Rich, moist, delicious lemon pound cake topped with fresh lemon glaze. Perfect for brunch, dessert, or snacking.
For some reason I like to make lemon pound cake around Thanksgiving. I make lemon desserts year round, but only make pound cake once or twice a year.
I reach for the time honored brunch classics when the time feels right. Sometimes it’s seasonal, when fruits are at their peak, sometimes when temperatures dip or rise. Cinnamon rolls, coffee cake, blueberry muffins, carrot cake, among others.
Thanksgiving morning is tomorrow and that means oven baked French toast, Belgian waffles, and fruit salad. Keep it simple, buffet style for early and late rising diners. I can focus on pulling off a few apps, a turkey, a ham, a half dozen side dishes, and 3 or 4 desserts.
This cake gets baked today, so it is around for Thanksgiving and the weekend.
Pound cake is a pound of flour, a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, and a pound of eggs.
My basic recipe doesn’t deviate too far from the original. I like the tang of sour cream. It also adds moisture. I like to add citrus zest and juice; whether orange, lemon, or grapefruit. I’ll leave it plain if it is going on a breakfast table. I’ll glaze it when it is baked for snacking, or guests.
The process for this pound cake is straight forward. Bring butter and eggs to room temperature. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Measure out sour cream and lemon juice in a second small bowl and set aside. Add sugar, lemon zest, and softened butter to stand mixer. Beat with paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Alternate adding one half the flour mix, sour cream mix, and remaining flour mix.
The batter is poured into a loaf pan and baked about an hour until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Once cooled the cake is ready to serve. A lemon glaze can be whisked up in minutes and poured over the top. It does need time to set before serving.
Find Tartistry on: Pinterest Instagram and Facebook. Please feel free to leave comments and questions below. I would love to hear from you.
Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze
Equipment
- 1 (9-inch x 5-inch) bread loaf pan
Ingredients
Pound Cake:
- 225 grams all-purpose flour (1-3/4 cups), sifted
- 3 grams baking powder (1/2 teaspoon)
- 3 grams kosher salt (1/2 teaspoon)
- 60 grams sour cream (1/4 cup)
- 30 grams fresh lemon juice (2 tablespoons)
- 6 grams fresh lemon zest (1 tablespoon)
- 226 grams granulated sugar (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
- 226 grams unsalted butter (1 cup), softened
- 250 grams egg (5 large), at room temperature, beaten
Lemon Glaze:
- 125 grams powdered sugar (1 cup), sifted
- 22 grams fresh lemon juice (1-1/2 tablespoons)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
Pound Cake:
- Add all-purpose flour, baking powder, and kosher salt to medium mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Add sugar, butter, and lemon zest to bowl of stand mixer. Beat on medium with paddle attachment until pale and smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula, if necessary.
- Add eggs 1 at a time to sugar mixture. Beat on low just until combined.
- Add 1/2 the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Beat on low just until combined.
- Add the sour cream and lemon juice. Beat on low just until combined. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula, if necessary.
- Add the remaining flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Beat on low until well combined, about 30 seconds.
- Transfer batter into prepared loaf pan. Smooth top with offset spatula.
- Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove pan from oven and place on wire rack. Cool 15 minutes and then remove loaf from pan. Cool completely.
Lemon Glaze:
- Add the powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice to a small bowl. Stir to combine. Pour glaze over the top of the cake. Serve when glaze has set, about 30 minutes. Store at room temperature in airtight container or tightly wrapped for several days.
