Lemon Pound Cake {With Cake Mix}

The best classic, old-fashioned, quick and easy lemon pound cake recipe with yellow cake mix. This lemon loaf cake is homemade with simple ingredients. Soft, moist, rich, firm and better than scratch!

This Moist Lemon Cake Recipe is one of my favorite Summer cakes. However, my doctored cake mix recipe is also very popular with family and friends and honestly, it’s so much easier to make than the scratch version. Try them both and see which one ends up being your favorite.

More lemon desserts

Summer just won’t be the same without lemon sweets and treats. Below, you will find recipes for some classics that you can easily make at home rather than buying from bakeries. Plus, you can modify them, based on your personal preference.

• Lemon Meringue Pie
• Lemon Cake Balls (Cake Truffles)
• Lemon Cupcakes (With Cream Cheese Frosting)
• Lemon Bundt Cake With Cake Mix
• Lemon Fudge (2 Ingredients)
• Easy Lemon Cookies
• Lemon Blueberry Muffins

How to make moist lemon pound cake?

1. Prepare cake batter by mixing together cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, oil, water, lemon zest and extract.
2. Spread batter in pan.
3. Bake and enjoy.

How to make lemon glaze for pound cake?

I didn’t add a glaze this time because I enjoy this cake without it but some family and friends drizzle a simple glaze after the cake has fully cooled down.

Mix together 2 cups powdered sugar with 3-4 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp lemon zest (optional) until smooth. To make a thick glaze, mix in more powdered sugar. To make a thinner glaze, mix in additional lemon juice or water.

A thick glaze on top would make it very similar to the Starbucks version.

Iced lemon pound cake

When it comes to icing this cake, the classic choice would obviously be a lemon glaze but you can also ice this cake with Homemade Whipped Cream or American Buttercream Frosting or Cream Cheese Frosting.

Toss some fresh fruits and fresh flowers on top, to make it look beautiful for parties and picnics.

You can also slice the cake in half and fill it with Lemon Curd to really take that zesty flavor over the top!

Variations

• Lemon blueberry pound cake– You can stir in some fresh blueberries in the cake batter and also top off the baked cake with whipped cream and more blueberries.
• Lemon sour cream pound cake– Make this Sour Cream Pound Cake but also add some lemon zest, juice and extract.
• Lemon buttermilk pound cake– Make this Buttermilk Pound Cake but also add some lemon zest, juice and extract.
• Lemon cream cheese pound cake– Make this Cream Cheese Pound Cake but also add some lemon zest, juice and extract.
• Lemon poppy seed pound cake– Mix in 2 tbsp of poppy seeds in the cake batter.

Tips and Techniques

• What flavor of cake mix to use? Yellow cake mix or butter cake mix or golden cake mix or even white cake mix all work well. I really recommend using a lemon cake mix to truly enhance the lemon flavor even further.
• Water should be warm– It should not be boiling hot. I just use warm tap water.
• Don’t over-mix cake batter– Because this will yield a tough cake and it can also cause the cake to collapse/sink during baking. Mix until all ingredients are just combined.
• How to cut perfect cake slices? Chill the baked cake for 5-6 hours and then, use a sharp knife to cut smooth slices without crumbs.
• Don’t use sugar-free ingredients– Because it adds an odd after-taste. This is especially with regards to pudding mix and cake mix.
• Brand of cake mixes– I have used these brands of cake mixes successfully: Pillsbury, Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker.
• Use full fat ingredients- Such as full-fat sour cream and full-fat pudding mix because that makes the cake rich and moist. No fat-free or low-fat ingredients!
• Oil vs. Butter– Although I like to use butter in my baking, I prefer using oil in this recipe because butter makes it very dense.

More Doctored Cake Mix Recipes

• Blueberry Dump Cake (Blueberry Cobbler Dump Cake)
• Peach Dump Cake (Peach Cobbler Dump Cake)
• Cinnamon Roll cake (With Cake Mix)
• Guinness Beer Cake With Cake Mix
• Sock it To Me Cake With Cake Mix
• Louisiana Crunch Cake With Cake Mix
• Snowball Cake (Cheesecake Stuffed Chocolate Cake)
• Easy Black Forest Cake With Cake Mix
• Chocolate Molten Lava Cake (Crockpot)
• Easy Pumpkin Cake With Cake Mix
• Easy Apple Cake With Cake Mix
• Coconut Cranberry Cake With Cake Mix

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Lemon Pound Cake Recipe

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 50 mins

Total Time: 1 hr

Best classic, old-fashioned, quick, easy lemon pound cake recipe with yellow cake mix, homemade with simple ingredients. Soft, moist, better than scratch!

Yield: 10 Slices

Ingredients

• 1 box Yellow cake mix
• 1 box Instant lemon pudding mix, 3.4 oz. box
• 4 Eggs, Large
• 1 cup Oil
• 1/2 cup Water, Warm
• 1 cup Sour cream, Full fat
• 1 tbsp Lemon zest
• 1 tsp Lemon extract

Instructions 

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cake mix and pudding mix. Keep aside.
• In another mixing bowl, add eggs, oil, water, sour cream, lemon zest, lemon extract and mix until smooth.
• Dump the dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix until just combined. 
• Pour batter in a greased and floured loaf pan (Dimensions: 9×5). You can also use 2 smaller loaf pans or even a 10-12 cup bundt pan. 
• Spread batter evenly with a spatula. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean. Enjoy!

Notes

• Read all my tips above.
• Leftovers can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. 

Nutrition

Calories: 443kcal, Carbohydrates: 52g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 24g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 77mg, Sodium: 468mg, Potassium: 81mg, Sugar: 23g, Vitamin A: 240IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 144mg, Iron: 1.4mg

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Calories: 443

Author: Abeer

Until next time, tata my lovelies!