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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!
I have been baking for over 30 years, and this is the best lemon cake recipe I have ever tried. Great flavor and absolutely perfect texture and crumb, amazing frosting – to me, better than Starbuck’s in that the cake texture was lighter. The only change I made was to use lemon extract instead of vanilla, and cake flour instead of regular. If you love lemon cake, you will not go wrong with this recipe.
This is one of the best cakes I have made realy moist and my family and friends loved it thank you so much
This recipe was made out of pure talent! The tanginess of the lemon bursts in your mouth, contradictory with the sweetness of the cake. The frosting is very smooth in texture and is easy to spread on the cake. My family and I truly enjoyed the cake and will look forward to new recipes brought by you in future.
I used all the called for ingredients, I had great hopes but I did everything wrong. I whipped the eggs with some, not all of the sugar. I added the eggs to that, mixed more and then added flour mix and alternated with buttermilk. I put it in the pan and started to put it in the oven when I found the butter Plugra, no less, still in the microwave so I dumped nearly all of the mix back in the bowl and mixed it up with the butter. Put in the oven. I cooked it the least amount of time and after 15 minutes I poured lemon juice and xxx on it. I skipped the frosting. I poured blue berries over the piece and it was delish! Amazing in spite of all my errors. Great recipe to survive me.Lol…
I just made this and my family loves it. It was so moist and fluffy . Thanks so much
This looks amazing, and I’m planning on making it today. What a perfect recipe for a summer Sunday. Im running low on all purpose, though. Do you think I could substitute all purpose with cake flour and not lose the integrity of the cake?
I haven’t tried it but I think cake flour should work fine.
Best lemon loaf I have ever tried. It tastes so good you’ll be back for 3rds!
I’ve tried a lot of lemon cake recipes and this has to be about the best! Light, fluffy, moist and marvelous! I turned it into cupcakes, took small scoop out of center and filled with lemon pie filling then added buttercream frosting on top for a birthday party. The filling added a little extra zing! I did not make the lemon syrup. I’ll follow instructions to the letter for basic loaf cake next time. Delish! 💗
Hi
Tried it and it is really light and fluffy. Also it is not too sweet. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Julia,
I love this recipe of yours!! It’s the first time I baked such soft and moist cake. Though it is on the sweet side for me and was planning to subtract 50g [use 150g sugar instead of 200g] but I was wondering should I adjust the butter along with the sugar since creaming is important? I am afraid it will loose the softness when I lower the sugar amount. I hope you can advise me on this. But let me tell you, it is the best lemon dessert I have eaten, thank you for the recipe!!
Yes, you could use 50g less sugar but I wouldn’t adjust the amount of butter.
Hi thanks for the recipe. Is the setting of the oven “air” and middle rack?
The setting is the normal bake setting which is top and bottom heat. The middle rack works best.