Moist Lemon Glazed Pound Cake

I absolutely love lemon desserts and this Lemon Glazed Pound Cake recipe is exactly what the doctor ordered. You can taste its lemony flavor throughout, it’s very moist, and finishing it off with a light drizzle of lemon glaze is the literal icing on the cake.

Growing up, I remember growing I remember how much I looked forward to the times my grandmother would either order or make cakes after church. If she ordered it, the lemon pound cake was always my top pick. If she made a cake, more often than not, it was a lemon pound cake.

My wife’s memories are the same. She actually refers to this cake as “church cake”. If you grew up in the south, lemon pound cakes were always a choice after any church service or gathering.

I wanted to create my version of the cake I grew up loving and still enjoy to this day. I kept it mostly traditional, but with an added dose of lemon — by way of lemon syrup and lemon glaze. I think it goes without saying that this cake does not slack on lemon flavors.

This my absolute favorite version of a southern lemon pound cake recipe.

What you’ll need to make this pound cake:

Baking is somewhat of a science so I have nothing but respect for all of the pastry chefs out there. And that’s one of the reasons I make this cake more often than others. It’s simple to pull everything together and it’s a foolproof recipe no matter what level of cook you are.

• You’ll need the basics for this recipe and that all begins with all-purpose flour, sugar, powdered sugar, butter, vanilla extract, baking powder, and eggs.
• To make sure the lemon flavor shines through, you’ll want to use fresh lemons (for their juice and zest) for the pound cake itself, the lemon syrup, and the lemon glaze. This is a lemon pound right, am I right?
• The surprise ingredient is crème fraîche. It’s the ingredient that gives the cake it’s moist texture and taste. The recipe my grandmother made always had a dairy element, but it wasn’t crème fraîche. If you don’t have crème fraîche you can substitute sour cream, but crème fraîche is thicker and richer than sour cream and has a higher fat content. This makes a difference.

How to make it:

You will begin this recipe by separating the wet and dry ingredients. This helps to ensure the texture is just right. Make sure your butter is soft and you allow it to come to room temperature before using it.

Using a hand mixer (paid link) and a large bowl, blend your butter until it reaches a smooth consistency. Once it’s whipped, add your sugar into the same bowl and continue blending for a few minutes. You will then add the eggs one at a time while continuing to blend the wet ingredients together.

Now here is where you’ll have a so a little work. Zest two medium-sized lemons to get around two tablespoons of lemon zest. It may take a little elbow grease, but it gets easy again. I recommend using a lemon zester (paid link) for this step.

Cut your lemons in half and squeeze the juice into a separate bowl so you can measure the correct amount to add to the cake mixture. Blend your lemon zest, lemon juice, crème fraîche, and vanilla extract with the other ingredients.

In a separate bowl add your flour and baking powder then lightly whisk (paid link). Slowly add your dry ingredients into the wet cake mixture while blending the ingredients together on a low setting.

Once your flour is fully incorporated, add your cake mix into a buttered loaf baking pan and bake your cake for 55 to 60 minutes. While your cake is baking, you can work on your lemon syrup.

Add water and sugar into a small pot and boil. Once it begins to boil and the sugar is dissolved remove from heat, add lemon juice, and set it to the side to use in the next step.

After removing the cake from the oven, allow it to cool for ten minutes and remove from the loaf pan (run a knife on the sides to make sure it doesn’t stick) and set it on a rack. Use a brush to completely coat the cake with the lemon syrup. Allow it to sit for another 30 minutes to cool completely before topping it off with your lemon glaze. (You can make your glaze while it’s cooling.)

Add you’re powdered sugar and lemon juice into a small bowl and whisk (paid link) together until smooth. You can adjust the powered sugar-to-lemon juice ratio to reach your preferred consistency. More sugar will result in a thicker glaze.

Pour the glaze over the top of the pound cake for the finishing touch. Slice this bad boy and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

When life gives you lemons, you can make lemonade paired with this lemon cake. 🙂

This Moist Lemon Pound Cake will disappear in no time so I would suggest cutting a slice or two to save for your enjoyment at a later time. When you want to satisfy your sweet tooth give this cake recipe a try. You will thoroughly enjoy it!

Looking for a few more cake recipes? You should try my:

• Bananas Foster Bundt Cake
• Ooey Gooey Pineapple Butter Cake

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