Italian Lemon Pound Cake is the only lemon cake recipe you will ever need! You are going to love the super moist texture and the rich citrus flavor.
The Italian Lemon Pound Cake is sure to have you hooked after just one bite. It really is that good! Every time I take this cake to a party it is always a huge hit.
Have you ever bit into a lemon dessert and instantly pucker up because the lemon flavor is so overpowering? You don’t need to worry about that with this recipe. It has the perfect balance between sweet and tart, so it is pucker free.
If you have a chance, try making the cake the day before you are going to serve it, because It tastes even better the next day!
Serve this Italian Lemon Pound Cake at a baby or wedding shower or enjoy it while sitting on the back porch on a quiet summer evening.
Who am I kidding, this cake would be amazing no matter where you are or who you serve it to.
With love from my kitchen to yours,
Carrie
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Here are some of the items that I recommend for making this cake.
*UPDATE: I added 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger to the cake batter, because I felt like it needed a little bit of kick to the lemon flavor. It’s amazing how much of a difference it makes. Then I omitted the butter from the glaze, because the butter is very temperamental and can curdle. I brush the glaze on the warm cake and once it has cooled down, drizzle the lemon cream cheese frosting over the cake.
Italian Lemon Pound Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup of sour cream
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tsp. of fresh ginger, minced
Zest of 2 lemons ( about 2 tbsp.)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees
1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the sour cream, lemon juice, vanilla, ginger, and lemon zest.
2. Mix half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Mix in the buttermilk and then add in the remaining flour mixture. Mix just until the flour disappears. Pour the cake batter into a bundt pan that has been generously sprayed with baking spray.
3. Bake for 70 to 80 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Turn the cake over on a cake platter. Spread the lemon glaze over the warm cake so that the glaze can soak into the cake. Let the cake cool completely and drizzle the lemon cream cheese frosting over the cake.
Lemon Glaze
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoon lemon juice, at room temperature
1. Whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice together and mix until the glaze is smooth.
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
4 oz. of cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp. of lemon zest
1/4 cup of lemon juice
2 cups of powder sugar
- Mix the all the ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
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Made the cake today. It has a wonderful lemon taste but could not taste the ginger. My husband felt the cake was to heavy for him but I think he just is not use to both the lemon glaze wither the lemon buttercream frosting. This is a great cake for lemon lovers
I made this cake and is delicous! I am not a baker but I love lemon cakes. I did forgot one step to put the lemon glace so it came out a little dry but it was still delicious. I will try the recipe again. Thanks!
I love lemon pound cakes the recipe calls for ginger can I use something else?
Ignazia,
You don’t have to add the ginger to the cake. The ginger really enhances the lemon flavor but the cake is still delicious without it.
~Carrie
Do I have to add the ginger?
Doris,
No you don’t have to add the ginger. There isn’t a pronounce ginger flavor in cake it just enhances the lemon flavor.
~Carrie
Does this cake need to be refrigerated?
Jane,
It needs to be refrigerated once you frost the cake with the lemon cream cheese frosting.
Have a great day!
Carrie
OMG! Amazing cake! So easy and was a huge baby shower hit! I will make again – no question!
I just made this cake….Oh my word! It should be called Lemon Explosion. Turned out great and tastes even better. I bake a lot of pound cakes so I baked this one at 300 degrees for 80 minutes. I took it out even though it still had a few sticky pieces on toothpick so it wouldn’t be dry. Also didn’t use the ginger. I will make this again!
Best lemon cake ever! Made it exact per directions except I could not find my bundt pan, so I used 2 bread pans as an alternative.
My daughter and I made this tonight. It turned out perfect! Thank you for your super easy to follow directions, and for giving me a magical evening with my girl.
How much flour
Nancy,
The flour amount is listed in the recipe.