Easy Lemon Pound Cake

Every bite of this Lemon Pound Cake is bursting with lemony goodness! Lemon pudding mix is the secret weapon to this extra moist cake. Topped with lemon glaze it’s the ultimate dessert for any lemon lover.

Lemon season never ends in our kitchen. You can usually find us busy baking up our favorite lemon recipes like Lemonade Pie, Lemon Burst Cake Mix Cookies, or Lemon Blueberry Muffins just to name a few. My family has made this Lemon Bundt Cake for decades and it has always remained at the top of our favorite desserts list.

Easy Lemon Pound Cake

If you love all things lemon then you have to add this lemon pound cake to your list this spring and summer. Nothing brightens a day better than a perfectly moist cake bursting with citrusy notes and drizzled with a homemade lemon glaze. 

I’m pretty sure this lusciously light and delicious cake was one of the first desserts I made while growing up. It’s that easy! I think we originally found the recipe on the box of cake mix.  It was a tradition for many years to bring this to every get-together.

This is not a pudding filled cake, and it’s not quite as dense as a usual cream cheese pound cake. The pudding mix is added to the cake mix to give a light burst of lemon flavor and extra moistness to the cake.  For years I made our lemon pound cake in a 9×13 cake pan, but when you want to impress,  it looks really pretty in a bunt pan.

You get all the flavor and appearance of an expensive, professional made bakery cake without having to pay the bakery prices. From the moment you take your first bite, it’s sure to become your new favorite dessert!

Why Is It Called A Pound Cake? 

A traditional pound cake calls for exactly a pound of flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. While this recipe for an easy lemon pound cake does not use those exact measurements, it still remains consistent with the same consistency and flavor of your traditional pound cake. 

How To Make The Perfect Lemon Pound Cake

(full printable recipe at the end of this post)

This lemon pound cake is easy enough to throw together that even the most inexperienced baker could throw the recipe together with ease. Just grab your cake mix, and a handful of other ingredients, and follow along with these simple steps. 

First, you will prepare your oven, and grease your bundt pan and set aside. To begin prepping the batter, place the pudding mix, cake mix, eggs, water, and oil in a large mixing bowl and beat until combined, scraping down the sides halfway through.

Once the lemon pound cake batter is ready, pour it into the prepared pan, and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

How to remove a cake from a bundt pan: Set the cake on a cooling rack and carefully run a table knife around the edges and center tube of the pan, to loosen the cake from the pan. Cool the cake in the pan for no longer than ten minutes. Invert the warm cake onto the cooling rack to cool completely.

Once the cake has cooled, prepare your pound cake glaze and drizzle over the top of the cooled cake, letting it drip down the sides. 

Why Add Pudding To Cake Mix?

If you’re newer to the baking scene, you might be scratching your head at the thought of putting a dry pudding mix into the lemon pound cake recipe. While it might seem strange at first, just trust me on this one, it’s a little baking secret you’ll want to know about. 

Adding pudding to a cake mix turns your “shortcut” cake recipe into a super soft and moist cake that would rival that of any lemon bundt cake you would find at your local bakery.  

This is the perfect hack for those times when you don’t want to spend the time or energy baking from scratch, but still want to knock the socks off of anyone who takes a bite. 

Other Ways To Make This Lemon Pound Cake

I love making this recipe into a perfect lemon pound cake, but that’s not the only way you can bake up the cake. If you don’t have a bundt pan, or simply just want to switch things up a bit, try making a sheet cake or cupcakes instead! 

Lemon Pudding Sheet Cake:

Pour batter in a greased 9 x 13-inch cake pan and bake at 350° degrees for 30-35 minutes. Once cool, drizzle with glaze. Let the glaze harden before serving.

Lemon Cupcakes:

Line a muffin pan with 24 cupcake liners. Fill each 2/3 full with cake batter and bake at 350° degrees for 15 minutes. Once cooled completely dip the tops of the cupcakes in the lemon glaze. Garnish with lemon zest.

How To Serve And Store A Bundt Cake

Serve cake room temperature or chilled.  I prefer this cake cold, so I store it in the refrigerator. To store in the refrigerator cover the cake with plastic wrap or a cake saver, or cut into individual slices and place each in an airtight container. The lemon pound cake will last about 4-5 days in the refrigerator. 

If kept at room temperature, the cake will last about 3-4 days when covered in plastic wrap or a cake saver. 

How To Freeze Lemon Pound Cake

The cake keeps well for days on the counter or in the fridge, and it freezes well, too.

The lemon cake can be frozen without the glaze for up to 3 months. Once it’s completely cooled, double-wrap it securely with plastic freezer wrap, and place it in a heavy-duty freezer bag and store in the freezer.  Thaw the cake overnight on the counter.  Drizzle with glaze and serve.

Try More Easy Spring Dessert Recipes! 

Cranberry Orange Cake – Bursting with fresh tart cranberries, sweet oranges, and topped with sparkling cranberries. Making this sponge cake a welcome addition to any party or special occasion!

Carrot Cake Gooey Butter Cake – We are giving the traditional Gooey Butter Cake a spring twist with all the flavors of our favorite carrot cake! It’s a spice cake chock-full of real carrots with cream cheese and pecan gooey filling to put it over the top! 

Pineapple Banana Hummingbird Cake – A classic Southern recipe made with pineapples, bananas, and pecans. It’s easy as can be when you use a few shortcuts and a loaf pan. The cream cheese frosting is literally the icing on the cake.

Raspberry Filled Cupcakes – The perfect combo of vanilla and raspberry. Tender vanilla cupcakes are filled with a fresh raspberry filling, then topped with silky smooth vanilla buttercream.

Cake Batter Puppy Chow Snack Mix –  A doggone good crispy chocolate-covered snack mix with the flavor of cake batter built-in! Also known as Muddy Buddies but everyone will call them addictingly delicious! 

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Tools Used To Make This Easy Lemon Pound Cake

Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer:

I honestly don’t know where I would be without my stand mixer! It’s truly a lifesaver for anyone who does a decent amount of baking or cooking. With that being said, if you aren’t ready to commit to a stand mixer purchase, a good hand mixer works just as well too!

Bundt Pan:

If you want to get the perfect bundt cake every time, then you have to have this bundt pan! I’ve made dozens of cakes with this nonstick pan and never have a problem getting each one to come out clean. 

Cooling Racks: 

Every good baker needs a good set of cooling racks, and I can’t say enough great things about this set. These oversized cooling racks are the perfect size to accommodate almost any dessert you need to let cool. 

Originally posted in April 2009 as Lemon Pudding Cake. UPDATED May 2020. We spiffed up this post with more info and better pictures! No changes to the original recipe.