gluten free lemon pound cake with white icing and 3 slices

5 from 135 votes

Prep Time : 20

Cook Time : 50

This gluten free lemon pound cake is rich and dense, with tons of bright lemon flavor from plenty of freshly squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest. Add a thick layer of the simple lemon glaze, and it tastes like it came right from the coffee house case!

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This gluten free iced lemon pound cake is a moist and tender, sweet pound cake is just like those thick slices in the glass coffee shop case.

Baked, iced and sliced gluten free lemon pound cake, closeup image

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What makes this gluten free lemon pound cake recipe special

A simple loaf cake made in the traditional style, this pound cake gets its lift from eggs and eggs alone. No baking powder and no baking soda.

In the past, I've made this recipe with True Lemon crystals, which are truly delicious, but they can also be hard to find for some. This time, the bright lemon flavor comes exclusively from lemons themselves, both the juice and the zest.

I even added some lemon zest to the glaze, which is by far the sweetest part of the pound cake—especially since I reduced the sugar from 1 1/2 cups to 1 cup. The lemon flavor in this pound cake is intense.

What really sets this pound cake apart is the combination of butter and cream cheese in the batter. A traditional pound cake, delicious in its own right, has only butter, sugar, eggs and flour. In fact, it's so-named for beginning with one pound of each ingredient.

Raw gluten free lemon pound cake batter in mixing bowl.

Do I need a stand mixer to make this gf lemon pound cake recipe?

No, you don't need a stand mixer. If you have one, it makes quick work of creaming together the butter and cream cheese, and then the granulated sugar.

If you don't have a stand mixer, you can use a hand mixer with the regular beater attachments. Use a large bowl, larger than you really need, so the ingredients don't escape during beating.

If you don't have a hand mixer, use elbow grease. You'll need to cream together the butter and cream cheese until it's light and fluffy. This is a dense recipe (like a true pound cake, unlike a gluten free lemon cake, which has a much more airy crumb, is meant to be), but you do need some air in the batter.

Try using a very large whisk, turn the bowl on its side, and lean against the counter heavily. Holding the bowl with your nondominant hand, whisk vigorously until the ingredients begin to get lighter in color. Proceed with the recipe.

Gluten Free Iced Lemon Pound Cake. Just like Starbucks makes, but gluten free for you!

Does Starbucks have gluten free desserts?

Generally, no. And it's a shame because, although their coffee ☕️ just tastes burnt to me, their pastries, cookies and cakes are simply spot-on.

When you're gluten free, you can't have their best treats, and that's just not right. Between their petite vanilla scones, asiago bagels, chocolate cinnamon pound cake, and vanilla almond biscotti, we're really missing out.

Over the years, they have introduced a few gluten free treats, only to pull them right off the menu. If I'm being generous, I'll admit that they probably just didn't sell well enough. But still.

Now all they seem to have are little egg bites. It's just a heartbreak when the other kids are getting a scone or bagel, and your gluten free kid is getting … an egg bite. At least there's something?

Slices of lemon pound cake on a rectangular serving platter.

Gluten free lemon pound cake: Ingredients and substitutions

I'm going to discuss some other allergens in this recipe, but I want to say up front that the news isn't good. Here are the details.

Can you make this into a gluten free dairy free lemon pound cake?

You can replace the butter in pound cake with vegan butter (I love Miyoko's Kitchen and Melt brands). But I just don't know how you can effectively replace cream cheese with a nondairy alternative.

I have never tasted a nondairy cream cheese that has tasted anything like cream cheese. Some people love Kite Hill brand. So far, I am not one of those people.

Can you make this into a gluten free egg free lemon pound cake?

Since there is no baking powder or baking soda in this recipe, all the rise comes from eggs. In fact, there are 4 whole eggs in this recipe.

I do not suggest trying to make this recipe with any sort of egg replacer. There are just too many eggs, and they're too important.

I will continue to work on a recipe for vegan gluten free pound cake and vegan gluten free cheesecake. I will work until I can work no more—or I develop a great recipe.

About the cornstarch in this gf lemon pound cake, and how to replace it

If you are using a higher starch blend, like Cup4Cup, just replace all the cornstarch in the recipe with more Cup4Cup.

If you can't have corn, you can easily replace the cornstarch in this recipe with arrowroot or potato starch.

Gluten free iced lemon pound cake recipe, step by step

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Gluten Free Lemon Pound Cake Recipe

Course: Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 50

Yield: 10 slices

Author: Nicole Hunn

Ingredients

For the pound cake

1 ¼ cups (175 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used Better Batter; please click through for details)
¾ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
¼ cup (36 g) cornstarch (or try arrowroot or potato starch)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
12 tablespoons (168 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
4 (200 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs at room temperature, beaten
2 tablespoons (1 fluid ounce) freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the glaze

1 ½ cups (173 g) 173 g confectioner’s sugar
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon (½ fluid ounce) freshly squeezed lemon juice plus more as necessary

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Grease a loaf pan that is no more than 9-inches by 5-inches, and set it aside.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, xanthan gum, cornstarch, salt and about 3/4 of the lemon zest, and whisk to combine well, working to break up any clumps of lemon zest. Set the bowl aside.

Make the pound cake batter.

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer), place the butter and cream cheese and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
Add the granulated sugar and mix to combine. Add the eggs and lemon juice, mixing well after each addition until the mixture is smooth.
Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, beating well to combine after each addition. The batter will be smooth and thick, but relatively light.
Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan, and smooth the top with a wet spatula.

Bake the pound cake.

Place the loaf pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake until a tester inserted in the center of the pound cake comes out clean (about 50 minutes).
If the loaf begins to brown too much, cover it tightly with a piece of aluminum foil.
Remove the pound cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the glaze & assemble the cake.

Once the pound cake is nearly cool, make the glaze. In a small bowl, place the confectioner’s sugar, salt, and the remaining lemon zest, and whisk to combine and to break up any lumps in the confectioner’s sugar or the lemon zest.
Add the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon at a time, and mix well. Continue to add lemon juice by the teaspoon, stirring in between additions, until the glaze is thickly pourable.
Pour the glaze over the cooled pound cake, and allow to set at room temperature.
Slice and serve.

Notes

Recipe originally published in March 2013. More text and resources added in 2020.