Old Fashioned Mini Lemon Pound Cakes

Growing up my mom made two kinds of cake – sour cream cake and lemon pound cake. She made the sour cream cake from scratch. The lemon pound cake was Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme and I thought it was the best cake in the whole world. It was her go to cake for holidays, birthdays, and any other special occasion. I didn’t taste a good “scratch” lemon pound cake until I was an adult and it blew Duncan Hines away. Once in a while, I still pull out a box of Duncan Hines but now that I have this recipe, those occasions will be few and far between. This recipe was adapted from a pound cake recipe I learned at Viking Cooking School. When done correctly, it’s rich and buttery with a soft tender crumb and it’s much more work than a box mix. The combination of lemon extract and lemon zest give it a bright lemony flavor.

Old Fashioned Mini Lemon Pound Cakes

Ingredients

  • 3 Lg Eggs
  • 3 Lg Egg Yolks
  • 2 Tsps Lemon Extract
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla
  • 1 1/2 C Cake Flour
  • 1/2 Tsp Salt
  • 2 Sticks Unsalted Butter
  • 1 1/3 C Granulated Sugar
  • 2 Tsps Lemon Zest

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (167 degress C). Spray four 2 cup loaf pans with cooking spray.
  2.  Mix eggs. egg yolks, vanilla and lemon extract in small bowl. Set aside.
  3. Combine flour and salt in medium bowl. Whisk flour and salt together. Set aside.
  4. Place butter in large mixing bowl. Beat on medium high speed speed with electric mixer for 20 seconds. Add sugar and beat until mixture is light and fluffy and not wet.
  5.  Turn mixer down to medium speed and start adding flour and egg mixtures. Alternate between the egg mixture and the flour mixture. Make sure each addition is mixed in well before you add more. Be careful not to overmix or the cake will be dry. If adding in more than 2 additions, hand mix last additions. Fold in lemon zest. Batter will be thick.
  6. Scrape batter into pans dividing equally between the four.
  7. Bake until cakes are golden brown on top. 35 to 40 minutes. Check center of cakes at 35 minutes. If toothpick comes out clean, remove from oven.
  8. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Let cool for 5 minutes and unmold.

Variations

If using a bundt pan instead of a mini loaf pans, increase cooking time by 10 minutes.

 

18 Comments

  1. Lisa @ Sweet as Sugar Cookies
    March 13, 2011

    Those look so good. This looks like it would make great gifts for people. I have a sweet treat linky party going on at my blog and I’d like to invite you to stop by and link your cake up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/03/sweets-for-saturday-8.html

    Reply
    • jfoster
      March 14, 2011

      Lisa thanks so much for the invitation. I added my link.

      Reply
  2. Maggie @ Vittles and Bits
    March 14, 2011

    These are soooo pretty, and look delicious too!

    Reply
    • jfoster
      March 14, 2011

      Thanks. I looove lemon pound cake.

      Reply
  3. Katie @ This Chick Cooks
    March 14, 2011

    These look absolutely fabulous and perfect for spring. I bet the lemon flavor is so yummy and your presentation is just gorgeous. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

    Ps- I actually had to click on your about me because I know another j foster in nashville and had to wonder if it was her 🙂

    Reply
    • jfoster
      March 15, 2011

      Thanks Katie. I appreciate it.

      Reply
  4. Melinda
    March 15, 2011

    There’s something about spring that makes me crave lemon. I can’t wait to try this one!

    Reply
  5. Katie @ This Chick Cooks
    March 16, 2011

    It was my pleasure. I was going to come over and let you know that I was featuring them, but you beat me to it. Today has been too hectic 🙂

    Reply
  6. Christina @ This Woman Cooks!
    March 16, 2011

    So delicious. I love anything flavored with lemon.

    Reply
  7. Rhondi @ Big Mama's Home Kitchen
    March 18, 2011

    I love lemon cake. These remind me of the lemon yogurt cake I make from Ina Garten. I saved this recipe and can’t wait to try it! Do you think these would be just as moist baked in a mini 8 count loaf pan with the baking time shortened? Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • jfoster
      March 18, 2011

      I think that would work as long as you watch the baking time.

      Reply
  8. Heather @girlichef
    March 22, 2011

    Oh. Em. Gee. I can already tell that my bookmark file labeled “lemon” is going to be overflowing by the end of this week. These look and sound amazing…and totally bring me back to my childhood, too. My mom made poundcakes for every single birthday because they were all of our favorites…and occasionally a lemon cake or bars squeezed in. Now I want to try the two together, these are gorgeous. Thanks so much for bringing them to BSI:Lemons this week 🙂

    Reply
  9. Malia
    March 24, 2011

    Mmmm…sounds heavenly! Looking forward to trying this out very soon!

    Reply
    • jfoster
      March 24, 2011

      Thanks. There’s nothing like lemon pound cake.

      Reply
  10. lynne
    March 24, 2011

    Yum! I love lemon cake! Especially lemon pound cake!

    Reply
  11. Jerri
    March 24, 2011

    This looks so yummy! I love lemon pound cake! Thanks for linking up for Friday Favorites! I’m featuring you this week! Come by and grab my featured button if you’d like one.

    Reply
  12. Karen
    March 26, 2011

    Mmm, these look so good, and what a perfect little loaf for gift giving!

    Reply
  13. Caffettiera
    March 31, 2011

    Your pictures are so beautiful. I almost feel as if I could smell that cake.

    Reply

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