Lemon pound cake, just like Grandma used to make! Lightly scented with almond, this sweet cake is soft, simple and full of bright lemon flavor.
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I'm not sure why I crave this lemon pound cake in the spring. My grandmother used to make it all year round because it was such a family favorite!
The cake is sweet, simple, and lightly flavored with almond and lemon. The edges are crisp and the inside is soft and dense.
I love to enjoy it plain, but there are a million different ways to dress it up! Drizzle on a glaze out of powdered sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice, dust the whole cake with powdered sugar, or serve it with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. However you serve it, I guarantee you're going to enjoy every bite.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Butter
- Vegetable shortening
- Granulated sugar
- Milk
- Almond extract
- Lemon extract
- Eggs
How to make lemon pound cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Mix in ½ cup milk and both extracts.
- Add alternately the flour mixture with 1 egg at a time.
- When well beaten, add the remaining ½ cup milk.
- Bake 90 minutes or until golden in color and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Top tips
Use room temperature ingredients
While not entirely required, room temperature ingredients will combine better and improve the texture of your finished cake. To bring the milk and eggs to room temperature, take them out of the refrigerator 30-60 minutes before baking.
The best bundt pan
Nordic Ware (affiliate link) is the gold standard of bundt pans. You can use any style, but I like to keep it simple since it's hard enough to get a cake out of the pan as it is.
How to grease and flour a bundt pan
I like to grease my pan with an even layer of shortening. I do this with either a gloved or bare hand to make sure I get it in all the crevices without adding so much that it will change the shape of the cake.
Next add a few spoonfuls of flour to the pan and start turning and tapping it to get it on all sides. I usually do this over the sink to catch any stray flour. Once everywhere is coated in flour, hold the pan upside down over the trash and tap to remove any excess.
Prevent over-browning
This is a dense cake that takes a long time to bake. Sometimes the top can become too dark before the center is cooked through. To help this, cover the top of the cake loosely with aluminum foil halfway through baking.
How to store old fashioned lemon pound cake
Lemon pound cake will keep for up to one week covered in the refrigerator, or 4 days at room temperature. You can also freeze it for up to 6 months. I recommend freezing cut slices so you can just take out as much as you want.
Tips for customizing this lemon pound cake recipe
- Add a a couple tablespoon of poppy seeds to the cake batter before baking
- Top with a dusting of powdered sugar or the vanilla icing from my banana bundt cake
- Top with the caramel glaze from my brown sugar pound cake
- Bake in a 9×13 pan for a dense sheet cake, being careful to adjust the baking time as needed
FAQ
There are few things in life more stressful than trying to remove a bundt cake from the pan in one piece. For starters, make sure you're following the directions above on how to grease and flour a cake pan.
Second, allow the cake to cool slightly (but not all the way) before trying to remove it. I like to let mine rest for 10-15 minutes.
When you're ready to get it out, place a wire rack on top of the pan before turning it over all together. Holding the two together, give it a gentle tap on the counter before trying to lift the pan off the cooling rack.
If it's sticking, turn it back over and use a butter knife to gently loosen the sides of the cake and try again.
When pound cake was first created it called for a pound each of butter, sugar, and flour. In my family we always joked that it was because each slice weighed a pound.
Yes, you could substitute the shortening for an equal amount of butter. I use shortening because that's what my grandma did, and it gives the edges of the cake a nice crispy crust.
More cake recipes
- Butternut Squash Cake
- Banana Bundt Cake
- Applesauce Cake
- Chocolate Cake with Warm Butter Sauce
- Orange Scented Chocolate Cake
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake
- Brown Sugar Pound Cake
If you make this recipe, be sure to rate it, leave a comment, or tag #theliveinkitchen on Instagram!
Recipe
Grandma's Lemon Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup salted butter
- ½ cup vegetable shortening
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup milk
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon extract
- 5 eggs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter a large bunt pan and coat it in flour, shaking out the excess.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Mix in ½ cup milk and both extracts.
- Add alternately the flour mixture with 1 egg at a time.
- When well beaten, add the remaining ½ cup milk.
- Bake 90 minutes or until golden in color and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. If it is becoming too brown, loosely cover the top with aluminum foil. Cake will keep well wrapped at room temperature for 4 days or refrigerated for one week.
Jaime thegermangranddaughter says
Grandma recipes are always the best! This looks simply delicious. Looks like a 'must try'!
Kenneth Aaron says
I baked this cake using this exact recipe and it was delicious the texture the frosting down to the last crumb it was delicious. I ran into one small problem, the 90 minutes baking time. After baking 55 minutes the top started to look completely and well done so I went ahead and took it out of the oven at 55 minutes and it was completely done.
Perhaps there's something going on with the thermostat in my gas oven. Has anyone else had that problem? Is anyone else able to bake for the full 90 minutes? I would have burned the cake baking it for 90 minutes. I noticed other simular recipes call for 90 minutes of baking time as well so perhaps there is something wrong with the thermostat in my oven. I wanted to share that bit of information just so that others well at least be aware and keep an eye on the cake after the first 55 minutes. Is is one of the best homemade pound cakes that I have ever made. Never again will I pay another Cake Lady to bake me a delicious homemade cake again. I too am a delicious cake baker now.
Lindsay Moe says
That's super interesting! It could definitely be an oven temp thing, but this is also an old family recipe so there's a chance my grandma was an overbaker, haha. I'll have to test this again and check for doneness around one hour. The outside definitely gets a little dark by 90 minutes, but I've found covering it with aluminum foil helps. I'm so glad you had success and enjoyed it, this cake is definitely a favorite around here too!
KAREN P AARON says
This is the best recipe ever. I notice that i can only bake it for 55 to 60 minutes and it's completely done. Any time longer would have burnt the cake. This was the first homemade pound cake I've ever made in my life and I'll never use any other. I love this recipe.
Karen Aaron says
This is a great recipe for a delicious pound cake. Even add lemon flavor for a Delicious lemon pound cake. Be cautious with the time setting my cake are done in 55 to 60 minutes. Anytime longer the cake would have been burnt. A recipe for life
Stewart Gillespie says
Is it salted butter or unsalted butter that is used because I want to try the recipe
Lindsay Moe says
I used salted butter. If you prefer salted butter, add 3/4 teaspoon of salt to the batter. I apologize for the omission, I will update the recipe.