Perfect Sour Cream Lemon Pound Cake
I have been on a mission recently trying to find the perfect pound cake recipe. I have to admit that I probably baked six-pound cakes in the past three months to find a pound cake that met all of my requirements. Pound cakes are, in essence, denser than other cake recipes, but I didn’t want my cake to be too heavy, and my primary goal was to find a moist, tender cake.
After all my experimentation, I learned a lot about what goes into creating the perfect pound cake. Traditionally, pound cake is a type of cake made with a pound of four ingredients: flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. Today, however, the requirements for baking a pound cake are not so stringent and there are many variations of pound cake online.
This particular cake is generally baked in either a loaf pan or a Bundt mold. These cakes are usually served either plain or with just a dusting of powdered sugar. When serving this cake as a dessert, I personally enjoy serving a slice of pound cake with a dollop of whipped cream and some fresh diced fruit. This version is flavored with lemon juice, zest, and an extract that is a mixture of vanilla and lemon. The addition of sour cream ensures that this cake is very moist, just how I like it.
* All ingredients need to be at room temperature. This is a general rule for all baking projects unless you need to cut cold butter into a flour mixture. Having butter and eggs at room temperature allows you to beat in air which lightens your cake.
* Beat the butter and sugar until they are very light and airy. This usually requires a good 4 to 5 minutes of beating.
* Bake the cake at a slightly lower temperature. This cake is baked at 325 degrees F. When baked at a higher temperature, pound cake develops a thicker crust before the interior of the cake bakes completely.
* Remove the cake when a cake tester or bamboo skewer inserted into the center still has moist crumbs attached. If you wait until the cake tester comes out clean, the cake will be over-baked.
Buon Appetito!
Deborah Mele
Perfect Sour Cream Lemon Pound Cake
A moist, buttery cake flavored with lemon that is perfect for breakfast or dessert.
Ingredients
- 3 Cups All-purpose Flour
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter At Room Temperature
- 3 Cup Sugar
- 6 Large Eggs At Room Temperature
- Zest From 3 Medium Lemons
- 1/4 Cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
- 1 Tablespoon Fiori di Sicilia (Or 1/2 Tablespoon Each of Lemon & Vanilla Extracts)
- 1 Cup Full Fat Sour Cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Liberally coat the interior of a 10-cup Bundt pan with baking spray.
- In one bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In another bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each.
- Beat in the zest, juice, and extract.
- Add half the flour and sour cream to the butter mixture and mix on low speed just until mixed.
- Add remaining flour and sour cream and mix.
- Spoon batter into prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spoon.
- Bake for 75 to 80 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs. (My cake took 75 minutes to bake)
- Cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edges.
- Turn the cake out of the pan onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
- Slice and enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 524Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 145mgSodium: 187mgCarbohydrates: 77gFiber: 1gSugar: 51gProtein: 7g
