italian pound cake
My Nonna (grandmother), Nonno (grandfather), and my mom love anything lemon. They brought over the start of lemon trees from Italy and we grew lemons while growing up. We still do to this day, so we always had it on hand. This was Nonna's go-to cake when making sweets. If you don't care for lemon - leave out the lemon extract, lemon zest, and lemon glaze. Increase the vanilla extract to 4 teaspoons or use 2 teaspoons of another extract like almond.
Blue Ribbon Recipe
We love a lemon cake recipe, and this refreshing, moist lemon cake is delicious! Packed with lemon flavor, this lemon cake recipe isn't overly sweet which we loved. This would be great for a brunch, after a special occasion, or maybe even a special treat with a cup of morning coffee. So good! We did have to add another tablespoon of lemon juice to the glaze for drizzling consistency.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened at room temperature
- 2 sticks butter, softened at room temperature (1 cup)
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 3 cups white sugar
- 6 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon lemon extract
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk, at room temperature (you may not use it all)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- LEMON GLAZE
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
How To Make italian pound cake
-
Step 1Do not preheat the oven. Butter and flour a 10" Bundt pan; set aside. -
Step 2Sift together the flours, salt, and baking powder; then set aside.
-
Step 3Using a mixer, cream together the butter, shortening, sugar, and cream cheese until light & fluffy. *If using a stand mixer - let this beat together for awhile while you are preparing the next steps.
-
Step 4Add extracts and mix to combine. Begin to whisk in eggs - 2 at a time making sure they fully incorporate before adding the next set of eggs.
-
Step 5Whisk in the flour mixture alternating with the milk. You may only need 1/4 cup of milk. Look at the consistency while mixing flour and milk. It should be thick but smooth. Always begin with the flour and end with the flour. Mix just until incorporated - over-mixing at this point will make for a tough cake.
-
Step 6Stir in lemon zest. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Put the pan in the oven. Set the temperature to 350 degrees. Bake cake between 1 and 1.5 hours or until the cake tester comes out clean. Begin watching the cake after 45 minutes - if the top begins to over brown, tent with foil for the remaining baking time. Begin to test the cake at the 50-minute mark. Depending on your oven (gas/electric) the cake will cook faster/slower. You don't want to overcook this cake or it will be very dry and crumbly.
-
Step 7Allow cake to cool in pan for 15-30 minutes. Then remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
-
Step 8Once cool, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice together. Drizzle over the top of the cake.
-
Step 9Notes: *You can cook this in any pan you like - doesn't have to be a Bundt pan - you can use 2 loaf pans too. *You can use all butter in place of shortening if you like. *If you do not have cake flour you can use all, all-purpose flour instead. *When testing your cake if a few crumbs stick to your toothpick/tester it's good to go -- just as long as there is no raw batter stuck to it.
- Last Step: Don't forget to share! Post a picture of your finished recipe here and on your favorite social network. Don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes!
