If you have a better pound cake recipe, I would like to see it! Seriously, I think this may just be the best pound cake ever!
Typically, I’m not a fan of pound cakes. This all goes back to my mentality that if I’m going to eat butter, sugar and white flour – it better be the richest most amazing dessert. I say that, yet I cannot stop eating this amazing cake. And as I reached for a third piece of this bright, fresh, moist and light, yet dense and flavourful cake, I started to realize that pound cake may just be severely underappreciated by me!!
I needed to make a dessert on short notice for some unexpected company. My fridge was bare except a huge bag of lemons. My favourite thing to make with lemons is my lemon cranberry scones. However, now that I’m beginning this culinary blog adventure of sharing my best recipes with my readers, I felt I needed to make something else.
I browsed through my giant recipe book. That’s right, not only are all my recipes digitized, backed up via two different back up methods, most of them are also written!!! That’s how much I cherish them. I particularly love my written recipes, because I always add notes with dates each time I make them with possible feedback/improvements for the future. As I got to this recipe, my notes said: “Must make again, amazing.” Strange for someone who doesn’t typically like pound cakes to make that note!
Well, I’m glad I made it! My note was right – this is a must make cake. Delicious, so lemony, so simple to make! Whether it’s for yourself, your guests or a potluck – this cake won’t disappoint!
Just a side note, this cake is amazing on the same day it’s baked, but the flavour also deepens the next day. Although pound cakes do not require refrigeration, I actually like eating this cake cold straight out of the fridge the next day.
By the way, I was rushing this time and didn’t take the time to capture just how most the cake is. But here are some of my old pictures where I focused on showing the crumb structure – look how moist this cake is:
Don't have buttermilk? No problem. Add 1 TBSP of white vinegar or 1.5 TBSP lemon juice to your cup measure, fill the rest with milk and allow the mixture to sit for at lest 5 minutes. It will thicken and turn into quick "homemade buttermilk"
This cake comes together very fast. The most time-consuming and difficult part is getting all of the ingredients together. Let's get started:
- Preheat the oven to 375 and set the racks to the lower third of the oven.
- Measure out the flour, spoon it into your cup measures and level it off by removing the extra flour with a butter knife, without compressing the flour into the cup. Sift the flour into a bowl. If you scoop the flour straight out of the bag, you will end up compressing it and getting more flour than you need, resulting in a dense cake. So don't skip this extra step.
- Grease 12 cup Bundt pan well and lightly dust it with flour.
- Break the room temperature eggs into a container.
- Measure out the buttermilk and add the vanilla extract to it.
- Zest the lemons as well as squeeze the required amount of lemon juice.
In a bowl of your stand mixer, combine sugar, butter, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat on low to combine, then increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, for about 5 minutes. Stop the mixer twice during this time to scrape up the sides of the bowl. Decrease the speed to medium low and add the eggs, one at a time, waiting in between additions until each egg is incorporated.
Decrease the mixer speed to low and add the third of your flour followed by half of buttermilk. Add another third of flour followed by lemon juice. Finish by adding the remainder of flour and buttermilk. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is incorporated. Mix on low for about 2 seconds to ensure everything is incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for about 45-55 minutes. Mine was ready at exactly 45 minutes. The cake should be firm, golden, the toothpick should come out clean or for the best most precise measure - the internal temperature measured with an instant read digital thermometer inserted into the cake should register exactly 200° but no more than 206. The toothpick or your instant read digital thermometer should come out with a few moist crumbs but not wet batter.
Overbaking the cake will ruin it and not overbaking is by far the most important part.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for exactly 15 minutes. Don't skip this step as trying to remove the cake any earlier will result in the cake breaking; leaving it much longer will result in sticking. While you are waiting for 15 minutes make the syrup. After 15 minutes, loosen the cake gently by inserting the knife between the cake and the pan, then invert the cake onto a plate. Poke holes on top of your cake so that the syrup can be better absorbed. Brush the top and the sides of the cake with all of the syrup. Allow to cool completely.
You can try this trick if desired: after brushing the cake with syrup, wrap it with the plastic wrap and allow to cool wrapped. This will trap even more moisture into the cake.
Bring water and sugar to a boil. Stir with a rubber spatula and remove from heat. Stir in the lemon juice.
Combine powdered sugar with lemon juice until the desired consistency is reached. It should be quite thick but pourable.
The cake must be cooled completely before being glazed. Allow the glaze to set, uncovered, for 30-60 minutes.
Ingredients
Directions
This cake comes together very fast. The most time-consuming and difficult part is getting all of the ingredients together. Let's get started:
- Preheat the oven to 375 and set the racks to the lower third of the oven.
- Measure out the flour, spoon it into your cup measures and level it off by removing the extra flour with a butter knife, without compressing the flour into the cup. Sift the flour into a bowl. If you scoop the flour straight out of the bag, you will end up compressing it and getting more flour than you need, resulting in a dense cake. So don't skip this extra step.
- Grease 12 cup Bundt pan well and lightly dust it with flour.
- Break the room temperature eggs into a container.
- Measure out the buttermilk and add the vanilla extract to it.
- Zest the lemons as well as squeeze the required amount of lemon juice.
In a bowl of your stand mixer, combine sugar, butter, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat on low to combine, then increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, for about 5 minutes. Stop the mixer twice during this time to scrape up the sides of the bowl. Decrease the speed to medium low and add the eggs, one at a time, waiting in between additions until each egg is incorporated.
Decrease the mixer speed to low and add the third of your flour followed by half of buttermilk. Add another third of flour followed by lemon juice. Finish by adding the remainder of flour and buttermilk. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is incorporated. Mix on low for about 2 seconds to ensure everything is incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for about 45-55 minutes. Mine was ready at exactly 45 minutes. The cake should be firm, golden, the toothpick should come out clean or for the best most precise measure - the internal temperature measured with an instant read digital thermometer inserted into the cake should register exactly 200° but no more than 206. The toothpick or your instant read digital thermometer should come out with a few moist crumbs but not wet batter.
Overbaking the cake will ruin it and not overbaking is by far the most important part.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for exactly 15 minutes. Don't skip this step as trying to remove the cake any earlier will result in the cake breaking; leaving it much longer will result in sticking. While you are waiting for 15 minutes make the syrup. After 15 minutes, loosen the cake gently by inserting the knife between the cake and the pan, then invert the cake onto a plate. Poke holes on top of your cake so that the syrup can be better absorbed. Brush the top and the sides of the cake with all of the syrup. Allow to cool completely.
You can try this trick if desired: after brushing the cake with syrup, wrap it with the plastic wrap and allow to cool wrapped. This will trap even more moisture into the cake.
Bring water and sugar to a boil. Stir with a rubber spatula and remove from heat. Stir in the lemon juice.
Combine powdered sugar with lemon juice until the desired consistency is reached. It should be quite thick but pourable.
The cake must be cooled completely before being glazed. Allow the glaze to set, uncovered, for 30-60 minutes.
