This Old Fashioned Lemon Pound Cake is dripping with real lemon flavor, made with bright and zingy lemon zest and plain yogurt for extra moisture, all topped with a super simple lemony glaze that takes it over the top.

For a lemon raspberry quick bread, try this Lemon Raspberry Loaf.

Two slices of Old Fashioned Lemon Pound Cake with lemon glaze on a small dessert plate on a white background.

This pound cake is made the old-fashioned way, with all real ingredients and just a bowl and a whisk. This lemon cake is very quick to put together. Whisk the wet ingredients, add the dry ingredients, pour it into the pan, and bake.

After making loaf cakes for decades, I know that there are plenty of ways to go about it. But if you want a really moist loaf that is not overly dense, you want a combination of oil and yogurt (or sour cream). This is the way to get lots of flavor. Butter has flavor, too, but it leans more towards a dense cake.

Variations

Cooking Oil: If you want even more flavor, switch out the vegetable oil for a good quality, neutral-tasting extra virgin olive oil, like in this Olive Oil Lemon Loaf. Olive oil is also great in Olive Oil Banana Bread, or Olive Oil Pumpkin Bread (in these cases, the pumpkin and banana add the moisture rather than yogurt).
Citrus: Swap the lemon for orange or use both orange and lemon zest, like in these Citrus Olive Oil Cupcakes, or use grapefruit zest, like in this Grapefruit Olive Oil Cake.
Berries: Toss in raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries like in this Lemon Blueberry Olive Oil Cake.

Ingredients

Below are the ingredients needed to make this Old Fashioned Lemon Pound Cake.

Milk: Use whole milk if possible, but 1 or 2% will work in a pinch.
Oil: Use vegetable oil, not canola oil, which produces an unpleasant aftertaste in baked goods. A neutral-tasting, high-quality olive oil is a great substitute for vegetable oil.
Yogurt: Use plain full-fat Greek yogurt.
Eggs: Use large eggs, pasture-raised if possible.
Vanilla Extract: Use real vanilla extract, not imitation vanilla. Wholesale stores, like Costco, sell large bottles for a low price per unit volume.
Lemon Zest: Zest the outermost bright yellow portion of the lemons, not the inner white pith. The zest adds all the delicious and intense sweet lemon flavor without any of the acidity or liquid content that comes with lemon juice.
Granulated Sugar: The cake will be sweet, but not overly sweet.
Baking Powder: For leavening.
Salt: To bring out and balance flavor.
Flour: Use all-purpose unbleached flour.
Glaze: Use lemon juice from the zested lemons above and powdered sugar, which gives the glaze the consistency needed to top the cake.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

How to Make Old Fashioned Lemon Pound Cake

Below are the step-by-step instructions and photos for how to make an Old Fashioned Lemon Pound Cake with a simple lemon glaze.

*Note: The recipe card with instructions, ingredient list, and quantities is included further below these step-by-step photos.

A large white mixing bowl with the wet ingredients, with the sugar, baking powder, and salt added, and with the flour added.

Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a loaf pan, or butter the loaf pan and line it with parchment paper.

Step 1. Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl, use a whisk to combine the milk, vegetable oil, yogurt, eggs, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.

Step 2. Sugar, Baking Powder, and Salt: Add the sugar, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine.

Step 3. Flour: Add the flour and combine. Do not overmix.

The batter for the Old Fashioned Lemon Pound Cake poured into a loaf pan, the cake after it has been baked, and the cake after it has been glazed with lemon glaze.

Step 4. Pour the Batter: Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Step 5. Bake: Bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes or until the top is set, lightly golden brown, and a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Step 6. Glaze: While the pound cake is in the oven, make the lemon glaze. Combine the lemon juice (from one of the lemons zested earlier) and the powdered sugar. Once the cake has fully cooled, pour the glaze over the cake. Cut into slices and serve.

Tips for Making the Best Old Fashioned Lemon Pound Cake

Oven Temperature: Ensure the oven is fully preheated. Often, an oven will indicate that it is fully preheated when it is not. Give the oven 20-30 minutes to fully preheat.
Flour: It is helpful to measure flour with a kitchen scale. I use a conversion of 140g of flour per cup. If you do not have a kitchen scale, use the “dip and sweep” approach of measuring flour used by America’s Test Kitchen.
Don't Overmix: Overmixing develops gluten, which results in a chewy, rather than soft and tender texture.
Ceramic or Glass Dish: If using a ceramic or glass loaf pan, you may need to add 5-7 minutes to the baking time as those materials conduct heat more slowly.
Wait for the Cake to Cool: Before pouring on the glaze. If the cake is warm, the glaze will melt.
Checking for Doneness: All ovens are different. Some run hot or cold or have hot spots. The cake will be done when it has risen in the center but looks set. A toothpick should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Keep in mind that sometimes the top of the cake can wipe a toothpick clean. Pay attention to the color of the cake and whether it appears fully set.
Lemon Glaze: If the glaze is too thin, add powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add a tiny amount of lemon juice.