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!

Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake on a cake stand.

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.

Lemon Pound Cake

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. ๐Ÿ™‚

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.  ๐Ÿ™ It still tasted good though.

Lemon Pound Cake

Try These Other Amazing Pound Cake Recipes

Lemon Pound Cake with Frosting

5 from 3 votes

By Christin Mahrlig

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total: 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings: 20
A bright and delicious lemon flavored pound cake that is both sweet and a little tart. Topped with a lemon-flavored frosting.
Save this recipe!
Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

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

Calories: 454kcal

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you make this?Leave a comment below and tag us @spicysouthernkitchen on social media!

Originally published May 15, 2014

Close-up of slice of pound cake with 3 raspberries on plate.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.

Related Recipes

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




48 Comments

  1. Sara says:

    Did I miss something? This says a Cream Cheese frosting right? There was no mention of cream cheese in the directions?

    1. Christin Mahrlig says:

      Oh wow! That’s a big mistake on my part. It should be Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Frosting.

      1. Scounslowgreen says:

        The recipe says โ€œlemon pound cake with cream cheese frostingโ€ , but the post says โ€œlemon cream cheese pound cake with frostingโ€. Hence the confusion.

  2. Kelly says:

    I love lemon desserts. This pound cake is so pretty and looks delicious with the berries and lemon cream cheese frosting!

  3. Beth @ bethcakes says:

    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!

  4. dina says:

    lovely cake for a summer party!

    1. Christin Mahrlig says:

      Thank you Dina! It is definitely summery and festive ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. Ashley Kaufman says:

    This recipe sounds like perfect summer dessert – yum!!

  6. Lindsey @ American Heritage Cooking says:

    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.

    1. Christin Mahrlig says:

      Thank you Lindsey!

  7. Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl says:

    This cake is so fluffy, moist and beautiful! Super yummy!

  8. Helen @ Scrummy Lane says:

    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!

  9. Monet says:

    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!

  10. Bam's Kitchen says:

    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