cool. While the cake is still hot, poke many holes into the top of the cake with toothpicks or chops sticks and drizzle some of the syrup over the top of the cake. 

More Dessert Recipes To Try

Bourbon Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Starbucks Copycat – Raspberry Swirl Pound Cake

Almond Orange Poppyseed Pound Cake

Double Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Pound Cake

Print
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Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze

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  • Author: Megan Keno
  • Prep Time: 25 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 50-60 Minutes
  • Total Time: 0 hours
  • Yield: 1 Loaf, 10 servings 1x
  • Category: Cake, Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
Print Recipe

Description

The most perfect lemon pound cake that will put Starbucks to shame! And save you a lot of money!

Ingredients

Units Scale
Lemon Pound Cake
  • 1 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour (170 grams)
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
  • 4 Eggs, room temperature
  • 2 Tbsp Lemon Zest + 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice (2 lemons)
  • 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 16 Tbsp (2 sticks) Butter, melted
Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze
  • 2 oz Cream Cheese, softened
  • 1 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
  • 1–2 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Instructions

    1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. (This is important – the middle rack, not the lower middle.) Grease and line a 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pan with a parchment paper sling.

    1. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl, and set aside.

    1. In your food processor, blend sugar, eggs, lemon zest and juice, and vanilla until combined, about 10 seconds. Open the lid and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

    1. With processor running, add in the hot melted butter in steady stream until incorporated. Pour the wet ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

    1. Add the flour mixture over egg mixture in 2 additions, whisking to combine after each addition until few streaks of flour remain. Continue to whisk batter gently until almost no lumps remain, and scrape down the sides to ensure it’s evenly mixed.

    1. Transfer the lemon cake batter to prepared pan and smooth top to a flat surface. The batter is loose enough this shouldn’t be a problem.

    1.  Wipe any drops of batter off sides of pan and gently tap pan on counter to release air bubbles. Poke any evident bubbles with a toothpick if needed. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 50 minutes to 1 hour, rotating pan halfway through baking. (Mine baked perfectly at 55 minutes.

    1. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Run small knife around edge of cake to loosen, then lift the cake out onto wire rack. Let cool completely, about 2 hours, before serving.

    1. When cooled, to make the lemon cream cheese glaze, use a cleaned food processor, or mini food processor, and add in the cream cheese, lemon juice and powdered sugar. Blend until smooth and pour over the cake. You can create a thicker frosting by adding more cream cheese to the mixture, and reducing the lemon juice by half. Adjust as needed.