This moist Lemon Cake Recipe is fluffy, tangy and so easy to make from scratch! Every bite of this supremely moist pound cake is bursting with fresh lemon flavor and the easy lemon glaze on top will have you hooked after just one bite.
This homemade lemon pound cake tastes even better than the Starbucks Lemon Loaf!
If you like the Starbucks Lemon Loaf then you’ll love this delicious, moist lemon cake recipe that’s made completely from scratch in less than 10 minutes. It’s one of my favorite afternoon or breakfast treats and it always gets rave reviews, everyone loves it! It’s gone in minutes whenever I make it.
This batter is made with freshly grated lemon zest and fresh lemon juice. When it the cake comes out of the oven it is infused with a homemade lemon syrup to give it an extra lemon kick, and then after cooling down the pound cake is topped with the most delicious lemon glaze.
This easy lemon cake is not dry and not fudgy, it’s perfectly moist while still being fluffy and it keeps fresh for a few days! A perfect cake for every occasion. If you like lemon desserts, you have got to give this cake a try!
Tips and Tricks for Making This Easy Lemon Cake Recipe
- You can also make this recipe in a bundt pan. It looks prettier than in a loaf pan but make sure to grease your bundt pan generously so that your cake will come out of the pan.
- Don’t leave out the lemon zest, that is what gives it the wonderful lemony flavor! I always use organic lemons and my favorite grater that I’ll like below.
- For the best flavor use freshly squeezed lemon juice! Don’t use the bottled stuff, trust me fresh lemon juice tastes so much better.
- When you make the lemon glaze for this pound cake don’t add too much liquid. You want the glaze to be nice and thick not runny. Start with 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp milk and add the remaining 1/2 tbsp as needed.
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This cake keeps well covered at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Looking for more Lemon Dessert Recipes?
- Easy Lemon Cream Pie Recipe
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
- Easy Lemon Raspberry Cake
- Easy Lemon Curd Mousse
You might have realized by now that I love lemon desserts. My husband even complained that all I do is make lemon desserts … until he tried today’s recipe and demanded more. Bahaha! If you love everything lemon like me check out my whole collection of recipes with lemon there is even a delicious lemon risotto.
Tools used for making this Recipe:
Loaf Pan:
I can recommend all the baking pans from this brand! They’re super easy to clean and cakes bake evenly.
Citrus Zester:
This one easily zests the rind without the pith, I really love this tool. It’s perfect for zesting citrus fruits, grating hard cheeses, and ginger.
Lemon Squeezer:
This tool makes it super easy to juice lemons AND limes. It is a 2-in-1 tool that is super sturdy and easy to use. You’ll be amazed at how much juice you’ll get out of a lemon.
Want to try this Lemon Loaf Recipe?
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Moist Lemon Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the lemon pound cake:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice, about 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 cup buttermilk, see below for substitution
For the lemon syrup:
- 1/4 cup lemon juice, about 1 lemon
- 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
For the lemon icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1.5 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9x5-inch (or 8x4-inch) loaf pan.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using an electric mixer), cream the butter and sugar together at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4-6 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer running on low-speed, add the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla extract and lemon juice. Beat on medium-high speed until combined.
- With the mixer on low, add about one-third of the flour mixture and mix until almost combined, then add half the buttermilk and mix until just combined. Repeat with another third of flour mixture and then the last half of the buttermilk, ending with the last third of the flour. Beat until just incorporated.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out mostly clean with only a couple moist crumbs. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours.
- Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes in the pan. Stir together the lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar for the lemon syrup. Carefully invert the loaf pan, and transfer the cake to a cooling rack, then brush the syrup on the cake while it’s still warm. Allow cake to cool completely.
- When the cake is cooled, combine all the icing ingredients, start with 1 tbsp lemon juice and milk and add the remaining lemon juice as needed. The icing should be thick and not runny. Pour icing over cake and let dry before serving.
Notes
- If you don't have buttermilk you can make your own by combining 1/2 cup of milk with 1.5 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar. Let the mixture sit for a de minutes until it starts to curdle
- The longer you beat the sugar and butter, the better the result will be because this process incorporated air into the batter and make the cake fluffy and tender
- I recommend using fresh lemon juice but you can also bottled lemon juice
- This cake would also taste great with lime juice or orange juice
Nutrition Information
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If you’ve tried this or any other of my recipes, don’t forget to rate the recipe and to leave me a comment. I love hearing from you!
Karen Khoo Pin Joo says
Hi,
Should we finished using the lemon syrup on cake?
Cheers
Karen
Julia Foerster says
Yes, but you can also use as much of the syrup as you like.
Jess says
10/10!
Light, fluffy and delicious! Easy to follow recipe and delicious outcome!
Nina says
Delicious! I am craving this again. Everybody loved it. I had to bake it for 1 hour, but it was perfect.
Nina Markovic says
this was honestly the best cake I’ve done I a while! followed the recipe to a T except for the glaze which I left out and the tartness of the frosting really is enough! such a simple recipe, all my family love it :) tip: don’t skimp on the lemon zest, it really is an explosion of flavour
Joie says
Amazing …. I have made this 4 times and I have all positive feed back … it freezes well ..
Nina Adam says
Hi.. Would it be ok if I add fresh blueberries in the cake?
Alia says
Made these as cupcakes… changed nothing else about the recipe except for baking time at 17 min. (Started with 15 but needed another 2).
We got 12 large cupcakes. Could easily get 18 smaller (and reduce baking time accordingly.)
My first time making lemon cake and they were amazing!!
Baker b says
We devoured it in one night! I used soya milk instead of regular milk. And halved the sugar in the cake. Also halved the frosting total amount as I dont like very sweet things. Also added more lemon in the syrup to make it more tart. It’s sooo good! Thank you!
Anna says
Can you omit the syrup and frosting in order to eat less sugars?
Julia Foerster says
You could, but then the cake won’t be as moist and lemony.
Baker b says
Can you use soya milk in place of milk or salted butter in place of unsalted?
Julia Foerster says
I haven’t tested this recipe with soy milk so I’m not sure. You could use salted butter but then you have to leave out the additional salt in the recipe.
Andrea T. says
Turned out fantastic! I actually added a few drops of lemon oil to the juice and zest. And of course i sifted the flour and baking powder.
Sherri says
Followed this recipe exactly. It was absolutely delicious! I didn’t even get a picture because my family and I continued to eat until the whole cake was just crumbs! Soooo good!
Chiyedza says
Simply scrumptious and so easy to make. Thank you for a new go-to recipe!!
Susan Foster says
Loved this recipe will definitely be baking it again so moist and lemony brilliant cake thank you
A.P says
I just made this recipe for Christmas, it was amazing. I didn’t care for the taste of the syrup or icing individually, but on the cake they are great.
Patricia ODonnell says
going to try it out today, can it be frozen?
Julia Foerster says
Yes, let it cool to room temperature and then freeze the whole loaf or slices in an airtight freezer bag.
Huma says
Great recipe, took it with me on a camp trip with friend and it was a huge hit with everyone!! Thank you. I will be making this from now on regularly. I would highly recommend to anyone who is considering to give it a go.
Valerie says
Very, very delicious!! Very easy recipe even though it does take a long time because you must wait for it to cool down a few times. I only used 1tbsp of both milk and lemon juice for my frosting. I placed a parchment paper under the cooling rack as I poured the frosting and kept putting new parchment paper and pouring the dripped frosting until very little frosting dripped off. I also had a lot of lemon syrup but kept reapplying until I had almost none left. The result is a very lemony, sweet, and moist cake.
Esther says
Delicious will definitely make it again!
Amanda says
The recipe is great!! My family love them. Successful on the first try:)