My go-to lemon loaf recipe for years! This delicious Glazed Lemon Pound Cake Loaf is always perfectly moist and lemony!
I have been making this same lemon loaf for years. It’s my “go to” when only lemon loaf will do. The fact that I’ve never posted it to this point is simply my belief that maybe the internet didn’t really need another lemon loaf recipe. But what the heck. It’s good, it’s tried and tested (many, many times!) and for anyone who has yet to find their “go to” lemon loaf, it’s definitely worthy of consideration.
I suppose lemon loaf is somewhat subjective. What makes this loaf a winner for me is the lovely texture (not too light, not too dense), the perfect level of moistness (not too oily, never dry) and just the right amount of lemon. With this one, the hit of lemon actually comes more from the glaze than the cake, though there is obviously some lemon in the cake. But it’s in the lemon glaze that the the perfect balance is struck, so definitely don’t skip that.
The final point I love about this loaf, is that it needs only 1 large lemon and pretty much typical pantry and fridge items to make it. That means I’m always stocked to make this one, which has come in handy many times when I needed a little something special to share or gift.
Featured Review: I made this lemon pound loaf today and it tastes incredible! I was worried that it wouldn’t have much lemon taste because of the small amount of lemon juice that goes into the batter. There was no need to worry though, the lemon taste is the star of this loaf. This recipe is pure perfection! – Krista
Cook’s Notes
When it comes to baking loaves like this one, there is really just one secret to success. Follow the instructions :) Take it from someone who has (in the past :) skipped certain instructions like “at room temperature”, “whisk together well in a separate bowl” and “add alternately” … yet had what I considered (at the time) to be a reasonably fine result.
It was only when I started following those instructions that I discovered the reason they were there. There’s fine and then there’s great. I learned I prefer the great, so I am willing to be a bit more organized and patient. It’s a small price to pay for great lemon loaf :)
So the moral of that story … be sure to take your eggs, butter and sour cream out of the fridge 30 minutes before you start baking. Be sure to combine the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a separate large bowl and whisk it together well. You will be rewarded!
This lemon loaf freezes beautifully. Freeze it whole in a freezer bag, or slice it first and freeze it. Slicing first means you can grab a slice when you feel the need, instead of trying to cut/thaw a slice from a frozen whole loaf. To thaw a slice, simply set a frozen slice on the counter on a piece of paper towel and it will be ready to enjoy in 20-30 minutes. To thaw a whole loaf, set on the counter inside the sealed freezer bag until thawed.
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Get the Recipe: Glazed Lemon Pound Cake Loaf
Ingredients
Loaf:
- 1/2 cup (113 g) butter, salted, or unsalted, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) white sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 Tbsp lemon zest, from about 1 large lemon
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups (185 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/3 cup (75 ml) sour cream, removed from fridge 15 minutes before using
Glaze:
- 1/2 cup (65 g) icing/confectioners' sugar
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice, plus more, as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 F. (not convection bake). Spray an 8x4-inch loaf pan with baking spray and line with a piece of parchment paper that covers the bottom and long sides, with an inch or so extending past the top of the pan (these will be the "handles" to lift the loaf out of the pan).
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar at medium speed (about "4 or 5" on a KitchenAid mixer) until light coloured and fluffy. (Don't skimp on this process. It should cream about 3 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time and beat in well after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl, as needed. Beat in the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together well the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. With mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the sour cream, starting with 1/3 of the flour, 1/2 of the sour cream, 1/3 of the flour, last of the sour cream, then finally the last of the flour.
- Scrape into prepared 8x4-inch loaf pan and level batter. Bake in preheated oven for 55-60 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then run a knife along the short ends and use the parchment paper edges to lift and remove from pan. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.
- While loaf is still a little warm, prepare the glaze by stirring together all the glaze ingredients in a small bowl, adding enough lemon juice to make a pourable glaze. Place a baking tray under the cooling rack to catch any drips and spoon glaze slowly over top of loaf, allowing it to drip down the sides a bit. Cool completely, then slice and enjoy.
Notes
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Hi, I really want to make this tomorrow. Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
I generally use unsalted butter, but you can use either.
I am the world’s worst baker and this was a slam-dunk. Fun fact: I didn’t have an egg-beater or standing mixer so I taped a whisk to a drill (desperate times) and it actually worked! Cake is fluffy and light and moist. 10/10
So glad to hear and lol at the image of the drill :) Good for you for that classic McGyver-ing! Thanks so much.
I can’t wait to make this and porch drop off for a friends birthday. I think I’ll double and make into a Bundt cake – and any extra I’ll place in a mini loaf.
If I want lemon raspberry can I just fold in some extra raspberries I have in the fridge?
So eager to try this recipe! But I only have 12x9inch loaf pan.. Should I just use the recipe and let it turn out shallower/wider or should I increase the recipe? If I increase, how much should I increase it by?
Sorry omg it’s a 9x5inch loaf pan!!
Good! That’s easier :) Yes, just use the same batter and bake it off in the 9×5 pan. I don’t know how different the baking time is. It may be less, so watch it closely and test often :) Enjoy!
Thanks for your reply Jennifer. Glad to hear I can use the same batter size :)) More than happy to keep an eye on it when I bake it tomorrow..fingers crossed!!
Enjoy!
Are you sure it’s 12×9? That’s quite large! If so, it would be about triple the size of a standard 8×4 loaf pan, so you would need to at least double the recipe and even at that, it would be shorter (and cook more quickly).
Hi! Thank you for this recipe. I made it and it turned out delicious but not what I was hoping for. I want my pound cake dense and moist. This one came out like soft bread. Am I over mixing? Using hand mixer too.
Hi Sarita, No, you haven’t done anything wrong. I know some people tend to thing “pound cake” = dense, but that is not always the case. Pound cake can be lighter, but with the same tight crumb as the more dense version. The difference between the two is simply the liquid/flour ratio.
Can I not use lemon zest? I only have bottled lemon juice :(
Hi Jade, You would have to put a lot of lemon juice into the batter to replace the flavour of the lemon zest – so much that you would upset the liquid balance of the recipe. Lemon extract would be a better option if you don’t have zest.
Planning on making this for my Mom on Mother’s day next month. I’d like for my Dad to enjoy it also so here’s my question. Can Splenda, Swerve, Truvia or Stevia be used in place of regular white sugar?
Hi Tracy and I honestly have no idea. I have zero experience with alternate sweeteners in baking. My best advice it to do some online research for substituting sugar in baking and see if that might offer some guidance you can apply to this recipe.
I love lemon and this lemon pound cake recipe is soooo good. It’s literally the BEST. It came out soft, fluffy, moist it was lovely. The flavour really came through. The tartness and sweetness? Oh my I’m definitely going to be craving this all the time in quarantine (and most likely all my lifetime now) thank you for this amazing recipe:)) Hope you’re staying safe and healthy !
So glad to hear, Céleste! Thanks so much :)
What should i fo if i don’t have a mixer?
Hi Maria, you can make this by hand, but you will have to duplicate the mixer by stirring the heck out of the butter and sugar – at least 3 minutes with a spoon and fast stirring, until it’s light in colour. After that, just regular stirring should do! Recruit stirring help if you can :)
Delicious, moist, and decadent! The glaze adds a lovely tartness and a very slight crunch. But I had this issue (which I’ve had before with other loaf cakes, maybe you can enlighten me?) where I have some dense and gummy-like streaks in my loaf. Still delicious but not as aesthetically-pleasing. And I think it makes the loaf shrink a bit when it’s out of the oven. Am I overworking the flour perhaps?
So glad you enjoyed it, Margaret :) As for your gummy streaks, I’m thinking that you probably did over-cream the butter and sugar mixture, either too long or at too high a speed. You want to cream the butter/sugar mixture at about medium speed, which is only about “4 or 5” on a KitchenAid mixer. Hope that helps.
Best lemon pound cake ever!
So soooooo good! I used vanilla bean paste instead of extract, Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and because I had a small loaf pan I was able to do a loaf and some cupcakes! This recipe is now going to be treasured in my recipe box!
So glad you enjoyed it :) Thanks!
Can i leave the sour cream out?
Hi Sheila and no, you can’t just leave it out. You can replace it with something else – yogurt is a good substitution. Beyond that, you can search out replacements for sour cream and try to find something that might work with what you have on hand.
Amazing !! I followed the instructions exactly and it was so worth it !!
So glad to hear, Robin :) Thanks so much!
Hands down one of my favorite and most successful recipes I have tried that I’ve pulled from Pinterest. I cannot get enough of this! Thanks a bunch for sharing this awesome recipe!
So glad to hear, Monica! Thanks so much :)