Glazed Lemon Pound Cake

A true "pound cake": old fashioned, dense yet moist, with delicate notes of lemon - not too sour or overpowering. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

Tips, Tricks, & Shortcuts (hit the arrow to expand/collapse)

You NEED a food scale to successfully complete this recipe. The recipe is not written with cup measurements - the amount of butter, sugar, and flour is dependent on the size of your eggs. (See the very end of the recipe for a link to a reliable food scale.)

This recipe is deceptively simple, but it’s very important to read the entire recipe before starting so you understand the process and don’t miss any important information.

The most important step: take all your ingredients out before starting so everything has time to come to room temperature. This step is not optional, but I have a couple tips to help if you don’t plan in advance:

• Eggs can easily be brought up to room temperature by being placed into a bowl or glass of warm (not hot) water. When they feel moderate to the touch, neither warm nor cold, they are ready.

• Butter can be brought to room temperature in the microwave, but only at half power and in small bursts of 10-15 seconds each, checking between each. When your thumb can slightly imprint the butter without digging in, and still feels slightly cool (not warm) it is ready to use.

Ingredients

Cake:

Equal parts room temperature eggs, room temperature butter, granulated sugar, and all-purpose flour (see instructions before measuring)

1 ½ Tbsp. lemon extract

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

1 ½ Tbsp. (~1 ½ lemon’s worth) lemon zest

⅛ tsp salt

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1 ½ Tbsp. lemon juice

1 ½ Tbsp. cold milk

Instructions

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F

2. Prepare a loaf pan (or two loaf pans if you are making a larger batch) by lining with parchment paper

Weigh:

1. Start with 3 large or 4 medium eggs at room temperature

2. Crack eggs into a small bowl and weigh eggs - to make one loaf pan cake, you should aim for approx. ½ pound or around 200 grams

This has a lot of flexibility - a range of 180 grams to 225 grams is perfectly fine for one loaf pan

3. When you have a set weight for your eggs, weigh out equal amounts of butter, sugar, and flour and separate into small bowls

Mix:

1. Add room temperature butter to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl if you are using a hand mixer)

2. Beat butter on medium speed for 2-3 minutes

3. Once the butter is lighter in color, turn off the mixer and add the granulated sugar

4. Return the mixer to medium speed and beat for at least 5 minutes, but preferably 8 minutes

5. The butter and sugar mixture should be lighter in color and have a fluffy texture

6. Scrape down sides of bowl whether you are using a stand mixer or hand mixer

7. Add eggs one at a time while mixing on low speed, then turn mixer to medium speed after adding each egg

8. Allow each egg to fully incorporate before adding the next one

9. Scrape down sides of bowl again

10. Beat mixture on medium for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is fully incorporated

11. Add lemon extract, vanilla, and lemon zest and mix on low-medium speed for 1 minute until well combined

12. To the bowl of all-purpose flour, add the salt and use a fork or whisk to combine

13. With the mixer still on low speed, add the flour mixture in thirds

14. While mixer is on low, mix in the flour just until combined - do not overmix!

Bake:

1. Transfer the cake batter to the prepared loaf pan

2. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes

3. You can use the “toothpick test” to check for doneness, but only after the cake has baked for at least 45 minutes

4. Once done, remove the cake from the oven and allow cool in the pan for 30 minutes to an hour

5. Remove cake from pan and transfer to cool on wire rack for another 20-30 minutes

6. Once cake is cooled, slowly pour glaze over cake - the slower you pour, the more cake you can cover

7. Allow cake to fully cool for at least two hours for the glaze to set and to get clean slices

Suggested Products*

Food scale

Mixing bowls

My favorite spatula

Whisk

Loaf pan

Stand mixer

*If you purchase any recommended products using the affiliate links above, I may earn a small percentage of income from the sale. I will only use this blog to recommend products I genuinely love and personally use. My opinions will never be bought. Click HERE to read more.