Sour Cream Lemon Pound Cake
Light, moist, and citrusy sour cream lemon pound cake, drizzled with a refreshingly delicious lemon glaze. A no-fail sweet treat for summer and all year round!
Pound cake is a Southern classic with lots of variations. You can top it with fresh berries, whipped cream, or a scoop of ice cream. And, depending on the flavor, homemade chocolate syrup.
However, this lemon sour cream pound cake doesn’t need anything. Trust me! It’s sooo moist and melt-in-your-mouth that every time I make it, I always take a minute or two to moan in delight. You’ll get some oohs and aahs for sure!
What Sour Cream Does for Pound Cake
Sour cream provides tang and fat for a moist cake. Plus, the acidity activates the baking soda for a good rise and delays browning for an even golden color on the outside and a perfectly baked interior. All of that together delivers a moist crumb, decadent mouth feel, and the perfect balance between sweet and tart.
How to Make Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Cream butter and sugar, add sour cream, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Gently stir in the flour, baking powder, lemon juice and zest, and vanilla extract.
- Pour the cake batter into a greased bundt pan and bake.
Recipe Notes
- Thoroughly oil your bundt pan. Also, let the pound cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, but try not to leave it too long because it might get sticky.
- Add more glaze if your cake didn’t come out as pretty as you’d like.
- To turn your bundt cake into loaves, divide the batter (10-12 cups) between two 8 “x4” loaf pans.
Make Ahead and Storage Instructions
Any pound cake is the perfect make-ahead dessert. It lasts 2-3 days at room temperature, up to a week in the fridge, and 3-4 months in the freezer. I love freezing individually wrapped slices for the unexpected guest. Thaw it gently in the microwave while the coffee brews, and you’re good to go.
What Goes With Lemon Pound Cake
Whether pairing it with a cup of coffee or lemongrass tea, this cake is even better with homemade whipped cream. Of course, pineapple ice cream is also fabulous.
More Decadent Pound Cake Recipes to Try
- Sweet Potato Pound Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
- Peach Cobbler Pound Cake
- Buttermilk Pound Cake
- Strawberry Pound Cake
Watch How to Make It
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This blog post was originally published in July 2017 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
Sour Cream Lemon Pound Cake
Ingredients
Pound Cake
- 8 ounces (225g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (170g) sour cream at room temperature
- 5 large eggs
- 2½ cups (300g) all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt (optional)
- 2 teaspoons (10g) baking powder
- 1 medium lemon, juiced and zested (about 3 tablespoons of juice and 1 tablespoon of zest)
- 2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla or almond extract
Lemon Glaze
- 1¾ cups (200g) powdered sugar
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced (about 3 tablespoons (45ml) of juice and 1 tablespoon (6g) zest)
- ½ teaspoon (2-3ml) almond extract
- 1-2 teaspoons (5-10g) salted butter
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) water (adjust to desired thickness)
Instructions
Pound Cake
- Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Grease a 10-inch tube pan generously with cooking spray—set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar at high speed in a stand mixer until fluffy and looking white (about 5 minutes). Add sour cream and mix for another minute.
- Stir in the eggs, one at a time, beating the mixture well between each addition. Sift the flour and baking powder into the batter, then add lime zest and juice, vanilla extract, and almond extract.
- Stir well until everything is fully combined, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Pour the cake batter into the greased pan. Tap it on the work surface to eliminate large air bubbles.
- Bake at 325℉ (162℃) until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 55–60 minutes. Let it cool for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack and let it cool completely before glazing.
Lemon Glaze
- In a mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest, almond extract, and melted butter. Adjust the thickness with water if needed for the desired consistency. Gently whisk until the mixture is smooth.
- Adjust the glaze's consistency as desired. It should be thick but pourable.
- Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake with a spoon, letting it run down the sides.
Tips & Notes:
- Bring your ingredients to room temperature before starting for easier mixing and better texture.
- Avoid overmixing for the best cake.
- Be sure to cream the butter and sugar until they look white and fluffy before adding the eggs one at a time to create volume in the batter, which usually takes about 5 minutes.
- This cake is somewhat fragile when hot, so take extra care when removing it from the oven and releasing it from the pan. Let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, so it has time to firm up before proceeding. Then, let it cool completely before glazing.
- I use a nonstick spray coating to grease the pan. If using a bundt pan, thoroughly grease the indentations because they’re notorious for sticking and making it harder to release your cake.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
I thought this recipe was simple to make! The batter was rich like pound cake should be and the lemon flavor was just right. Thank you for the helpful hints and the video.
Thanks so much, Janet!
Good recipe but needs salt to balance the flavors.
Thank you for your feedback, Tammi! 🙂
Hi Maria! Thanks again for this. Measurements can be adjusted depending on preference. I have some readers who commented that they either reduced the sugar or substituted or changed the temp and baking time, etc. 🙂
Sorry I can’t say for sure without actually being there , especially since you sprayed the pan thoroughly.
I made this recipe yesterday, & it just turned out just Lovely!
Although I did make a couple adjustments.
Instead of almond extract, I added my
Own Homemade Vanilla extract.
I also added 1- more egg, as I have
Free range Chickens on my Farm , with
Plenty of extra eggs.
The Cake turned out Golden Brown, was light and Airy, and absolutely
Moist!
This cake was wonderful!
My Best Critic, is my Mother of 82 years, who I
Baked the Cake Special For & she just
Loved it !
This is one of the Best Cakes I’ve had in
A many a Day!
Thank-You For making my Mother Happy!
My pleasure ! This just made my day. Thanks so much!
Can I bake this in two loaf pans? I don’t have much success with bundt cakes coming out of the pan well.
You sure can.Enjoy!
This recipe has more sugar in it than I would like. Is it possible to substitute part or all with Stevia?
Hello ! You can usually cut the sugar by half without anyone noticing, but you sure can substitute some with stevia.
So far so good, but you mention to add lime juice, not lemon.
Oops! It’s lemon juice.
I love the recipe but I did not try yet. I’ll bake it for my friend this Saturday for Halloween sure she’ll love it. Thank you for your recipeo
Wow, I’m so excited to know that! Happy cooking
For the glaze you say to put it in a small pan. You never mention heating this on the stove. Please clarify. And thanks so much!!!
Hi, Debrah. No need to heat up the glaze on the stove. I just used a small pan since it’s easier to whisk everything in it.
I don’t have a stand mixer, just a handheld one. Will that suffice?.
Yes, a handheld mixer would work 🙂
I only have salted butter at home. Is that fine to use for the cake?
Hi Sydney! While this recipe does call for unsalted butter, given the times we currently live in, I would say just go ahead and use the salted butter. Your cake will still taste fine 🙂
I used salted butter in my recipe batter. Tasted just fine.
I also baked it at 325 degrees for 60 min. And that was perfect.
Thank you for this lovely recipe. It’s one. That will be in my cook book for a long time!
Thanks so much for sharing, Janet!
I used salted butter in my recipe batter. Tasted just fine.
This was my first pound cake attempt and… your recipe is amazing. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
You’re welcome. Glad it worked out well.
I’m making this right now, my first cake also. I’ll send an update !
Fantastic!!! Now I am excited :)! Will be waiting for the update, Gina!
I made half the recipe and made 4 bundt cakes. They are amazing! This is my second time using this recipe. The cake is very moist and has a really good flavor.
I made this cake yesterday and it’s Devine! I used a 10 cup bundt pan and 60 minutes in the oven, plus 15-20 minutes in the pan on a cooling rack, was all it needed to bake.
Thank you for sharing your results, Jackie. Glad it turned out well for you.
My cake is currently in the oven @ 325 and it’s been baking for 55 minutes, and there’s no way it’s done. Maybe at 350 it might take 55-60 minutes. Im letting it cook for another 10 minutes before checking it again.
Hi Nicole. Sorry if I missed this. How did it turn out?
I usually bake my pound cakes at 325 1hour and 30 min if you raise temp it may cook to fast and dark..
That’s a great tip! Thanks for sharing .
I made this using Pillisbury Gluten Free flour and it turned out great!!! I was so nervous about over mixing but it worked out great even though I used GF flour!!!
Thank you for sharing. Glad it worked out great for you.
Despite receiving emails and visiting your site often I didn’t realize you had a Lemon Sour Cream Cake recipe on the menu. I was on your site this morning because I’m using your delicious Prime Rib recipe for the third straight Christmas and took a chance search and after the first bite I’m in heaven. You continue to top yourself ……….Merry Christmas!
Thank you for making my recipes a part of your holiday, William. Happy holidays!
Aw-shucks! Now I’ve got a lot of lemon zest in a baggie. 🙁
But thanks for the update. 🙂
The icing recipe lists lemon zest, but the instructions do not mention the zest. Did I miss a step? 🙁
You didn’t Luz. Have updated recipe . Thanks.
Delicious cake. I only used 3/4 cup of sugar and it was still sweet and delicious.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing this with us.