Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze- This rich, buttery pound cake flavored with lemon is both sweet and tart and topped with a thick, lemony frosting. Such a bright and fresh summer dessert!
Southern Pound Cakes
Growing up in the South there was a pound cake at practically every social event, church luncheon, and holiday meal. My grandmother invariably had at least 1 in her freezer. Never baked by her though. She was an anomaly among southern women of her generation and stayed as far away from the kitchen as possible.
Luckily she had lots of friends who liked to give the gift of pound cakes. And they do make wonderful gifts since they can be baked well in advance and easily stored and transported.
I didn’t necessarily appreciate pound cakes much as a child. They always seemed kind of plain. And what kid is going to choose a piece of pound cake when there might be chocolate cake with loads of rich, chocolate frosting to be had?
But as an adult, I truly love pound cake. They are maybe the easiest cakes to make, they freeze well, and a slice of pound cake can sometimes be passed off as breakfast. 🙂
Traditionally a pound cake was made with a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. But that makes a WHOLE lot of pound cake.
In addition to lemon juice and zest, this recipe also includes cream cheese which has become a common addition to pound cakes.
Recipe Tips
The most important part of making a pound cake is thoroughly beating the butter and sugar, or in this case the butter, cream cheese, and sugar. You want to really give it time to become light and fluffy. During this process air is whipped into the mixture and this is what helps the cake rise and develop a wonderful texture.
But once you add the eggs, keep beating to an absolute minimum.
Let the cake cool almost to room temperature before you put the frosting on or it will melt and run all over the place.
Lemon Pound Cake is a wonderfully versatile cake. Serve it as a snack, dessert, or for brunch.
Note: The outside of the cake shouldn’t be quite as dark as it is in my pictures. I got distracted and didn’t hear the timer go off. Hence my cake spent a good extra 15-20 minutes in the oven. 🙁 It still tasted good though.
Try These Other Amazing Pound Cake Recipes
- Caramel Apple Pound Cake
- Classic Southern Pound Cake
- Milky Way Pound Cake
- Amaretto Pound Cake
- Georgia Peach Pound Cake
- Condensed Milk Pound Cake
Lemon Pound Cake with Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter,, softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese,, softened
- 3 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6 eggs,, room temperature
- 3 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Frosting
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- milk, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.
- Beat the butter using an electric mixer with a paddle attachment until light and smooth.
- Add cream cheese and beat until smooth.
- Add sugar gradually and beat for 3 minutes. Add lemon juice, zest, and vanilla. Mix well.
- Beat in eggs 2 at a time, scraping down sides of bowl once or twice.
- Add flour and salt and beat just until evenly mixed.
- Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes and then invert cake onto a cake stand or serving platter.
- To make frosting, beat together melted butter and confectioners’ sugar. Add in lemon juice and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. Thin with milk if too thick.
- Let cake cool almost to room temperature before frosting. Spoon frosting on top of cake so that it drips down edges.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Originally published May 15, 2014
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.
This cake was delicious! My mother-in-law always gives us lemons from her lemon tree, so I decided to make her a lemon recipe and this was perfect. I did take it out at 1 hr 15 mins. Maybe because I used a dark Bundt pan. It was moist, dense, and lemony delicious!
Baked this cake yesterday & shortened the time by 5 min. I have to do that on almost everything I bake. It was too burned to eat & the height of mixer was slightly high & bottom wasn’t mixed as well as I wanted. Cake ended up in trash. Since I had already made the icing & desperately wanted this lemon cake, I tried it again. Adjusted my mixer height, shortened baking time by 20 min & it was VERY dark & toothpick didn’t come out clean. put foil on top of it to cook 6 more minutes. I HAD to remove from oven immediately. when I turn it over, no clue as to what to expect-another burned cake or a VERY dark top & not done in the middle. I make pound cakes regularly. Hope I didn’t waste 2x the money & time. I can’t spare either.
The cream cheese gives this cake an awesome texture.
Hello Christin, I too am from the deep South, down in Mississippi and now I reside in Texas. As you know, there’s always a lot of great cooking and eating going on in the South and our house was no exception! Lol and Pound Cakes are a staple in the South. In my culture, I grew up eating Soul Food (Collard Greens, Ham Hocks, Fried Chicken, Corn Bread, Okra, Peach Cobbler, Sweet Tea, etc.) and in my opinion, no food in the world compares to the food in the South, it’s good and flavorful and if you don’t watch it, you will put the weight on lol. I was searching for a really good sweet, sour, buttery Pound Cake and I came across your Recipe. This Cake looks absolutely scrumptious and I can’t wait to try it out! I tried one that I found online recently and it was good but it just didn’t give me the flavor that I wanted and I think yours would be ideal because the Cream Cheese should give me just the flavor that I’m looking for. Can’t wait to try it! Thanks for sharing and happy cooking! 🙂
Hi Virginia. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment. There’s nothing as good as home southern cooking is there? Hope the pound cake turned out well for you!!
Would cream cheese frosting go well with the cake, or is tha too much cream cheese? Do sliced strawberries on top of the frosting or do they clash with the lemon? If so, is there a berry garnish that would work?
I’m asking because I’m a volunteer baker for the local Salvation Army and the soup kitchen meals. I like to present special deserts when possible. Butter is the budget buster with this one but I think I can handle it.
Thanks, I’m sure this is a five star recipe.
I think a cream cheese frosting would be wonderful with it David. So nice of you to volunteer at your local Salvation Army!
Is the flour plain or self-rising?
Plain all-purpose flour.
So there is no need for baking powder or baking soda because of the plain flour?
It’s more of an old-fashioned pound cake recipe, where the eggs serve as the only levener. You do need to make sure that the eggs are at room temperature and that the butter, cream cheese and sugar is creamed really well so that a lot of air is whipped into it. Then make sure you just mix the flour in until it is incorporated and no longer.
That being said, you can add a teaspoon of baking powder for insurance. 🙂
This was pure perfection!!
So glad you liked it! 🙂
I am making this cake for our family Christmas dinner, everyone is asking if the cake I am bringing is a box cake. I am praying that this come out right because not only will they be surprised they are going to eat is=t all. I am so excited can’t wait to make it. Happy Holidays
just made this today cause my daddy is coming over and he loves lemon cake. This turned out fabulous….. Cake is luscious and even though I thinned out my frosting so it was more of a glaze – it was just perfect!! Thanks for sharing.
So glad you liked it and how sweet of you to make it for your daddy! 🙂
I was thinking of making a citrus pound cake, can I add lemon and lime zest and juice in this cake and I want 2 half the recipe and bake in a loaf pan and secondly can u put glace cherries in pound cakes? Waiting ernestly for ur reply baking @ the moment
I’m probably to late if you were baking this afternoon. Sorry! Yes, you can add lemon and lime zest and juice. If you half the recipe just be sure to shorten the cooking time some. Cherries work well in pound cakes. I used the maraschino ones in this Cherry Almond Bread (very similar to a pound cake) https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/cherry-cola-bread/