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This cold oven pound cake starts cold and bakes tall, with a golden crust that cracks just right. The crumb? Dense, buttery, and melt-in-your-mouth tender. Bright lemon flavor cuts through the richness with juice, zest, and a hit of lemon juice powder.
Want something even richer? Check out our cream cheese pound cake. It’s another no-fuss classic with a slightly different texture.
Here’s Why This Pound Cake Recipe Works
Cold oven magic: Starting in a cold oven gives the batter time to slowly rise, creating that signature crackly crust and tender crumb.
Triple lemon punch: Lemon juice powder, fresh juice, and zest layer in bright, tangy depth that cuts through all the buttery richness.
Soft, rich crumb: A high fat-to-flour ratio and room-temp eggs guarantee a dense, velvety slice every time.
No fancy tools: Just a Bundt pan and a hand or stand mixer. That’s it.
Recipe Tips
Room temp everything: Butter, eggs, and milk should be at room temperature for smooth mixing and proper emulsification.
Don’t overmix: Once you add the flour, mix just until it’s combined. Overmixing can toughen the cake.
Grease every crevice: Bundt pans love to trap cake in their details. Grease and flour well or use a baking spray with flour.
No peeking: Resist opening the oven early. You’ll lose crucial heat and risk a sunken center.
Cold start matters: Skip the quick preheat button. You need a true cold oven for this method to work.
Weigh your ingredients: Especially the flour. Too much can throw off the texture, use a scale if you have one.
Test for doneness: A long skewer or cake tester should come out with a few moist crumbs, no wet batter. The top should spring back lightly when pressed.
Want to go all in? Top it with homemade strawberry sauce and fresh whipped cream for a lemony twist on pound cake strawberry shortcake.
Cold Oven, Hot Questions
It gives the batter time to slowly rise, which helps develop a taller cake, a crackly golden crust, and a soft, even crumb. It’s not just a quirk, it’s the secret to that classic texture.
Nope. It adds an extra layer of tart lemon flavor you can’t get from juice and zest alone. But if you don’t have it, you can still make the cake. Just know the lemon flavor will be less intense.
Starts with a Cold Oven
This lemon pound cake skips the preheat and comes out better for it. The slow rise builds that crackly crust and plush, buttery crumb you can’t fake with a hot start. With bright lemon layered three ways, it’s bold, balanced, and doesn’t need a drizzle to prove its point.
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Cold Oven Pound Cake
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Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 420 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice powder
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups butter, , room temperature; 170 grams
- 3 cups granulated sugar, 600 grams
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 2½ tablespoons lemon zest, from 2 lemons
Instructions
- Grease and flour a 12-inch Bundt pan making sure to get into all the crevices of the pan.
- In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon juice powder. Set aside
- Place the butter in a mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy, 2-3 minutes.
- Reduce the speed to low and add the sugar, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
- Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each addition. Stop the motor several times to scrape the bottom and sides with a spatula.
- Combine the milk, vanilla, and lemon juice in a pitcher.
- With the motor on medium-low, add a third of the flour mixture to the mixing bowl. Add half of the milk mixture and continue alternating with the flour and milk mixture. Mix only until combined and no flour streaks show. Do not overmix.
- Remove the bowl from the machine and stir in the lemon zest by hand, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl well.
- Tip the batter into the prepared bundt pan, smoothing out the top.
- Place the pan in the center of a COLD oven and set the temperature to 325°. Bake for 65-70 minutes until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven, set on a cooling rack, and let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Invert the cake and lift off the pan and allow to cool on the rack completely.
Notes
- Skip the flour-and-grease routine: Use a non-stick baking spray with flour instead. You’ll find it in the baking aisle. Look for brands like Baker’s Joy or Pam for Baking.
- Lemon juice powder tip: For extra flavor, use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice powder per cup of flour. It adds a bright punch that complements the cake’s richness.
- Serving suggestions: Try it with whipped cream, a dusting of confectioners’ sugar, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a spoonful of lemon curd.
- Avoid quick preheat: If your oven has a rapid preheat function, don’t use it. This cake needs a true cold start.
- Using a gas oven? They tend to heat faster than electric ovens, so your results may vary slightly. Start checking for doneness a few minutes earlier.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
Sadly I do not have loaf pan. Do you think this would work in a loaf tin? Perhaps the recipe should be cut in half at that point as well? I really want to try this!
This recipe will make enough batter for 2 8 x 4-inch loaf pans plus 2 cupcakes. We haven’t baked this cake in a loaf pan but I imagine it should work fine.
How do i get the recipe
There is a printable recipe card right above. You scrolled past it. Just bump up a tad and you will see it.
Interesting that you start this in a cold oven! A bit unusual. But this cake looks more than a bit good — really nice. Thanks!
Thanks, John…..I would never have believed that this cake would be so good, I just had to give it a try! Thanks for your comments!
I like to bake quick bread and cakes in cold oven too. Your pound cake looks excellent, Pat.
Thank you, Angie….this was my first time to bake a cake in an oven that I had hot preheated.