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Home / Recipes / Dessert / Cake / Glazed Lemon Loaf Cake

Glazed Lemon Loaf Cake

3 hrs 20 mins
| 4 Comments |
5 from 6 votes
Jump to Recipe 01/07/22 | Updated: 01/07/22 | by Nora
Lemon Loaf Cake Recipe Image Pin

You can stop your search – you’ve just found the BEST Glazed Lemon Loaf Cake recipe. The lemon pound cake is super easy and foolproof to make, then gets drizzled with an easy lemon syrup and glazed with the best lemon glaze.

frontal view of sliced lemon loaf cake

Loaf cakes and pound cakes are 99% of what my childhood dessert memories are made of. (The other 1% is mainly filled with Strawberry Cake Rolls, which isn’t too bad either.)

Marble pound cake. Chocolate pound cake. Carrot loaf cake (no not kidding, though I’ve switched to making Carrot Sheet Cakes now that I’m the mom in charge). My favorite thing about these simple cakes is how easy they are to make – basically foolproof (my recipe has been tested by 100s of teens at our local school!), endlessly customizable and pretty much always appropriate.

My mom made this exact lemon loaf cake recipe every time my sister requested it, which was probably once a month. The pound cake is nicely lemony, brushed with a tangy drizzle and topped off with a sweet lemon glaze. Perfect for spring, Easter or whenever your pound cake cravings hit!

female hand holding slice of lemon pound cake

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

ingredients for lemon loaf cake with text labels
Ingredients for Glazed Lemon Loaf Cake: Flour, sugar, sour cream, butter, icing sugar, eggs, lemons, baking powder and salt.

Ingredient notes

  • Lemons: I highly recommend fresh lemons to juice and zest here. They will give you the best flavor by a long shot. If you only have bottled lemon juice and store-bought zest, I recommend adding 1-2 teaspoons of lemon extract to the cake batter.
  • Icing sugar: If your icing sugar is very clumpy, please sift it once or twice before using it. It is incredibly hard to dissolve icing sugar clumps and your glaze would not come out smooth.
  • Sour cream: You can use a thick, natural Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream.
  • Butter: Make sure your butter is softened, it’s difficult to cream the cake batter otherwise. If you have to use stick margarine, use one that’s specifically intended for baking, NOT a spread.

Please note: I updated and changed the recipe since I originally posted it. If you’ve made the old recipe and prefer to use that one, download it here.

How to make Lemon Loaf Cake from scratch

1. Start by creaming the wet ingredients together:

  • Beat the butter until very creamy
  • Add the eggs and sugar and beat until light in color and fluffy in texture
  • Add sour cream, lemon juice and lemon zest; beat until combined
  • creamed butter in glass bowl with mixer beaters
    beat butter
  • three cracked eggs and a pile of sugar o top of creamed butter in glass bowl
    beat in eggs and sugar
  • sour cream and lemon on top of beaten eggs and butter
    add sour cream and lemon
  • beaten eggs and sugar in glass bowl with mixer beaters
    beat until combined

2. Now add the flour to the bowl, sprinkle the salt and baking powder evenly over the flour. Using your mixer on low speed, mix until a smooth batter forms.

(I always do just the dry ingredients for a few seconds first, to combine them a little).

  • flour on top of creamed cake batter ingredients
    add dry ingredients
  • lemon cake batter in glass bowl with mixer beaters
    mix until smooth

3. Transfer the batter to a lined loaf pan and bake in the hot oven at 360°F for 55-60 minutes.

As soon as the cake is done, remove it from the oven but leave it in the pan. Allow it to cool for 5 minutes, then use a skewer to poke holes all over the cake (do not poke all the way to the bottom, just about ¾ of the way down.

Allow the cake to sit in the pan for another 10 minutes, then carefully lift it out and set on a cooling rack to cool completely (if a little bit of syrup gathered at the bottom of the pan, brush it over the cake again).

  • lemon cake batter in lined loaf pan
    bake cake
  • female hand using metal skewer to poke hole into lemon loaf cake
    poke holes into hot cake
  • lemon drizzle syrup in small glass measuring jug with whisk
    combine lemon syrup
  • black silicone brush brushing lemon syrup over lemon cake
    brush over cake

4. Once the cake has cooled completely, transfer it to a serving platter. Combine the lemon glaze and brush it all over the top of the cake.

  • lemon loaf cake on platter
    cooled cake
  • thick lemon glaze in white bowl with spoon
    mix lemon glaze
  • lemon glaze drizzling onto lemon loaf cake from spoon
    drizzle/brush over cake
  • glazed lemon loaf cake on platter
    allow to dry

Allow the glaze to firm up for at least 10 minutes before serving!

overhead view of sliced lemon loaf cake

Recipe tips

  • Mixing: Don’t worry too much about overmixing the batter, that is more an issue with muffins and quick breads. You don’t want to exaggerate the mixing, but you do want to end up with a smooth, creamy batter – not a lumpy one.
  • Batter consistency: The batter is a little scraggly before you add the flour. Do not worry about this at ALL, this recipe is very forgiving and you really can throw in the sugar and eggs at the same time and then cream until fluffy.
  • Dry ingredients: If your baking powder is very clumpy, I recommend sifting the dry ingredients before adding them to the cake batter. Otherwise, you will not achieve an even rise.
  • Hole poking: Make sure to poke enough holes into the cake, but also make sure to not poke all the way to the bottom – else the lemon syrup would just run through the cake instead of staying inside. Go about ¾ down. If you zoom in on the photo I added a little bit higher up in the post, you can easily see how many holes I poked into my cake, if you need a visual reference.
  • Syrup: Wait a few seconds in between brushing on the syrup, it takes a little longer vs just pouring it on top, but it helps the syrup to really soak into the cake instead of just running down the sides. The syrup adds a lot of lemon flavor, tanginess and mositure, so it’s important to take your time here.
  • Careful when moving the cake: The cake is quite springy and fragile, especially once it has been soaked with sryup. Be careful when transferring it to the cooling rack, and also to the cake platter. I also recommend going for thick slices over very skimpy ones.
  • Glaze: By using fresh lemon juice, the glaze gets an incredibly delicious lemony tang. This adds a lot of extra citrus flavor to the pound cake, so I highly recommend you don’t skip it!
three slices of lemon loaf cake on white surface

Recipe FAQs

Why is pound cake even called pound cake?


Pound cake got its name by using a pound of butter, a pound of sugar and a pound of flour. It doesn’t contain any baking powder and gets leavened just by eggs.

Here we are roughly using ½ pound of each ingredients, but also baking powder to make it foolproof.

I’d like to think I make a slightly modernized version of the traditional pound cake: With a little extra tang from sour cream (which you definitely WON’T find in the traditional recipe), a little extra leavening insurance and… a little extra flavor from the drizzle and the glaze.

How to make pound cake moist?


First and foremost: Do NOT overbake the cake! Baking the pound cake too long will result in a dry loaf, no matter what recipe you’re going to use.

Secondly, be careful when measuring your flour. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level with a knife (I have instructions on how to measure flour). Using too much flour results in a dry and crumbly cake.

And last but not least: Don’t cut back on the butter. Do not use substitutes such as applesauce. You’re making a dessert. Live a little 😉

How to make a thick lemon glaze for pound cake?


You only need two ingredients for a nice lemon glaze: Icing sugar and lemon juice.

Don’t worry if it seems like there’s not enough lemon juice at first, the icing sugar will quickly absorb it all. If you add too much juice, your glaze won’t be as nicely white and thick! The glaze also firms up and whitens as it hardens, which is why I recommend glazing at least 10 minutes before serving, and waiting for the cake to cool completely before drizzling it with the glaze.

If you like your glaze EXTRA thick, wait for it to fully firm up. Then, add another layer of glaze on top of the glaze.

slice of lemon loaf cake on white plate with a fork taking a bite out

More lemon treats

  • Easy Lemon Bars
  • Lemon Blueberry Bread
  • Healthier Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Greek Yogurt
  • Lemon Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Sign up for my email list, too!

Printable Recipe Card
frontal view of sliced lemon loaf cake
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Glazed Lemon Loaf Cake

This is the BEST Glazed Lemon Loaf Cake recipe. The lemon pound cake is super easy and foolproof to make, then gets drizzled with an easy lemon syrup and glazed with the best lemon glaze.
Recipe by Nora from Savory Nothings
made it? tap the stars to add your rating!
5 from 6 votes
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Recipe details

Prep 20 mins
Cook 1 hr
Cooling 2 hrs
Total 3 hrs 20 mins
Servings 8 slices
Difficulty Easy

Ingredients
 

Cake:

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 3 large eggs room temperature preferred
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • ½ cup sour cream room temperature preferred; OR Greek yogurt
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1-2 lemons
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest about 1 lemon; zest before cutting in half/juicing
  • 2 cups flour spooned and levelled (240g or 8.5 ounces; do NOT over-measure flour! If you have kitchen scales, I highly recommend weighing your flour!)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Lemon syrup:

  • ½ cup lemon juice about 3 lemons; please measure juice before adding icing sugar
  • 1 cup icing sugar sifted if clumpy

Glaze:

  • 1 cup icing sugar sifted if clumpy
  • 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice about ½ lemon

Instructions
 

  • Prep: Preheat oven to 360°F. Line a 9×5 inch (OR 8×4 inch) loaf pan with baking parchment.
  • Cream ingredients: Place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer using the beater attachments until creamy (you can also use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment). Add eggs and sugar and cream until light in color and fluffy. Add sour cream, lemon zest and lemon juice; mix until combined (it's OK if it looks split and scraggly).
  • Add dry ingredients: Add flour to bowl with creamed ingredients, then sprinkle baking powder and salt on top. Mix on low with your mixer, until you have a smooth batter.
  • Bake: Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before adding the syrup (leave cake in pan).
  • Syrup: Combine ½ cup lemon juice with 1 cup icing sugar. Using a skewer, poke several holes into cake, about ¾ into the cake (do not poke holes all the way down to bottom of cake!). Brush syrup over cake, waiting for syrup to soak in before adding more. Let cake sit in pan for 10 more minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  • Glaze: Mix 1 cup icing sugar and 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice until smooth and barely pourable (it's a thick glaze). Carefully spread on top of completely cooled cake. Let firm up for at least 10 minutes before serving.
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Notes

Lemons: I highly recommend fresh lemons to juice and zest here. They will give you the best flavor by a long shot.
If you only have bottled lemon juice and store-bought zest, I recommend adding 1-2 teaspoons of lemon extract to the cake batter.
Mixing: Don’t worry too much about overmixing the batter, that is more an issue with muffins and quick breads. You don’t want to exaggerate the mixing, but you do want to end up with a smooth, creamy batter – not a lumpy one.
Batter consistency: The batter is a little scraggly before you add the flour. Do not worry about this at ALL, this recipe is very forgiving and you really can throw in the sugar and eggs at the same time and then cream until fluffy.
Dry ingredients: If your baking powder is very clumpy, I recommend sifting the dry ingredients before adding them to the cake batter. Otherwise, you will not achieve an even rise.
Hole poking: Make sure to poke enough holes into the cake, but also make sure to not poke all the way to the bottom – else the lemon syrup would just run through the cake instead of staying inside. Go about ¾ down.
If you zoom in on the photo I added in the post, you can easily see how many holes I poked into my cake, if you need a visual reference.
Syrup: Wait a few seconds in between brushing on the syrup, it takes a little longer vs just pouring it on top, but it helps the syrup to really soak into the cake instead of just running down the sides.
The syrup adds a lot of lemon flavor, tanginess and mositure, so it’s important to take your time here.
Careful when moving the cake: The cake is quite springy and fragile, especially once it has been soaked with sryup. Be careful when transferring it to the cooling rack, and also to the cake platter.
I also recommend going for thick slices over very skimpy ones.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 301kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 4gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 176mgPotassium: 152mgSugar: 26gVitamin A: 380IUVitamin C: 2.3mgCalcium: 67mgIron: 1.5mg
Nutrition is an estimate.

More recipe information

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American

Recipe first published on 04/12/2019. Updated with new photos, new text and new recipe on 01/07/2022. If you’ve made the old recipe before and prefer it, download it here.

More loaves to try

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Nora Rusev from Savory Nothings
About Nora 
When I got married to my professional chef husband, I realized I had to step up my game in the kitchen. Now I share my favorite foolproof family recipes here on Savory Nothings: Chef-approved, kid-vetted and easy enough for everyday home cooks like you and me!   Learn more.

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Comments

  1. Del Davies says

    January 10, 2022 at 5:47 am

    I plan to make this Lemon cake today…..have a friend for tea. Will report back. Thnku fr this great recipe.

    Reply
  2. Chie Ejercito says

    April 05, 2020 at 3:04 am

    Hello! Just would like to ask what kind of flour did you use for this recipe? AP or cake flour? Thanks a bunch3!

    Reply
    • Nora Rusev says

      April 05, 2020 at 4:26 pm

      All-purpose! Hope that helps, Chie 🙂

      Reply
      • Chie Ejercito says

        April 07, 2020 at 9:58 am

        Yep it does! Thanks so much. 😊

        Reply

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Nora Rusev from Savory Nothings

Hi, I'm Nora! I wasn't always a good cook, but then I fell in love with a professional chef and learned my way around the kitchen. Now I share all my secrets to effortlessly great food here on my blog, bite-sized for home cooks just like me and you.

More about me →

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