What’s classic, tart and improves with age?
Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake: my all time favorite, all purpose dessert.
Inspired by the royal wedding and adapted from Ina Garten’s Lemon Cake, this bundt cake version makes a tall beautiful cake, suited to all sorts of summer celebrations.
Tuck slices into a picnic lunch or serve at home with berries and cream for a special brunch or dessert!
Adaptations:
No bundt pan: Use 2 loaf pans or a 9X13 brownie pan. Line pans with parchment before baking.
Instead of buttermilk: Start with a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice, then fill with milk or cream ( non dairy ok) to equal 1 cup. Measure out 3/4 cup of buttermilk for this recipe.
Gluten free: Use an all purpose gluten free flour blend.
Dairy free: Use vegan butter and non-dairy milk mixed with a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice.
There’s lemon lemon, lemon in:
- the batter,
- the syrup spooned over the warm cake and
- lemon/powdered sugar glaze drizzled over the top
Save time & calories by making just the syrup or the glaze (or neither); this cake will still be intensely delicious!
Pin & Dig In!
MORE lemon recipes to love:
Lemon Almond “Cake” (Gluten Free) , Meyer Lemon Blueberry Cake (can be vegan)
Lemony Blueberry Cupcakes, Lemon Poppyseed Cookie Cups with Lemon Icing
Lemon Feta Dip, Lemon Basil Quinoa Pilaf
Tools I use that make baking easier:
- Rubber measuring cups with spouts
- Microwave safe glass measuring cup
- All purpose Silicone Spatula
- 3 piece nesting bowls with rubber handles/bottoms
- Parchment Paper Baking Sheets
- Citrus Zester
- Squeeze and Pour Citrus Juicer
- Baker’s Joy Cake Pan Spray
- Dana’s favorite Bundt Pan
I would LOVE to see your diginwithdana recipes!
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PrintLemon Buttermilk Pound Cake
- Prep Time: 40
- Cook Time: 55
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 20 servings 1x
Plenty of lemon juice and zest give this buttermilk pound cake a tart, refreshing zing. Serve with berries and whipped cream for brunch or dessert!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups sugar, divided (495 gm)
- 1/3 cup grated lemon zest (16 gm) (6 – 8 lemons)
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter (226 gm)
- 4 jumbo eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (8 ml)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (429 gm)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (3 gm)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (4 gm)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (6 gm)
- 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided (175 ml)
- 3/4 cup buttermilk (175 ml)
- baking spray (with flour)
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted (230 gm)
- 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (60 ml)
*All butter, eggs and liquid at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Combine 2 cups sugar + lemon zest using an electric or hand mixer. Mix well.
- Add butter to sugar mixture. Beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating a full minute between additions.
- In a bowl, sift together: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl combine: 1/4 cup lemon juice, buttermilk and vanilla. Beginning and ending with flour, alternate adding flour and buttermilk mixtures to batter.
- Spray a 12 cup bundt pan heavily with baking spray.
- Pour batter into bundt pan and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 45-55 minutes.
- Make lemon syrup: In microwave or small saucepan over low heat, stir 1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup lemon juice until sugar dissolves.
- Allow bundt cake to cool for 20 minutes before flipping over cake onto a large plate lined with parchment paper. Spoon syrup over cake a little at a time. Let cool completely.
- Make glaze: Mix sifted powdered sugar with lemon juice until smooth and pourable. Pour over top of cooled cake in a circular fashion, allowing glaze to fall over sides.
- Store covered at room temperature up to three days. Cake is even better on day two!
- Serve with berries and whipped cream or ice cream.
What is “AP flour?”
All Purpose flour. I will correct. Thanks Liza!
Dana, if you’re using large eggs would you add an extra?
Yes. Add either an extra whole egg or at least an extra egg yolk. Please let me know how your cake turns out Andi! ? Enjoy‼️
Thanks Dana, I will!
Ho, Dana. Can i bake with cupcake paper molds? If yes, how about the baking temperature and time?Thank you.
★★★★★
Donna- yes certainly! Same baking temperature or as an alternative, if you have a convection option, put the oven on convection bake and lower the temperature by 25 degrees. Since I have never baked this cake as cupcakes, my advice is that you watch them with the oven light on and just test them ( with a toothpick) when they look puffy and slightly brown at the top. After you have made them once or twice, you will know what amount of time is needed in your oven. It’s a little bit of a guessing game. But I think cupcakes are a great option! Let me know how it works out! 🤞 Thanks!