This lemon pound cake loaf is tangy, sweet and full of lemon flavour! A moist, sweet loaf is brushed with lemon syrup, and a lemon glaze is poured on top.
Lemons go with recipes so, so well! This lemon pound cake loaf is one of the best lemon recipes I have on this website. It's such a great recipe that the loaf gets better the next days after baking it!
This lemon pound cake loaf is moist, spongy, and is a bright yellow colour. The tangy lemon glaze is the perfect topping for this loaf. This is one of my favourite loaf recipes, and I hope you enjoy it too!
For more sweet breads, try blueberry lime loaf, gingerbread latte loaf, or apple butter cinnamon swirl bread.
Jump straight to the recipe!
Ingredients
- Cake flour & all purpose flour - This recipe uses a combination of the two flours to make a nice light crumb. Don't have cake flour? Make your own: Measure out 1 ½ cups of all purpose flour. Remove 1.5 tablespoons of flour and add 1.5 tablespoons of cornstarch to the flour. Sift the flour and cornstarch together twice to aerate the mixture to make it similar in consistency to cake flour.
- Baking powder & baking soda
- Salt
- Granulated sugar
- Large eggs - you will need 4 for this recipe.
- Lemon zest & lemon juice - you will need approximately 2 lemons for this recipe.
- Unsalted butter - You can substitute salted butter instead, but omit the added salt to the recipe.
- Sour cream
- Vanilla extract
- Icing sugar
How do I make this lemon loaf?
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line a standard loaf pan with parchment paper on the bottom.
Whisk the dry ingredients together. Combine sugar, eggs, lemon zest and juice in a large bowl. Mix in the melted butter. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix to combine.
Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently fold it in until just combined. Sprinkle in the remaining dry ingredients and fold until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325°F and bake for another 30-35 minutes. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning in out and letting it cool further.
Lemon syrup
Once the pan has cooled to room temperature, you can brush on the syrup. Make the syrup by combining lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook until the sugar has dissolved, and then cook for another 3 minutes. Use a toothpick and poke holes all over the top of the loaf. Brush the syrup over the loaf.
Lemon glaze
Whisk the icing sugar and lemon juice together, a bit at a time, until you get the right consistency. You want the glaze to be slightly runny, but not too much that it will run down the sides of the loaf.
Frequently asked questions
Absolutely, just keep in mind that the bake time will vary depending on the size of pan you use.
Yes, this recipe doubles very easily.
You can freeze the loaf after it has been baked and before you have added the syrup and glaze. Freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature and then add the syrup and glaze.
A standard loaf pan size is 8.5"x4.5"x2.5".
I have not tried it, but I would dust approximately 1 cup of blueberries with flour before adding them to your batter. The bake time will stay the same.
Add in 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds if you like.
Tips
- Don't have cake flour? Make your own: Measure out 1 ½ cups of all purpose flour. Remove 1.5 tablespoons of flour and add 1.5 tablespoons of cornstarch to the flour. Sift the flour and cornstarch together twice to aerate the mixture to make it similar in consistency to cake flour.
- Take out the eggs and sour cream 30-60 minutes before starting this recipe.
- Lemon zest is the bright yellow layer of the lemon peel. Use a micro plane or box grater to grate. Make sure you don't get the white pith layer. It is very bitter.
- Store the lemon loaf at room temperature in an air tight container. Do not store it in the fridge as it would dry out the loaf.
- You can freeze the loaf after it has been baked and before you add the syrup and glaze. Freeze for up to 3 months. Allow the loaf to thaw at room temperature and then add the syrup and glaze.
Other fruit recipes you might enjoy
- LEMON MERINGUE CHEESECAKE
- LEMON LOVERS TRIFLE
- TRES LECHES CAKE RECIPE
- PEACH CREAM PIE WITH ALMONDS
- STRAWBERRY CREPE CAKE
📋 Recipe
Lemon Pound Cake Loaf
Equipment
- one 9 inch loaf pan
Ingredients
lemon cake
- ¾ cup cake flour
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup sour cream room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Lemon syrup
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
Lemon glaze
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a loaf pan and put parchment paper on the bottom of the pan.
- Whisk flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl.
- Combine sugar, eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice in a large bowl. Stir in the butter. Add sour cream and vanilla. Mix well to combine.
- Sprinkle half the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Fold gently until just combined. Fold in the rest of the flour mixture until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes and then reduce heat to 325°F and bake for another 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the loaf to cool in it's pan for 15 minutes before removing it from the pan.
- For the lemon syrup, heat lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Once dissolved, cook for another 3 minutes.
- Use a toothpick and poke holes all over the top of the loaf. Brush the lemon syrup over the loaf.
- For the lemon glaze, whisk icing sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice together. Add more lemon juice if needed until you get the right consistency. You want the glaze to be just a bit runny, but not too much that it will all fall down the sides of the loaf.
- Store the lemon loaf in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Don't have cake flour? Make your own: Measure out 1 ½ cups of all purpose flour. Remove 1.5 tablespoons of flour and add 1.5 tablespoons of cornstarch to the flour. Sift the flour and cornstarch together twice to aerate the mixture to make it similar in consistency to cake flour.
- Take out the eggs and sour cream 30-60 minutes before starting this recipe.
- Lemon zest is the bright yellow layer of the lemon peel. Use a micro plane or box grater to grate. Make sure you don't get the white pith layer. It is very bitter.
- Store the lemon loaf at room temperature in an air tight container. Do not store it in the fridge as it would dry out the loaf.
- You can freeze the loaf after it has been baked and before you add the syrup and glaze. Freeze for up to 3 months. Allow the loaf to thaw at room temperature and then add the syrup and glaze.
Did you try this recipe? Comment below to let me know ☺️