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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bummed. made this twice and neither turned out well. Was excited to make this for teacher appreciation week at kids school. the 1st time, i baked it for the upper suggested time of 70 min. turned it over 5 min later as directed only to have it completely break apart. i felt it was way underdone. the good thing is that the whole fam loved picking at it the next day, even without the icing (which i reserved just in case). Because they liked it so much, i decided to make it again the next day with my two young daughters. i baked it an extra 20-25 min this time, made sure i was generous with the cooking spray as well. this time 1/4 of it stuck to bundt pan. i scrambled to use the icing as glue to repair, but really doesn’t look so good. will wait to see after it cools completely if there is still hope. perhaps i will pre-slice and salvage the 1/2 to 3/4 which held together and bring to school. again, my wife and 5 young kids all really loved the flavor, its just disappointing that it didnt turn out either time.
Tim,
I am so sorry that it didn’t work out. Next time, let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning it over. I hope this helps. If you have any other questions please let me know!
~Carrie
I decided to try to make mini bundts with this recipe. I was a little nervous, but it worked great! The recipe made 30 mini bundt cakes. I cooked them at 300 degrees. I kept checking them, so I don’t know the exact time they took to cook. I would say it took about 20 minutes.
For the icing, I used 1/2 cup softened butter, 1.5 tsp almond extract, 4-5 cups of powdered sugar and added water until it was the consistency that I wanted. I piped a zigzag pattern of icing on the top of the bundt cakes.
They were so delicious! Thank you for sharing this recipe. It is a keeper!
Jen,
How many bundt cakes were you able to make? I am so excited that they turned out for you! Thanks for the feedback.
Have a great day!
Carrie
It made 30 of the mini ones. They are the same size as the bundtinis from Nothing Bundt Cakes.
Jen,
I am going to have to try that out. I have been meaning to buy a mini bundt pan. Now I have a reason to.
Have a great day!
Carrie
Baking at 300′ was a little low. I baked mine for 1hr and 20 min. Next time I will bake at 325′. Loved the idea of spreading part of the icing on the cake while it was still warm. It made the perfect glaze! Very delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe. I will definitely another one!
Twanae,
So glad it turned out for you! So people have had to turn the heat up to 325, while others are fine with 300. Thanks for the feedback!
~Carrie
Hi
I’m thinking the 300 temp is to high, what has everyone been cooking theirs at?
Karen,
Anything lower than 300 would be too low.
~Carrie
Hi, i’ve tried this recipe yesterday. This cake is absolutely amazing and delicious !! I realy love it! The tangy lemon flavor is wonderful. I added a blueberries into it. I baked this cake using bavarian bundt pan and it took almost 2 hours to baked and temperature 160c. Today i bring a slice of this cake to the office. Can’t stop my self from thinking about this cake. It is very delicious! Btw, I reduced the sugar to 1 3/4 cup. 😀 TQ for the recipe! 😀
Liana,
That sounds amazing! I will have to give that a try. Thanks for the feedback.
Have a great day!
Carrie
This is probably the best cake I have ever baked. I made it for a friend who just had knee replacement. She loved it. Couldn’t believe how light it is. I followed the recipe exactly with only changing from all purpose flour to cake flour. Wonderful!
Patty,
You are so sweet! Glad you enjoyed it!
~Carrie
Mine went in the garbage. It did not cook and was not fluffy. But the flavour was good. Good luck,
Nora,
I am so sorry it didn’t turn out! You might want to try increasing the temperature 25 degrees. I hope this helps!
~Carrie
Hi, what size bundt pan do you recommend (12cup, 16 cup, etc). Many thanks for the great recipe.
Charles,
I recommend the 10 inch 12 cup bundt pan.
~Carrie
I am currently making this cake. Is the batter supposed to be kind of thick?
Virginia,
Yes, the batter will be thick. I can’t wait for you to try it!
~Carrie
This looks delish! Look forward to trying. Would this batter work in the mini bundt pans? Minis would make amazing gifts!
Dolores,
I have never tried it in mini bundt pans. You just want to make sure to fill the pans with equal amounts of batter so they all cook evenly. I would love to hear how they turn out.
Happy Baking!
Carrie