This Iced Lemon Pound Cake Recipe was inspired by Starbucks’ famous lemon pound cake! If you love that pound cake, you’ll absolutely love this fresh lemon loaf!
Iced Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
A couple weeks ago I stopped in a Starbucks to get a yogurt parfait and saw the famous Starbucks iced lemon pound cake in the case I just had to have. After one bite, I knew I wanted to re-create my own recipe for it.
Let’s just say I did it! Well, I am sure it’s not their recipe, but boy does it taste just like it 🙂 My boys went nuts over this cake and my oldest has requested it for his birthday cake, lol!
It’s that good people and shhhh, don’t tell but I start the recipe from a cake mix. Trust me, no one will ever know. Happy baking!!
Here’s your simple line up of ingredients.
How to Make Iced Lemon Pound Cake
In no particular order, add all of your cake ingredients to the mixer.
Add your lemon pudding and milk.
4 beautiful large eggs.
Your oil and sour cream.
Freshly squeezed lemon juice 🙂 Mmmm!
Once mixed nicely, divide the batter between your loaf pans (9×5).
How gorgeous is this?! Wait until you taste it.
While the cakes are cooling, prepare the tangy icing.
Drizzle, drizzle and drizzle!
I am speechless. Lol!
Iced Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
Pound Cake
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 4.3 oz cook and serve Lemon Or 3.4 ounce instant Lemon pudding mix
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 8 oz sour cream
- 6 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
Icing
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
Pound Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray 2 loaf pans (9x5)generously with cooking spray.
- Place all cake ingredients in no particular order into stand or electric mixer, beating until well combined, about 1 1/2 minutes.
- Divide cake batter between two prepared 9x5 loaf pansspreading evenly. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove and let cool for 15 minutes before removing loaves from pans.
Icing
- Place powdered sugar into a large bowl. Drizzle in lemon juice stirring until smooth and thick. Should be a good drizzling consistency.
- Drizzle icing over cakes after they are completely cooled, and let set for 20 minutes for a firm icing. Otherwise slice while still wet if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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Have a great day! Come back soon 🙂
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Awesome! Made them yesterday…froze one and frosted one…turned out beautiful and so good. Great treat! Thanks!!
Was very excited about this recipe and it is delicious! But I have made it twice now and the cake has fallen like a brick both times, right after pulling out of the oven. Any ideas on what I’m doing wrong? Over-mix? Under-bake? It tastes good but it’s disappointing to watch it collapse!
Hi Steph, it just means you need to bake it longer. Happened to me once and when I baked it longer the next time, it was fine. Hope this helps!
My cakes both sank minutes after I removed them from the oven. What did I do wrong? I followed ingredients and directions carefully.
Loved it! The cake came out even better than the original. Thank you so much for the recipe!
Hello. I made this today, and when I took the loaves out of the oven, they were nice and puffy. However, after cooling for a bit they lost their rise. I used all the ingredients listed, and the wood skewer came out clean. Not sure if it because I used light sour cream and ff milk. Do you know what I did wrong? I mean I am sure they taste great.
Both loaves sank when i took them. Out of
Oven! I followed exact ingredients can you help
Me figure how what I did wrong?
made this cake just as described, the loaves hardly rose at all? not nearly near the top of the pan as shown.
I made this, and both loaves rose around the edges of the pan more than the middle….am I doing something wrong? Too cold of ingredients maybe? They are not gift-giving pretty.
If using a bundt cake pan, does oven temp need to be adjusted? Also, how long to bake in bundt pan? Thanks.
Yes, you might need to bake the cake longer Mary. I would check after 50 minutes or so with a toothpick, then 10 minute increments after that 🙂
Thank you! Bundt pan worked great at 50 minutes. Cake was a big hit!
The cake is good but I would take the time to make the pound cake. The mix does not come out at all like a pound cake.
I plan on making this in a few days, but I would like to know if you drizzle the icing on the cakes while they’re cooling, or if you wait until they’re completely cooled. Thanks!
Wait until they’re completely cooled.
I made these in glass loaf pans. They looked golden so I took them out of the oven, I came back five minutes later and they were totally flat! I know I didn’t under bake them because the bottom of the loafs were very dark. What happened? 🙁 Should I have used metal pans?
Kirsten, I’ve never baked this in a glass pan so I would recommend the metal pans. So sorry it flattened. 🙁
I have made these several times and have not figured out how to keep them from collapsing. Baking longer hasn’t made a difference for me. They still taste great, but they collapse every time.
I’d love to know if others have been able to bake without them collapsing once cooled.
My daughter is going to be so happy that you posted this. She loves Starbucks’ baked goodies. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Hi, I wanted to see if the size of the pudding was a typo? At my grocery I found 3.4 and 4.8 but not 4.3. Im planning on making this this week. Thanks!!
Hi Erin, it should be 3.4 ounces. Thanks for checking. I’ll edit the recipe.
Not quite Starbuck’s recipe. Keep trying though.
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Made this last night and it turned out great. I used an orange cake mix (Duncan Hines, newer smaller size), a 3.4oz box of lemon pudding mix, 2T OJ instead of 6T lemon juice, and 1 scant cup plain yogurt instead of sour cream. Yogurt tends to be thinner and make for a more delicate crumb (read: cake more likely to fall apart) than sour cream, which is why I cut the citrus juice down to a third. Used 2x 9×5″ metal nonstick loaf pans. Done in 45 minutes on the nose; they rose a little to much and sagged slightly to the sides in the middle (but did not overtop the loaf pans). Texture otherwise great; moist throughout, flavor is great. Glaze has juice of 1 lemon and 1-2 tsp OJ in it.
Thank you for sharing!!
Love the lemon pound cake at Starbucks!! So glad I found this recipe. I made it tonight and it was delicious. The only thing is while it was cooling in the pans for 15 minutes, they sunk in the middle. What could have caused that? Thank you!!!
Hi Shari, that means they weren’t cooked long enough. I did that one time and realized that I needed to bake them longer. The next time I baked them I let them bake 10 or so minutes longer and there was no sinking.
Made this recipe twice now. Each time the loaves sink in after removing from the oven. If I bake it any longer, it’ll burn on top. What am I doing incorrectly?
I think mine were on their way to doing that, but didn’t. Sounds like the leavening is getting too much action, rising too fast. How long are you beating your ingredients? Since this is from a mix, I think that’s really the primary ingredient variable, beyond the fat content of the milk and the size of the eggs (and their temperature). Instant or cook&serve pudding mix (not sure what difference that would make, but trying to ID variables; I always use instant in cake mix recipes)? And, do you use an oven thermometer? What are your pans made out of?
how did you make frosting or what kind is it?
Dee, the frosting is in the instructions above. You make it with powdered sugar and lemon juice. Hope you enjoy. 🙂
Ok, I just have to put it out there. You’re a genius! I have tried so many Lemon Cakes that claimed to be a replica of the Starbucks cake, but none of them were anything that even closely resembled the cake at Starbucks. At first I was really thrown off by the idea of using a mix, but after so many failed attempts I did not care)))
It is soooo goood and tastes just like the one at Starbucks! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Could I add poppy seeds and if so, how much?
My brother recommended I might like this web site. He was totally right.
This post truly made my day. You cann’t imagine just how much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!
Made this yesterday for Fathers Day and I honestly have to say that this cake has to be one of the best cakes I’ve ever made. My brother especially couldn’t stop eating it!!! Between 7 people the cake was gone in a matter of minutes. I made it in a bundt pan, baked it for almost 1 hour and it was absolutely moist, lemony and delicious! Will definitely be making this again. Thanks so much.
Wow, thanks for the feedback Susana, we really enjoy it too 🙂
Hi Jenny,
I made this loaf one other time and I was so disappointed to see that the entire cake fell after coming out of the oven! 🙁 It looked absolutely gorgeous when I took it out too! I’m not sure where I went wrong. I stuck to the directions exactly as you wrote them. The only thing I used differently were the pans. I decided that since I was going to use them for desserts at other homes, I would use the tin throw away pans instead of the ‘real’ ones that I usually would use. Do you think that could be the problem of my cake destruction? lol 😉 Anywho, I’m going to give it another try again with the ‘real’ loaf pans and see if there is a difference. Wish me luck! 🙂
Lisa, if your cakes fell in the center, they need to be baked longer. Ovens are so different, so bake times may vary. Try baking at least 10-15 minutes longer. Check with a cake tester to make sure it comes out clean from the center. The tops will be very golden brown, but I assure you the centers are soft and perfect. Hope this helps!!
I have been making a recipe like this (Recipe #110604, Food.com) for a long time. The only difference in the two recipes is this one calls for 1/2 c. milk, while the other one doesn’t. I have never had an issue with the cake falling. Perhaps some of the readers would like to try that one.
My cakes fell flat. What did I do wrong. Does the bread pan make a difference. I used glass.
Mine did too Sarah! 🙁 I used the throw away tin ones and it did the same thing! I had to throw them out.
At least I’m not the only one this happened to!
Lisa
What size load pan did you use to bake these yummy liking lemon cakes? Can’t wait to try them.
I am wondering — why did you use a yellow cake mix — and not a lemon cake mix?
Anxious to try this. . . . .but wondering if the lemon cake mix would be more lemony.
Thx– I want to bake this tomorrow– and mail it to my Mom for Mothers Day!
Blessings! J J Daniels
I think the lemon cake mix would work just fine too 🙂
I just made this….both of the cakes fell….
What did I do wrong? They were beautiful until they hit the air.
This sounds so delicious and looks great, however, I have made it twice and both times it fell. It tastes good, but looks pitiful. Would not serve guest. I have read all the reviews and followed the instructions to the tee. I just don’t understand. I have never had this happen before. I wonder if I should add some baking soda. Cooked 45 minutes. It has the texture of a bread pudding. Please help.
Did you add the water?
Hi, my family will not eat food coloring, so would it taste the same with regular white cake mix, or is yellow cake mix different?
thanks,
Hi Ariah, sorry we missed your question. Go ahead and give it a try. It may taste similar. I’m sure it will be good.
I made this cake and it is delicious, however, it did fall. It looked great when it came out of the oven, but fell as it cooled. It’s heavy. Please tell me what I did wrong.
Hi Rosalyn, this happened to me once and it was because it needed to be baked longer. Give it another try and bake it longer, you’ll find that it doesn’t sink in the middle 🙂
My daughter found this recipe and asked me to make it. I made it twice, once in a bunt pan and once in the 2 loaf pans but each time it fell when it came out of the oven. Any idea what I did wrong?
Thank you – love iced lemon loaf.
I made this recipe with my 4, 2, and 1 year old and it turned out wonderfully.