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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 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ 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
- ½ cup buttermilk, see below for substitution
For the lemon syrup:
- ¼ cup lemon juice, about 1 lemon
- 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
For the lemon icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 ½ 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!
Delicious very easy to make light and full of flavour. Will make again for sure.
Easy and delicious. I like it without the icing and a dusting of powdered sugar instead. But that is just me.
Trying to lighten it up? 2/3 a cup of agave versus the sugar works perfectly.
Thanks for the recipe!
I’d love to make this into mini loaves for a neighborhood Easter egg hunt and picnic. Has anyone baked this into mini loaves before? If so how long did you bake it? Thank you!
My reply may be too late, but if it isn’t, most sources seem to go with reducing cooking time by about 1/4 of the time. I think it would also depend on the size/color of your mini loaf pans. Theoretically, the cooking time may be about 30-35 minutes, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check on them sooner, especially if they’re very small or dark mini loaf pans, which might cook faster.
Cake tasted divine. Thank you for the recipe
Would this recipe fit in a 6 cup Bundt pan?
Thanks
So, this recipe tastes great. It was my first time making it. I’m sad to say that I’m going to skip the icing part because 20 mins wasn’t enough time to cool my cake to flip over and remove from the load pan properly. Therefore, it broke apart and did not keep its shape lol. I should’ve waited much longer before trying to remove it. I did still brush the syrup on what I could since I made it already. I can’t wait to try again in the future and have the icing with it too. It’s a very good cake and doesn’t need any alterations. Just need to let it cool for much longer than 15 mins before flipping it over (for me anyway).
Does this recipe need to be doubled for Bundt pan? I saw another response and she did double it.
Did you get a response to this? I wish I would have doubled the recipe now because it’s a very short bunt cake, but delicious!
I wish I would’ve doubled it too! It hardly filled half of the Bundt pan. Delicious though!
Would this recipe will fit into a normal 8×8 inch cake pan?
I was looking for a good, moist, lemon pound cake recipe, and found yours. I just made the batter, but used it for cupcakes instead. As I write, my husband is scrounging his third one in the background. That’s how delicious this recipe is.
Some changes I made: I used your tip for the buttermilk substitute. I also didn’t have any confectioner’s sugar on hand. However, I used the syrup in a glass of “didn’t quite gel” lemon marmalade instead. Worked fine!
I’ll be making this again for sure (and next time, with your glaze.)
PS My husband is from Germany, too!
Can you substitute the “granulated sugar” for a sugar substitute? Will
it change the cake at all.
This sounds delish,Can it be altered to use 1/2 c oil instead of butter,I know it wont whip,may just try it and see how it go’es.
I just went down a rabbit hole of reading lemon cake recipes. I am going to make this one for my mother’s 89 birthday with many family taste testers on hand. Her and I love all things lemony! I appreciate the reviews which helped me decide. Stay tuned for the review(s). 👍🏻🙏