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
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Originally published May 15, 2014
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Did I miss something? This says a Cream Cheese frosting right? There was no mention of cream cheese in the directions?
Oh wow! That’s a big mistake on my part. It should be Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Frosting.
The recipe says “lemon pound cake with cream cheese frosting” , but the post says “lemon cream cheese pound cake with frosting”. Hence the confusion.
I love lemon desserts. This pound cake is so pretty and looks delicious with the berries and lemon cream cheese frosting!
Love this pound cake! Growing up in the South, I had it a lot too and also thought it was kind of boring, haha. I love it now though! I had some lemon pound cake at a work party last week and was reminded of how much I like it. Yours looks amazing!
lovely cake for a summer party!
Thank you Dina! It is definitely summery and festive 🙂
This recipe sounds like perfect summer dessert – yum!!
Obsessing!!!! This pound cake look fabulous! So dense and rich. Apparently I am the only person who can bake almost everything except pound cake…I don’t know why but mine is never dense enough. I shall have to give yours a try because if you say it’s easy…
And because I love lemon. Mmmmm. Wish I had that in my freezer right now.
Thank you Lindsey!
This cake is so fluffy, moist and beautiful! Super yummy!
I’ve always wanted to make a pound cake but never seem to get around to it. It always reminds me of the bundt cake in the movie ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ when the Greek mum doesn’t know what it is and puts a plant in the middle! Didn’t know pound cakes had cream cheese in them. I bet it tastes wonderful!
My appreciation for pound cakes has also grown as I’ve gotten older. This looks heavenly. I love the frosting addition. Thank you for sharing!
I love lemony desserts even more than chocolate desserts believe it or not. Your delightful lemon pound cake would go perfect with my afternoon tea pick me up. Have a super weekend. BAM
I’ve come to appreciate pound cake more as I’ve gotten older …. now I really enjoy a good one! This sounds delicious with the lemon and of course the cream cheese frosting!!
Sounds so refreshing. I started to love lemons more so this recipe will be on our table pretty soon.
I love pound cakes.. especially such delicious looking with lemon flavor!
Me too Medeja! Hope you have a wonderful week!
I love pound cake more as an adult, too, which is so sad because I can’t eat unlimited food the way I could as a kid. 🙂 The lemon in this and the cream cheese frosting make it sound amazing.
That is true for me too! I really have to watch the sweets I eat as an adult or do a whole lot of exercising! Have a great weekend!
Drooling.
This pound cake looks delicious, Christin! I love eating a citrus cake with summer berries — such a great dessert!
Mmmm, I love a good pound cake and haven’t had one in so long! And yes, they’re TOTALLY appropriate for breakfast 🙂 This looks so yummy!
Awww! this is so great! Love the little raspberries! So perfect for Spring time!! 🙂
Thank you Cailee! It’s definitely bright and cheerful. Congratulations on finishing your first year of school 🙂
You know Christin…visiting your blog and looking at your food makes me wish I had grown up in the South.
You could move South 😉
I love lemon cake of any kind. It’s just so hard to make a whole bundt cake and have that laying around the house (only two of us adults right now). Good excuse to host a party!
Yes! Baking is always a good excuse to have a party 🙂
They make smaller sized Bundt cakes pans for half recipes. I have two. I’ll make a full recipe, split between my two smaller pans, keep one and give the other away.