When life gives you lemons, you don’t complain, you bake a Lemon Pound Cake! One of my favorite lemon pound cakes is featured at Starbucks, so I came up with my own version of that delicious lemony moist, pound cake to share with you.
But I have to warn you, you may be tempted to eat this whole pound cake yourself it’s that good!
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For most of my life, I wasn’t a fan of pound cakes. They were too dense or too dry and lacked flavor.
This lemon pound cake did not disappoint.
Ingredients
Let’s start by gathering the necessary ingredients to make a Lemon Pound Cake. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Do I have to use pistachios to make this pound cake?
No, you don’t. I wanted to add a little twist to my version, and I’m a fan of pistachios. Feel free to omit them; it won’t affect the recipe.
How to make a lemon pound cake
Follow along with my simple step-by-step instructions to learn how to make a lemon pound cake in your home kitchen.
- Add the sugar and lemon zest to the bowl of a food processor.
- Pulse until well blended (5 or 6 times). You can do this by hand if you like. *Allow this to set for 5 minutes to build the aromatics.
- Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
- Mix well and set aside.
- Beat the butter in the bowl of your electric mixer for two minutes on medium to high speed (scrape down the bowl as needed).
- Add half the sugar mixture and whip for an additional minute, then add the remainder and continue to whip the butter /sugar mixture for four more minutes, scraping down the bowl and blade as needed.
- Remove the eggs from the water, dry them off, and add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 30 seconds in between each addition.
- On a very low speed, add in the flour mixture and mix until just blended.
- Add in the Greek Yogurt and lemon juice.
- Mix just enough to incorporate the yogurt and lemon juice.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan, and top with the pistachios
- Place the cake on the center rack of your oven and bake for 55-60 minutes (start checking your cake at around 50 minutes. It should be browned on top, and a tester stuck in the middle should come out clean when the cake is done.
- Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes, then remove it from the pan.
How to make a Lemon Lime Glaze
- Add the juice from one lemon and one lime to the confectioners’ sugar.
- Mix until well blended.
- Add the lemon and lime zest to the glaze.
- Mix until well combined.
- Allow the glaze to set for 10 minutes before using.
- Top the pound cake with one layer of glaze, and as it dries, you can add additional layers.
- Slice the pound cake and enjoy!
Of course, I’m sure you could find a willing friend or neighbor to take the other cake off your hands! And trust me, this is even better than the original at Starbucks.
Recipe FAQs
This cake freezes well. Wait until it defrosts to add the glaze. Double the recipe and freeze one of the cakes for a later date.
A standard 9×5 loaf cake pan, which traditionally yields a one-pound cake, is best suited for this recipe. Using a smaller pan can cause issues with the cake being done before it browns.
You can double the recipe and make it in a bundt pan or two-layer cakes.
Although pound cake is supposed to be a little dense, that doesn’t mean heavy or dry. If it’s dry, the cake was likely over-baked. Pound cake can also be too dry if you add too much flour to the mix. The balance of flour, sugar, and butter is important.
More Cake Recipes You’ll Love!
Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Pound Cake
- 2 lemons 4 tablespoons of juice
- 1½ cups cake flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces unsalted butter softened
- 1½ cups superfine sugar*
- 3 in eggs warmed for 10 minutes hot tap water before using
- ½ cup full fat Greek yogurt at room temperature
- 1 tablespoons lemon zest
- ½ cup salted pistachios or unsalted your choice
Lemon-Lime Glaze
- 1½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoon juice from one lemon
- 1 tablespoon juice from one lime
- 1 tablespoon zest from one lemon and one lime
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour one standard size loaf pan
Lemon Pound Cake
- Using a zester or grater carefully remove the zest of two lemons, being careful not to get into the white part of the skin.
- Juice the lemons, removing the seeds and set aside.
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the sugar and lemon zest and pulse until well blended (5 or 6 times) You can do this by hand if you like.
- Allow this to set for 5 minutes to build the aromatics.
- Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside
- beat the butter in the bowl of your electric mixer for two minutes on medium to high speed (scrape down the bowl as needed)
- add half the sugar mixture and whip for an additional minute, then add the remainder and continue to whip the butter /sugar mixture for four more minutes, scraping down the bowl and blade as needed.
- Remove the eggs from the water, dry them off and add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 30 seconds in between each addition.
- On a very low speed add in the flour mixture, mix until just blended.
- Add in the Greek Yogurt and lemon juice , mixing just enough to incorporate them.
- Pour batter into prepared pan, and top with the pistachios
- Place the cake on the center rack of your oven and bake for 55-60 minutes. (start checking your cake at around 50 minutes. It should be browned on top and a tester stuck in the middle should come out clean when the cake is done)
- Allow cake to cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes then remove from pan.
Lemon-lime glaze
- mix the juice from one lemon and one lime with the confectioners' sugar and mix until well blended, then add zest.
- Allow glaze to set for 10 minutes before using.
- Top pound cake with glaze adding and additional coat as it drys.
- Slice pound cake and enjoy!
Lisa Ritter says
I’m wondering about the eggs in hot water – I live in Portugal and we don’t refrigerate our eggs. Do I still need to do this step?
(I gave the as yet untried recipe 5 stars. There doesn’t seem to be a way to “ask Chef Denis” without rating the recipe first.)
Chef Dennis Littley says
no, you don’t have to soak the eggs as long as they are already at room temperature. And you can leave a comment without leaving a rating.
Lisa Ritter says
Thanks for the quick response!
Well, it sounds delicious, so I’m sure it will deserve the 5 stars.
Liz says
So many enticing recipes to try! The lemon pistachio was delicious 😋
Cece says
First time having Meyer lemon pound cake with pistachios and it was incredible! Thanks Chef Dennis. Can’t wait to make it again. 🙂
Alexandra says
I was hoping you might provide some guidance as to how much lemon juice and zest you expect for this recipe. My lemons are huge and the juice from two lemons might throw off the ratio of ingredients. My lemons are the size of softballs. Thank you.
Chef Dennis Littley says
hi Alexandra
use 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of zest.
Alexandra says
Thank you!
Stacie says
Hi! I made this yesterday and the texture was impressively light and fluffy. I am a little confused though because in response to Alexandra’s question about how much lemon juice to use you recommended 2 tablespoons of juice and 1 tablespoon of zest, but now I see in the recipe itself you clarify that 2 lemons should yield about 4 tablespoons of juice….? I used 2 and the texture was nonpareil, but I craved a little more intensity of flavor (although the cake got rave reviews from everyone.).
Chef Dennis Littley says
hi Stacie
the two tablespoons of lemon juice ands 1 tablespoon of zest is for the glaze. The cake uses 4 tablespoons of juice. These amounts are both in my recipe. did you make the glaze?
Stacie Green says
Yes! Thanks for your reply.
Care says
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Step number 6 seems dangerous. LOL I bought some lemons yesterday and this will give me something to try while we are isolating. Thank you for sharing it.
Chef Dennis Littley says
haha…. thanks for catching that, it would be a little difficult to do!
Greg says
They are in the oven, but I think I misunderstood the recipe. Your text says the recipe makes two loaves, but the recipe itself calls for preparing only one loaf pan. Since I wanted two, I doubled the recipe. The result has been overflowing pans, a messy oven and I’m hoping to salvage them with increased baking time.
If the recipe is for two, you might want to edit the instruction to butter/flour only 1 pan…
Chef Dennis Littley says
hi Greg
the recipe is only for one cake, I talk about the original recipe I used as a guide that made two cakes but I also state that I cut the recipe in half to make only one cake.
I used standard 9×5 loaf pans for the cake and have made it at least 20 times over the years without any problems. I’m not sure what happened with your cakes.
cc says
WOW. This was really, really good….yes, much better than Starbucks! Thanks for the recipe, it’s a keeper.
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the pound cake and thanks for the great review!
aimee says
I made this yesterday, after an impulse buy of a bag of Meyer lemons. I had never seen them in my small town grocery store before. It was wonderful. I had no pistachios, so I used chopped salted pecans, and I had no lime, so I made the glaze as all Meyer lemon. I made life easier by peeling with a really sharp serrated vegetable peeler, then throwing the peels into a mini food processor until fine. After that, it was pretty easy to make. The cake was tender, moist and just rich enough. The lemon flavor was fresh and light. I am saving this to my favorites folder. Thank you Chef Dennis.
MamaG says
I made this pound cake for my husband to take to work since I knew they were going to have a busy day. Well, I’ve had to make it an additional three times due to the rave reviews! Thank you!
Chef Dennis Littley says
thats what I like to hear!!
Peggy Duvak says
Can this be frozen? I would think if you froze it tightly in foil it should be fine. Perhaps add glaze after defrosting?
Chef Dennis Littley says
Absolutely! It freezes very well, just add the glaze after defrosting.
Peggy Duvak says
Thank You!!
The Ninja Baker says
I am a pound cake fan so if this is Chef Dennis approved I know it’s divine! P.s. Love Meyer lemons, too. On the bucket list to try one from the Almafi coast =)
Maria says
Lemon and pistachio! Yum! This cake looks perfectly moist without being super dense! It looks absolutely delicious. Wish meyer lemons were easier to find up here in Seattle:( Will probably have to substitute regular lemons.
Candace @ Cabot says
My mother’s birthday is coming up. She adores lemon pound cake and this one looks simply extraordinary. She’s going to be soooo happy! Wish I could give this recipe six stars.
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thanks Candace!
I hope you enjoy the pound cake as much as we did and I hope your mom has a delicious birthday!
Sarah says
Looks amazing! So if I wanted to make the larger cake in a bundt pan, would I just need to double all the ingredients?
Chef Dennis Littley says
hi Sarah
it is one of the best pound cakes I’ve ever made! As for the size difference, I don’t think you’d need to double the batter. I would suggest that you measure the capacity of your bundt pan by filling it with water to the same level you would batter, and then measuring that. This will let you compare the volume to your loaf pan.
This will give you an idea of how much more batter you need, if any. The bundt may just be not as high as normal.
If you do use extra batter remember that it may take a little while longer (usually) to bake through than loaf pans will, so make sure you test for doneness instead of relying on timing.
Good luck
Dennis
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious says
extreme yum!
Julia says
What a great variation on my recipe. Awesome job. I will need to give this a try!