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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 (see note).
- 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.
Video
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 few minutes until it starts to curdle.
- The longer you beat the sugar and butter, the better the result will be because this process incorporates air into the batter and makes the cake fluffy and tender
- I recommend using fresh lemon juice but you can also use bottled lemon juice
- This cake would also taste great with lime juice or orange juice
- Some readers have commented that their cake stuck to the pan. If you're unsure how well your cake pans perform, line the pan with parchment paper. In my experience, this cake always comes out of the pan easily if it is greased well. I use these OXO cake pans (affiliate link).
Nutrition
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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!
Hi, i tried lemon cake. The cake does not turn brownish on top and the cake was flat. I set the temperature to 160 degree celsius as the oven does not have 177 degree celsius. Could you tell me the mistakes I did?
Hi Julia! This cake is such a hit with everyone I have to keep a loaf frozen all of the time! It is certainly my fav too. I have used yogurt in place of the buttermilk at times and it works fine. Since trying this in May, I have had a continuous stream of followers loving it as well-at least 3-5 every day (no kidding!!!) Thank you so much for this blue ribbon recipe!
I intend to use orange instead of lemon, should I reduce the amount of sugar since orange is not as sour as lemon?
I haven’t tried it myself so I’m not sure but I would not reduce the amount of sugar.
My family loved this Lemon Cake, second time I’m making it. So light, fresh and not too sweet, perfect for this time of year! Please more recipes like this.
Y’all this recipe is DELICIOUS!! I did add 1tsp of lemon extract in addition to the vanilla. My family LOVED it…and they are mostly chocolate fans! SO you have a definite winner!!
Delicious! I’ve made the cake twice the first time was amazing but I personally prefer more lemon flavor on the cake so I made it again and doubled the amount of zest and I loved it even more.
Note: if you don’t want too much syrup or icing I would cut the measurement in half so you don’t have a lot left over.
Lemon pound cake copy cat Starbucks was bomb
Followed recipe as written-was delicious! Only used about half the syrup and icing. Easy to make, will definitely be making this again! Pop
Made this this 3 times now. Came out great each time!! The icing cuts through sour lemony cake perfectly. Recommended ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
(This is not a tall cake, so don’t expect it to be as tall as a pound cake.) This is a great cake. It’s very easy to put together. Buy extra lemons, though, because it took me 3 or 4 to get all the juice needed. My son, the Starbucks fan, says this is better than the one you get at their store.
Instead of milk, I used half and half to get a thicker icing like the picture shows. Start off with less liquid than you think you need.
Amazing recipe! I skipped the syrup and icing as I don’t like such things and the cake was moist and flavourful on its own! I wonder if it would be as moist if i skip the lemon flavourings and bake it as a plain cake. Might try.
I have a question though. Usually buttermilk calls for baking soda and this recipe only says baking powder, why is that so? What if I use both?