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 ½ 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 ½ 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
- 1.5 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.
Notes
- If you don't have buttermilk, you can make your own by combining ½ 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 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!
MaryRay Lombardo says
Hi! Can I do this in a bundt pan?
Stephanie Mouritz says
I did today! Only took 30 mins to cook
Cecilia says
Thank you for sharing your recipe! Cake came out super moist & very lemony! Better than SB cake :)
Nay says
This cake came out very fluffy and moist!. I contemplated about making the icing. So instead I made a lemon simple syrup and it was delicious , juicy and plain. Great recipe!!
Charlotte says
Great recipe!! Took a bit longer to cook through for me and I tented it with foil towards the end to prevent too much browning but it turned out perfectly. Great texture, good amount of lemon flavour and very quick and easy to make! :) Highly recommend
Georgia says
With a lemon tree out the front, this is going to be a regular recipe in our house! I didn’t have any buttermilk so substituted the same amount for natural greek yoghurt and it worked perfectly. I also added a tsp of fresh lemon rind to the icing which I highly recommend!
Anna says
Did you use whole fat greek yogurt? Do you think nonfat would work?
SJ says
Hi Julia! I don’t have enough lemons on hand for this recipe. Can lemon extract be used as a substitute for any part of the recipe?
mp says
lovely lemon recipe, an abundance of lemons in the garden means such recipes make quick work of the stock.
it was really lemony, not too sweet and quick to whip up. is now bookmarked for future bakes.
Hailey says
This is the best recipe ever!!!!
Emily says
I LOVE this recipe. I made one cake with lemons and another one substituting the lemons with clementines and sprinkled coconut on top. It was so good! This is such a good recipe, definitely one of my favorites. Could you substitute the lemons with apples as well?
Annie says
I made this recipe vegan and it came out perfect! Absolute banger!
J says
In the photo the cake looks yellow but mine came out white.
For some reason mine did not come out as moist as I wanted – anything more I can do?
Anything I can do to thicken the icing some? When you mix the frosting together, do you use a whisker? I only used a spoon.
That said, people loved it….
rob says
This lemon cake is perfect and yes sheet cake worked for me just reduce cooking time. As a note with a diabetic mother I swapped out sugar for splenda baking and still great. Only problem I now have to cook 1 a week as family loves this.
A says
Hi! My favorite lemon loaf from now on!!!
Question: can I turn this loaf into a sheet cake? Or do you think it wouldn’t work eating the cake as cut up squares as it would be to moist?
I am from Germany aswell btw ;)
Julia Foerster says
I haven’t tried that yet so I’m not sure how well it would work but I have a Lemon sheet cake on my site that is also very delicious.
Mari R Scalesse says
Do you think I could add blueberries without changing the rest of recipe? Im excited to make this!
Julia Foerster says
I think the blueberries would add too much moisture but I can’t say for sure without testing it. Let me know how it goes if you give it a try!
Shayla says
I’ve tried a few different lemon loaf recipes and I come back to this one every. Single. Time. This is THE recipe. The one that when you try store bought or even Starbucks you KNOW yours is wayyyyy better! Thank you!
Natalie says
Just wondering if the Calories are for the full cake or per serving? If so what is the recommended serving size?
Julia Foerster says
The calories are for one serving. This cake makes about 10 servings (slices).
WebDev says
I don’t have any lemons only store brought lemon juice? So will the recipe still be good if I don’t add in any lemon zest and would I need to add in more lemon juice to make up for the lack of zest? I’m sorry it my think sounds dumb, I just never really used zest before and I haven’t really bake in a couple of years.
Julia Foerster says
Store bought lemon juice doesn’t result in the best taste. It often has a weird taste. So I recommend using fresh lemon juice. But if you want to give the store bought lemon juice a try, don’t add more to make up for the lack of the zest.
sarah says
can this be made with oranges instead of lemons?
Julia Foerster says
I haven’t tried that but I don’t see why not. Sounds delicious!
J says
This is my second time making as it is so delicious. I would like to put one in the freeaer. Does the loaf freeze?
Julia Foerster says
Yes, it freezes well.
Maddy says
Is this suitable to be stacked 2-4 layers or is it too moist? Making sisters wedding cake.
Julia Foerster says
I’m not sure. I haven’t tested it myself but some readers commented that they used it for a layer cake and it worked well but it is very moist.
Lorna Hubbell Rahanian says
This was exceptional. I made three of these cakes today and shared them with everyone. One neighbor had brought be lots of eggs, and another a huge bag of lemons, absolutely fabulous to make. Make sure you allow for the cake to cool-but always best to line the pans. Thank you for another great recipe!
Teresa says
Hi. I would like to make it in my 10 inch bundt pan do I need to double the recipe
Thank you