Lemon Corn Buttermilk Pound Cake | The Best Summer Pound Cake

A Love Affair with Pound Cake

I love pound cake. I mean, really love it. I have a whole category dedicated to pound cakes on the blog, and I like to come up with new flavors almost every time I make it. My two most recent pound cake updates are my whipping cream pound cake and brown sugar cinnamon pound cake.

A few years ago, I toyed with the idea of writing a cookbook all about pound cake, and while I have since decided I don’t think I have a cookbook in me right now, I have quite a few recipes I developed for the book that will find their way to the blog at some point.

This lemon corn buttermilk pound cake is one of these cakes. And it’s pretty magical, friends. Don’t take my word for it, though. Indulge me by reading some of my recipe testers’ comments after testing this recipe:

Social Proof: This Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake Is Fantastic!

The cake is still divine – even on day 2. The lemon flavor is more pronounced while the corniness has mellowed. I’m bringing the rest of the cake with me to the office tomorrow because I can’t be trusted.

Susan B

I love this cake. A humble cornbread has now become a glamourous pound cake. Everyone who ate it could not believe the ingredients in it. And even after 5 days, the cake was very moist and the flavours deepened. This is definitely a favorite of mine.

Sita K.

So…this insane cake haunts me…Making it for the fourth time tonight…

Larry N.

How Do You Make Pound Cake?

Pound cakes were originally made with a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. An easy, no-nonsense formula you could scale up or down.

The 1:1:1:1 ratio yields a cake with

• a tight crumb
• a mild sweetness
• a tendency toward dryness after a day or two.

Modern variations on the pound cake tend to increase the sugar and decrease the eggs. For example, my basic pound cake recipe calls for 3/4 pound butter, 1.25 pounds of sugar, 1/2 pound of eggs, and just over 3/4 pounds of flour.

Other pound cake components that weren’t included in the original formula:

• liquid, usually in the form of some sort of dairy
• some baking powder and/or baking soda to keep the crumb from being very dense
• salt and flavorings. Originally, the cake probably called for salted butter, but these days, most bakers use unsalted and then add in controlled amounts of salt.

How To Make Pound Cake Moist

If you’ve ever had dry, crumbly pound cake, you will want to know the secret to moist pound cake. Even traditional pound cake can be made more moist if you wrap it up as soon as you take it out of the pan.

If you let your cake sit out to cool to room temperature, a fair amount of moisture evaporates during that process, and pound cake needs as much liquid as it can get.

Wrapping it in plastic wrap and refrigerating it until it reaches room temperature ensures that the vast majority of the liquid stays in the cake where it belongs.

Pro Kitchen Tip: Use the wrapping trick for any cake you bake. You’ll be able to tell the difference!

Before we get to the buttermilk pound cake recipe, please take a peek at all the other dessert entries for today. So much goodness, you guys.

Make This Cake Using The Creaming Method

Performing the mixing method to make a pound cake is pretty critical. I use a modified creaming method where I beat the eggs together and drizzle them in very slowly.

Most recipes will have you add one whole egg at a time, but the more slowly you add your eggs, the more stable your batter will be. Please watch the video located in the recipe card if you’d like to see this In Action.

In the video, I make 2 cakes at once using two mixers, so you’ll get to see the creaming method, times two.

Summer Dessert Week Recipes for July 12, 2018

Ice Cream Recipes:

• Mermaid Magic Shell (Mermaid Popsicles) from Big Bear’s Wife
• S’mores Popsicles from My Sweet Zepol
• No Churn Frozen Hot Chocolate Ice Cream from 4 Sons ‘R’ Us
• Cherry Vanilla Ice Pops from The Domestic Kitchen

Pies of Summer:

• Strawberry Lemonade Pie from Daily Dish Recipes

No-Bake Treats:

• Raspberry Rosé Parfaits from Me and My Pink Mixer
• Peaches and Cream Ice Box Cake from A Southern Soul

Baked Desserts:

• Cinnamon Twists from Eat Move Make
• Mixed Berry Crisp from The Bitter Side of Sweet
• Lemon Cornmeal Poundcake from Pastry Chef Online (you’re here!)
• Strawberry Lemonade Bars from Sweet ReciPEAs

Serving suggestion: Try playing up the lemon aspect of this wonderful cake by serving it with an easy no churn lemon ice cream. You can also play up the corniness by serving it with corn ice cream. Which is incredibly delicious, by the way!

If you have questions about this post or recipe, don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can leave a comment on the post and I will get back to you within about 24 hours.

If your question is more urgent, please shoot me an email, and I will respond within 4 hours, unless I’m asleep.

A Note About Measurements

NOTE: Most of my recipes are written by weight and not volume, even the liquids.

Even though I try to provide you with volume measurements as well, I encourage you to buy a kitchen scale for ease of measuring, accuracy, and consistency.

This is the scale I use, love, and recommend. If you’re unsure, please read my post about how to use a food scale.