Moist Lemon Pound Cake with Glaze

5 from 105 votes

This lemon pound cake is easy, moist, and full of fresh lemon flavor! It's glazed with lemon icing & flavored with lemon juice & lemon peel!

Prep Time20

Cook Time50

Total Time1 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 260kcal

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Add the softened butter and sugar to a stand mixer and cream it together using a paddle attachment on medium high speed. (Or use a hand mixer with a whisk attachment). Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved as there should be no granules. Take your time with this step.
Add the eggs one at a time while mixing on medium low speed. Add the next egg only when the previous egg has been completely incorporated. This helps prevent any separation between the eggs and butter. Keep mixing until fluffy and the color turns ivory.
Sift the flour, milk powder, and baking powder together. Add them into the batter and fold it in until it's combined.
Next, gently fold in the zest and juice of one lemon, which should be about 3 to 4 Tablespoons of juice.
Pour the batter into a loaf pan, and using a spatula create a well in the center. This will help the pound cake rise fully. (Optional: top with 3 to 4 thin slices of lemon, about ⅛ inch thick. See Note 2.)
See Note 3 about whether to line or butter your pan.
Bake at 375 degrees F for the first 10 minutes. Then lower the heat to 338 degrees F and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack.

Mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until you get a thick but runny glaze. Add more powdered sugar if it's too thin or add more lemon juice if it's too thick. Once the cake has completely cooled, drizzle the glaze on top using a whisk or fork.

Milk powder - this adds a creamier taste and tender texture while helping the cake brown due to the added sugars from the milk powder. You can leave this out if it's not available to you but if you can find it, I recommend it. It's what professional bakeries use to get better taste and texture.
Optional lemon slices: If you choose to decorate the pound cake with lemon slices, slice them very thin as the peel can get tough while it bakes. Otherwise, you can opt to remove the peel.
If using a non-coated metal pan, I recommend buttering or lining the insides of your pan with parchment paper. Nonstick pans should release the pound cake due to the amount of butter in the batter, but if it's an older pan, I recommend buttering or lining your pan.

Makes 1 loaf of lemon pound cake using a 1 lb loaf pan.

Storage & Leftovers:

Freeze: you can freeze this cake and keep it in the freezer for 2 months. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap then place it in an airtight container.

Refrigerate: Keep leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 days.