Buttermilk Lemon Pound Cake

I just read that baking bread has become very popular during the quarantine. While I have not been baking any bread, I did make a cake. Michael loves pound cakes and I found this one in "The Fannie Farmer Baking Book". My mother made one very similar to this. The original recipe doesn't call for the glaze but we think it is much better with it! We like it with strawberries and cream.


Buttermilk Lemon Pound Cake
(adapted from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book by Marion Cunningham, Alfred Knopf, 1992)

4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks butter (16 TBS.)
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. lemon extract 
1 TBS. grated lemon zest
1 cup buttermilk

Glaze (optional):
1 cup confectioners sugar
3-4 TBS. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan or two 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 inch loaf pans.

If the eggs are not already at room temperature, place them in a bowl of warm water for several minutes.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Beat the butter until it is smooth and creamy. Slowly add the sugar, beating until well blended.

Add the eggs all at once and beat until light and fluffy.

Add half of the flour mixture and beat until well blended.

Stir the lemon extract and lemon rind into the buttermilk. Add half of the buttermilk mixture to the batter.

Add the remaining flour and buttermilk mixtures and beat until the batter is smooth and well blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 - 1 1/4 hour if using the Bundt pan. If using loaf pans, baking for 40-45 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Cool completely. 

If you desire, add a lemon glaze. Combine 1 cup of confectioners sugar and add several tablespoons of lemon juice until you reach the desired consistency. Drizzle over the cooled cake.


Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy