Lemon Pound Cake

3 slices of lemon cake on a cutting board.

5 from 1 vote

Simple and easy pound cake made with fresh lemons, olive oil, and pantry staples. It is topped with a lemon glaze that gives it that perfect, sweet, lemony finish.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1

Total Time1 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings:

Author: Rena

Ingredients

¾ cup Light Olive oil or coconut oil, or vegetable oil
1 ½ cup granulated sugar or fine cane sugar
3 medium eggs room temperature, or two large
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large lemon zest and juice
½ cup milk
½ teaspoon kosher fine salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour or any other flour
lemon extract 1 teaspoon, optional

Optional Glaze:

⅓ cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice for glaze

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 F and position a rack in the middle of the oven.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the ¾ cup Light Olive oil, 1 ½ cup granulated sugar, 3 medium eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 large lemon (zest and juice), and ½ cup milk and mix with an electric mixer until the sugar has mostly dissolved. At this point, if you want to add a bit of lemon extract, you can.
Stir in the 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and ½ teaspoon kosher fine salt over the mixture.
Fold in the flour until just combined. Do not overmix, some lumps are just fine. The pound cake will come out tough if overmixing!
Transfer to a loaf pan and bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Remove and allow it to cool in the pan.
Meanwhile, prepare the glaze, in a small bowl whisk the ⅓ cup powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice for glaze until white and creamy and drizzling.
Remove the pound cake and place on a rack to completely cool. Drizzle with the lemon glaze.

Video

Notes

Use light olive oil and not extra virgin.
Do not overmix the batter.
If you get 12 slices, each slice will be 331 calories instead
Olive oil is high in calories, you can use another oil like coconut oil, which brings the calorie count to 328 per slice.
If you use cane sugar instead of granulated sugar, the calories per slice will be 334 per slice.
Any flour will work, so you can use what you have on hand or mix two different types of flour.
To get that extra lemon flavor, you can add 1-2 teaspoons of lemon extract.
To make this vegan, use dairy-free milk and replace the eggs with egg substitutes, or use three tablespoons of ground flax seeds mixed with nine tablespoons of water.

Nutrition