Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This isn’t one of those ordinary lemon cakes, this lemon cream cheese pound cakes is one of the most decadent cake recipes you’ll make. It’s also quite likely to become one of your most successful spring and summer recipes.

Once you see how easy it is to make this pound cake, you may want to try some other flavors.like our super popular peach pound cake, old fashioned pound cake, strawberry pound cake, and chocolate pound cake. They’re all magnificent springtime treats, bringing back nostalgic memories of Grandma, wrap-around porches covered in fragrant honeysuckle.

Let’s bake this!

What I Love About This Recipe

When I first started baking, I stayed away from pound cakes. 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. Here are some of the things I loooove about this cake:

• Dense buttery flavor
• Sweet lemony glaze
• Moist deliciousness

How To Make Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake Recipe

1. Make the cake: beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and mix, then add eggs one at a time.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Add it to the butter mixture, alternating with lemon juice.
3. Beat the batter.
4. Add the rest of the cake ingredients.
5. Pour the batter into the bundt pan. Bake.
6. Make the glaze: mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice.
7. Pour the glaze over the cake.

***See the full instructions below.

Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake Ingredients

• Butter: I like to use Challenge unsalted butter (no endorsement!). At room temperature.
• Cream Cheese: Use regular, full-fat cream cheese. At room temperature.
• Sugar: Granulated sugar.
• Eggs: Large eggs, at room temperature.
• Flour: I use Gold Medal.
• Salt: Tables salt.
• Lemon: Let’s Talk Lemon! 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.
• Vanilla Extract: I use pure vanilla extract, not imitation.

Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake Tips

• Room Temperature:  I find that it helps to start with room-temperature ingredients. The butter and cream cheese should be soft and spreadable but not melted. Even eggs and lemon should be brought up to room temp before getting started.
• Adding eggs: Also, be sure to add the eggs one at a time so the batter doesn’t curdle.
• Measuring: 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 measuring cup. Level off with a knife. This will make sure the flour isn’t so densely packed and you don’t add extra.)
• Mixing: 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.
• Adding Baking Powder: 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.
• Greasing Bundt Pan: 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 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).
• Batter: 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.
• Name-Brand: When making this lemon pound cake with cream cheese it helps to use name-brand ingredients. I know this sounds a little finicky but there is a method to my madness. For instance, generic brands of sugar are often ground finer resulting in more sugar per cup which could make your cake fall. Generic butter often has more liquid fat which can make your pound cake very heavy.
• Testing Cake Doneness: 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 baked.
  • Tip for doneness, just use the old bamboo skewer, aka toothpick, trick. Insert into the center of the baked pound cake and when it comes out with a few moist crumbs, it’s done. Now, that doesn’t mean batter on the skewer. there should only be a FEW moist crumbs.

Storing +Freezing + Make-Ahead

The key to storing this beautiful lemon pound cake with glaze is to protect it from the air. Keep it in a cake saver on the counter or slide it in the fridge to buy a few more days. Once it’s sliced, you’ll want to cover the open end tightly with cling wrap so your cake doesn’t dry out.

• How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? This dreamy cake will stay moist and delicious for up to a week when stored properly in the fridge. The trick is keeping it adequately protected from the air and other food smells in the fridge.
• Can You Freeze This? Yes!! Simply double wrap your cake in aluminum foil or cling wrap before sliding it into a resealable freezer bag. It helps to wait until serving time to add the sweet lemon glaze, unless you’re freezing individual slices.
  • Just thaw on the counter for an hour or put your cake in the fridge overnight. You may still want to give it a little counter time to lose excess moisture.
• Make Ahead Tips: Your cake will stay fresh and yummy for 3-4 days on the counter so it’s the perfect make-ahead cake. You can also go the freezer route and then add the glaze at serving time. Either way, this homemade pound cake is sooo much better than anything you can buy in the store!
• Food Safety: If you’d like more info on food safety check out this link.

More Lemon Desserts

• Lemon Bars
• Lemon Lush
• Lemon Brownies
• Lemon Buttermilk Cake
• Lemon Dump Cake
• Lemon Coconut Bars
• Lemon Icebox Pie
• Lemon Icebox Cake

More Wonderful Pound Cakes

• Blueberry Pound Cake
• Brown Sugar Pound Cake
• Banana Pound Cake
• Eggnog Pound Cake
• Bourbon Pecan Pound Cake
• Million Dollar Pound Cake
• Peach Cobbler Pound Cake
• Pineapple Pound Cake
• Apple Bundt Cake
• Buttermilk Pound Cake

Tried This Recipe?

Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Save Recipe!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Lemon cream cheese pound cake is a moist decadent springtime treat covered in a sweet lemon glaze that offers a little sunshine in every bite.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

Servings: 8 -10 servings

Author: Kathleen

Ingredients

Cake:

• ▢ 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

Glaze:

• ▢ 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
• ▢ 2-4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the Cake:

• Preheat oven to 325ºF (163ºC). Grease a 12-cup bundt pan.
• In a medium mixing bowl, using an electric hand-held mixer beat butter (1 1/2 cups) and cream cheese (8-onuce) together until smooth and creamy. Add sugar (3 cups) slowly, beating on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add eggs (6) to the batter, one at a time, beating just until the yolk disappears.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together flour (3 cups) and salt (1/2 teaspoon); add to the butter mixture, alternating with lemon juice (1/4 cup), beginning and ending with flour. Beat batter on low, after each addition, until blended. Add lemon zest (1/3 cup), lemon extract (1 tablespoon), and vanilla extract (1 teaspoon) and stir until incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
• Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes to 1 hour and 35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the Glaze:

• Make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar (2 cups) and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in a medium bowl. Using a handheld electric mixer, mix until smooth.  Add more lemon juice, a teaspoon or so at a time, as needed to reach a thick but pourable consistency.  Pour the glaze over the cake. Let the cakes sit out until the glaze has dried well.

Fans Also Made:

• 
  Coconut Pound Cake
• 
  Lemon Pound Cake
• 
  Orange Pound Cake
• 
  Peach Bourbon Upside Down Cake

RATE THIS RECIPE

Save Recipe!

Notes

1. Room Temperature: I find that it helps to start with room-temperature ingredients. The butter and cream cheese should be soft and spreadable but not melted. Even eggs and lemon should be brought up to room temp before getting started.
2. Adding eggs: Also, be sure to add the eggs one at a time so the batter doesn’t curdle.
3. Measuring: 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 measuring cup. Level off with a knife. This will make sure the flour isn’t so densely packed and you don’t add extra.)
4. Mixing: 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.
5. Adding Baking Powder: 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.
6. Greasing Bundt Pan: 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 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).
7. Batter: 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.
8. Name-Brand: When making this cake it helps to use name-brand ingredients. I know this sounds a little finicky but there is a method to my madness. For instance, generic brands of sugar are often ground finer resulting in more sugar per cup which could make your cake fall. Generic butter often has more liquid fat which can make your pound cake very heavy.
9. Testing Cake Doneness: 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 baked.
   • Tip for doneness, just use the old bamboo skewer, aka toothpick, trick. Insert into the center of the baked pound cake and when it comes out with a few moist crumbs, it's done. Now, that doesn't mean batter on the skewer. there should only be a FEW moist crumbs.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/8 of the recipe | Calories: 1036kcal | Carbohydrates: 143g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 29g | Cholesterol: 244mg | Sodium: 310mg | Potassium: 120mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 106g | Vitamin A: 1242IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 3mg

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? I'D LOVE TO SEE!Tag @GonnaWantSeconds or #gonnawantseconds on Instagram!

© Gonna Want Seconds. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media/website/blog is strictly prohibited.

 

Pin

Share

Email

6K Shares