Name: Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 110 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (softened); 1 (8-ounce) box cream cheese (softened); 3 cups sugar; 6 large eggs; 3 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice; 1/3 cup fresh lemon zest; 1 tablespoon lemon extract; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 2 cups powdered sugar (sifted); 2-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake is deliciously tender and moist with just the right amount of lemon flavoring. Topped with a lovely lemon glaze! It’s easy to make and is always a hit.

When I first started baking, I stayed away from pound cakes. They felt like this perfect, special recipe that I had to get exactly right or risk ruining the whole thing. And, even more, I didn’t actually like the pound cakes I had tried. Often they were so dry.

Eventually, I got up the courage (and the desire) to give it a try. I reworked an old family recipe for lemon cream cheese pound cake and… wow. I mean WOW! This stuff is good. I’ve been making this particular pound cake for decades.

I’m now a huge pound cake believer and moreover pound cake lover!

It’s tender, it’s moist, and not as tart as some other pound cakes I’ve tried.

This lemon cream cheese pound cake recipe is an awesome spring or summer treat.

The dense, buttery flavor is “melt-in-your-mouth” awesome—just slightly sweet and with a zesty lemon kick. Though it’s a great dish for any occasion, my favorite use for this recipe is as a dessert at a get-together.

Whether it’s a family reunion, a birthday party, or just an evening with friends, this lemon cream cheesecake is sure to be a hit. And, to be honest, half the reason I make it when there are guests around is that I can’t trust myself alone with it!

One of the great things about cream cheese pound cake is that it can easily be made ahead of time.

Though the crust will soften with storage, it’s no less delicious served a few days later.

You can store this pound cake for 3-4 days at room temperature, and up to a week in the refrigerator.

If you want to store it for longer, you should freeze it.

Store-bought cake doesn’t even begin to compare to lemon cream cheese pound cake from scratch.

It might seem more convenient to pick up a pound cake from the store, but this is actually a really quick recipe to make. It’s as simple as beating a few ingredients together and pouring the batter into a Bundt pan.

And you’ll be so much happier with the results.

Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake | GonnaWantSeconds.com

I often swear by Paula Dean’s cooking advice. This time is no different.

In her recipe for cream cheese pound cake, Paula Deen is careful to make clear that your cream cheese and butter need to be at room temperature before creaming them together with the sugar.

This is a great tip for a good pound cake. It allows the maximum amount of sugar to be beaten into the batter.

I’d recommend letting your eggs warm to room temperature too.

I’ll often make my pound cakes with sour cream. This follows basically the same recipe but substitutes sour cream for cream cheese as a moistening ingredient.

In this particular recipe, I really prefer cream cheese over sour cream—I think it improves the flavor and makes for a better cake.

Part of the reason this recipe is so delicious is that it uses three different lemon flavoring components: lemon zest, lemon juice, and lemon extract.

These three lemon components in combination really intensify the flavor of the pound cake—using lemon juice alone just can’t compare.

When I’m not feeling like lemon pound cake, some simple changes to the recipe make another of my favorite desserts: strawberry cream cheese pound cake.

But the truth is, it’s a rare day indeed when a moist slice of this delicious lemon cream cheese pound cake doesn’t sound absolutely tantalizing.

Recipe Notes:

The Batter:
Some pound cake recipes call for using shortening instead of butter. In my opinion, butter almost always is a better tasting choice. A good, old-fashioned, authentic pound cake needs butter. I can’t think of a single reason to substitute shortening for butter in this recipe. When creaming, the sugar cuts through the butter to create air pockets.

Accuracy is incredibly important in a good pound cake. Extra sugar might cause the cake to fall. Adding extra flour might make it dry. (Tip: to ensure that you don’t add extra flour, use the “fluff and spoon” method rather than just scooping it up. Fluff up the flour with a fork, then use a spoon to put it in your measure cup. Level off with a knife. This will make sure the flour isn’t so densely packed and you don’t add extra.)

Only use name-brand ingredients. Store brands of sugar tend to be more finely ground than name brands. This will result in more sugar per cup, possibly causing the cake to fall. Store brands of butter ten to have more liquid fat, making the cake too heavy. This is why I never make lemon cream cheese pound cake from cake mix—I don’t trust the ingredients.

You might be tempted to ignore the recipe’s direction to add the eggs one at a time. Don’t. Make sure one egg is totally mixed into the batter before adding the next egg. This will help prevent the batter from curdling. (If your batter does end up curdling, don’t worry too much. The flour will help smooth it out.)

Make sure to beat your sugar, butter, eggs, and cream cheese together until the mixture is light and fluffy. It should be noticeably lighter in color. However, you also don’t want to overbeat the eggs. Overbeating may cause the batter to overflow from the sides of the pan when baked.

Some folks recommend adding baking powder to the batter. I don’t really think it’s necessary, but it doesn’t hurt anything to add it. Use your own discretion. I personally leave it out of this recipe.

Baking:

There are a few different methods to effectively grease your Bundt pan. Butter is a great way that will really contribute to the overall flavor of the cake. Some recipes will have you use flour in combination with the butter. A simple spray-on cooking spray will also work. The best one I’ve found is Pam baking spray with butter (not a paid endorsement).

Once the batter has been poured into the Bundt pan, tap the pan onto the counter a few times to help the batter settle and remove any air pockets. Here’s my Favorite Bundt Pan, check it out if you need a good one!

If you’re using a dark-colored Bundt pan, set the oven to 300 degrees instead of 325.

Ensuring that the center of your pound cake gets cooked thoroughly is important. Because the cake is dense, it can be tempting to pull out the cake too early. But you need to make sure that the center is good and cooked. To check it, just use the old toothpick trick. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cooked pound cake, it if comes clean then the cake is ready to come out.

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Source: Gonna Want Seconds

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