Yield: 1 loaf
Pan: 9 × 5-inch loaf pan
Prep time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 50–65 minutes
Total time: About 1½ hours

 Ingredients

For the cake

  • 1¾ cups (220 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • ½ cup (120 g) sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest — preferably from 1–2 fresh lemons
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup (60 ml) whole milk

For the lemon glaze

  • 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
  • 2–3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest, optional
  • 1 teaspoon melted butter, optional, for a richer glossy glaze

Optional

  • A tiny pinch of extra salt
  • Thin strips of lemon zest for decoration

👩‍🍳 Detailed Recipe

1. Prepare the pan

Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).

Grease a 9 × 5-inch loaf pan generously with butter or nonstick spray.

For easier removal, line the bottom and two long sides with parchment paper, leaving some parchment hanging over the sides.

Important: Don’t use a very small loaf pan. The batter should fill the pan only about ⅔ full.

2. Mix the dry ingredients

In a medium bowl, whisk together:

  • 1¾ cups flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Mix well so the baking powder and salt are evenly distributed.

Set aside.

3. Cream the butter and sugar

In a large mixing bowl, add:

  • ½ cup softened butter
  • 1 cup granulated sugar

Beat with an electric mixer for about 3–5 minutes.

The mixture should become:

  • Pale yellow
  • Light
  • Fluffy
  • Creamy

This step is important because incorporating air into the butter helps give the cake a lighter texture.

Don’t rush this step.

4. Add the eggs

Add the eggs one at a time.

After adding each egg, beat for about 20–30 seconds before adding the next.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

If the mixture looks slightly curdled, don’t worry. It will come together when the flour is added.

🍋 5. Add the lemon and vanilla

Add:

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix briefly until combined.

Tip:

When zesting the lemon, grate only the yellow outer skin.

Avoid the white part underneath because it can make the cake bitter.

6. Add sour cream

Mix in ½ cup sour cream.

The sour cream is one of the secrets to getting the soft, moist texture shown in your picture.

You can substitute full-fat Greek yogurt if necessary.

7. Combine the wet and dry ingredients

Add approximately ⅓ of the flour mixture to the batter.

Mix on low speed just until mostly incorporated.

Add about half of the milk.

Mix briefly.

Continue alternating:

flour → milk → flour → milk → flour

Finish with the flour.

Very important:

Don’t overmix the batter.

Once you no longer see large streaks of dry flour, stop mixing.

Overmixing develops gluten and can make the loaf dense or chewy instead of soft.

8. Transfer to the loaf pan

Pour the batter into your prepared pan.

Smooth the top with a spatula.

Gently tap the pan against the counter once or twice to remove large air pockets.

For the beautiful crack down the center that many pound cakes have, you can run a lightly buttered knife down the center of the batter before baking.

🔥 9. Bake

Place the loaf in the center of your preheated oven.

Bake at:

350°F (175°C) for approximately 50–65 minutes.

Start checking around 50 minutes.

The cake is ready when:

  • The top is golden brown.
  • The center looks set.
  • A toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
  • The cake springs back lightly when touched.

If the top becomes dark before the center is finished, loosely cover the cake with aluminum foil for the remaining baking time.

10. Cool the cake

Remove the loaf from the oven.

Let it sit in the pan for approximately 10–15 minutes.

Then use the parchment paper to carefully lift the cake out.

Place it on a wire rack and allow it to cool completely.

Don’t glaze it while it’s very hot.

If the cake is hot, the glaze will melt and run completely off the surface.

🍋 11. Make the lemon glaze

In a small bowl, combine:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Whisk until smooth.

Add another ½–1 tablespoon lemon juice if you want a thinner glaze.

For a thicker glaze, add more powdered sugar.

For a richer, shinier glaze, mix in 1 teaspoon melted butter.

12. Glaze the cake

Once the cake has cooled completely, place it on a serving plate.

Slowly drizzle the glaze over the top.

Let it naturally run down the sides, similar to the cake in your photo.

For extra lemon flavor, sprinkle a little finely grated lemon zest over the glaze.

Allow the glaze to sit for 15–20 minutes before slicing.

🔪 How to Get Those Beautiful Moist Slices

For the texture shown in your photo, there are a few important tricks:

1. Use room-temperature ingredients

The butter, eggs, milk, and sour cream should preferably be around room temperature.

This helps everything combine evenly.

2. Don’t overmix

Once the flour goes in, mix as little as possible.

3. Don’t overbake

This is probably the most important point.

A few extra minutes in the oven can turn a moist lemon loaf into a dry one.

Remove it when a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs, rather than waiting for the toothpick to be completely bone-dry.

4. Use fresh lemon

Fresh lemon juice and zest provide much better flavor than bottled lemon juice.

5. Don’t skip the sour cream

Sour cream adds moisture and gives the cake a tender crumb.

🍋 Extra-Lemony Version

If you want a stronger lemon flavor, use:

  • 2 tablespoons lemon zest in the batter
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice in the batter
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice in the glaze

You can also brush the warm cake with a simple lemon syrup.

Lemon syrup

Combine:

  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • ¼ cup sugar

Heat until the sugar dissolves.

While the cake is still warm, poke small holes in the top with a skewer and slowly brush the syrup over it.

Then allow the cake to cool before adding the glaze.

This produces an extra-moist, intensely lemony cake.

🧈 For an Even Richer Pound-Cake Texture

If you want the cake to be more like a traditional dense-but-tender pound cake, replace the milk with another ¼ cup sour cream.

You’ll then have:

¾ cup sour cream total

The result will be slightly richer and more moist, with a tighter crumb.

📋 Ingredient Checklist

Cake:

  • ✅ 220 g all-purpose flour
  • ✅ 200 g sugar
  • ✅ 113 g unsalted butter
  • ✅ 3 eggs
  • ✅ 120 g sour cream
  • ✅ 60 ml whole milk
  • ✅ 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • ✅ 1 tbsp lemon zest
  • ✅ 1 tsp vanilla
  • ✅ 1½ tsp baking powder
  • ✅ ¼ tsp salt

Glaze:

  • ✅ 120 g powdered sugar
  • ✅ 2–3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • ✅ Optional lemon zest
  • ✅ Optional 1 tsp melted butter

The key ingredients you really shouldn’t omit are the butter, eggs, lemon zest, sour cream, baking powder, and fresh lemon juice. They work together to produce the soft, rich, golden crumb and lemon flavor seen in the photo.