This Gluten Free Lemon Pound Cake, drizzled with a tart lemony glaze, is the perfect dessert, afternoon snack, or little “something special” for the lunch kit.
I am an absolute sucker for anything lemon. It is my second favourite flavour for desserts, with the #1 spot in my heart being held by chocolate, of course. I mean, how can you resist this Amazing Gluten Free Chocolate Cake?
But lemon is great for anytime you want a dessert that has a lighter, cleaner flavour, and this time of year, it also pairs really well with fresh fruit.
This gluten free Lemon Pound Cake was the best lemon-anything I’ve had in a while (well, since the gluten free baked lemon doughnuts at least), but it was so good, and unlike a lot of gluten free baking, actually got better each day after baking it.
The first day it was good, but letting it sit on the counter – the second, third, and fourth day, it was even better. So moist, and lemony, purely delightful.
I’m sure that this recipe could be adapted as well, to create more delicious pound cake recipes. So – what other flavour of pound cake would you like to see? Let me know in the comments below!
If you like this gluten free Lemon Pound Cake, here’s more luscious lemon desserts you’ll enjoy:
- Gluten Free Lemon White Chocolate Cheesecakes
- Gluten Free Lemon Poke Cake
- Gluten Free Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
- Gluten Free Lemonies
Gluten Free Lemon Pound Cake recipe:
Gluten Free Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
This Gluten Free Lemon Pound Cake, drizzled with a tart lemony glaze, is the perfect dessert, afternoon snack, or little “something special” for the lunch kit.
Ingredients
Lemon Pound Cake
- 3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons white rice flour
- 1/4 cup PLUS 1 Tablespoon potato starch
- 1/4 cup dry instant lemon pudding mix (OR an additional tablespoon of each sweet rice flour and potato starch)
- 1/4 cup sweet rice (glutinous) flour
- 3 Tablespoons tapioca starch
- 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest (zest of one large lemon)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners' (icing) sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice (enough to make a thick glaze)
Instructions
Lemon Pound Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper, so that the paper comes up both sides (making it easier to remove the loaf after baking). I used a 9"x4" Pullman Panwithout the lid.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the rice flour, potato starch, dry lemon pudding mix, sweet rice flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. The colour should be a very pale yellow. This takes about 5 minutes.
- With the mixer running on low, add the eggs, one at a time, being sure the egg is completely blended with the sugar before adding the next. Scrape down the bowl between additions to make sure everything is getting fully incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
- With the mixer on low, add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture.
- Once that is incorporated, add the milk, lemon juice, and zest to the batter.
- Finish by adding the remaining flour mixture. Mix just until all ingredients are fully combined.
- Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top with the back of a spoon.
- Bake in preheated oven for 60-65 minute, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. If the loaf seems to be browning too quickly, lightly cover with a sheet of foil. Allow loaf to sit in baking pan for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Cool completely before pouring a glaze over the top.
- Keep loaf wrapped in plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.
Glaze:
- Mix confectioner's (icing) sugar and lemon juice together, using enough lemon juice so that the glaze is a little thicker than you would like.
- Heat the glaze up in the microwave for about 10 seconds, and stir. This will make the glaze pourable, but it sets up quickly, and makes a nice thick glaze. I use this trick when glazing doughnuts too.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled pound cake.
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Images updated June 2018
Darlene Backer says
For the dry lemon pudding mix, did you use the instant or cooked variety?
Jeanine says
Good question, Darlene, I’ll add that to the recipe. I used instant pudding mix.
Barbie Molnar says
Is it ok to use almond or rice milk instead of cow’s milk? I cannot wait to try this recipe! Thank you!
Jeanine says
Yes, I think any dairy-free milk should work just fine as well.
Trish says
What brand of pudding mix do you use that’s gluten free?
Jeanine says
Jell-o brand instant lemon pudding mix. Kraft labels all allergens very clearly, and if anything would be derived from wheat, rye, barley, or oats, it is clearly labelled (I’m in Canada).
Betty says
Ahh Jeanine..lemon..I’m a softie for that one.. Mmm, I like that this loaf uses a fair bit of lemon. I need to stock up on lemons soon!
Jeanine says
Ah, I knew you’d love this one, Betty! 🙂 I just bought another bag of lemons..hmm…what to make now…
Stephanie says
Is there anything that can be used in place of sweet rice flour? If not, where do you find it ??
Jeanine says
I’m not sure what you could substitute for the sweet rice flour. Sweet rice flour, also called “Glutinous Rice Flour” can be found with other gluten-free flours, or in asian markets. It is made by grinding a sticky rice into a flour, so it is more starchy than regular rice flour.
Stephanie says
Thanks for the information… I will have to stop by one of the asian markets and see if I can find some. Your recipe looks amazing.
Jeanine says
Thanks, Stephanie! You can find sweet rice and white rice flour at asian markets (or even in the asian section of your grocery store) for MUCH cheaper than anywhere else.
J L says
Could you use superfine brown rice flour instead of white rice flour?
Jeanine says
You could try, I didn’t because I wanted to make sure that the yellow colour came through nicely. If you attempt it, please let me know how it worked!
Claire says
Looks wonderful, is this the picture of the one you made? I love looking at all your recipes, I just have to decide what to make haha!
Jeanine says
Yes, this is the one I made. 🙂 Deciding what to make is the hard part!
Claire says
Jeanine, your recipes are amazing !! I just made this lemon pound cake, and oh my simply delicious!!! I have also made your cinnamon rolls, monster cookies, and pizza crust all a success!! We live in Norway House, Manitoba , I have been on the gluten free diet(celiac actually ) for about 2 years now , but I love baking, you have given me the joy of baking back!! Thank you , thank you, thank you!!!
Jeanine says
My pleasure, Claire! Thanks for letting me know that you’re enjoying the recipes, it’s what fuels me to keep going! 🙂
Szasza says
this looks simply amazing! I do have a question though, am I able to substitute the starches for anything else?
Thank you for sharing!
Jeanine says
I’m not sure, Szasza, I’ve only made it as written, but if you experiment with it, please let us know how it works!
Linda says
Hey! This pound cake was great! Just made it and am sampling it now. I live in the country and the stores nearest me did not carry potato starch or tapioca starch (even went to the local Health Food Store) but I wanted to try this recipe with what I had on hand as pound cake is one of my feel-good favorites. Forgot to even look for the Rice Flour, so just used my xo Baking Co. GF All Purpose Flour Blend. Substituted cup for cup, and used this flour substitution for the tapioca starch too. For the potato starch I just used corn starch. The pound cake is superb! Thanks for the recipe.
Jeanine Friesen says
Glad to hear that, Linda! Thanks for letting us know that you were able to make those substitutions successfully! 🙂
Christi King says
Just wanted to say ‘thanks’ for this recipe! I made a double batch tonight in anticipation of Easter weekend visitors. It is delicious, and my gluten-loving husband can’t get enough. I also tried your cutout sugar cookie recipe at Christmas and it was a huge hit! Thanks!!
Jeanine says
🙂 Thanks for the comment, Christi! I LOVE when gluten-eaters can’t keep their hands off of our gluten-free baked goods. 🙂
Louanne says
Do you think I could substitute Better Batter? Looks like it would be 1 3/4 cup + 2T…
Jeanine says
You could try, Louanne, it might work. I’ve never played around with all purpose flours. If you try it, please let me know how it worked!
Lois Keffer says
Everyone loved this at Easter dinner! Thank you, Jeanine!
Jeanine says
Yeah!! Glad to hear that, Lois! thanks for sharing!
Susan says
looks amazing! I have a question regarding using a gluten free flour blend which is what I have been using(I am new to the gluten free world and trying to navigate the jungle of gluten free baking,lol). Would I still use the potato starch in addition to the flour blend or would I add an extra 5 tbsp. of the flour blend in place of the potato starch. Thank you. Can’t wait to try it.
Jeanine says
Hi Susan, I haven’t tried this recipe using any all purpose blends, but if you were wanting to try to sub it, I would sub 1 1/2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons of all purpose blend for the white rice, sweet rice, potato and tapioca starches. Also, check to see if your all purpose already has xanthan gum or not. If it does, you can eliminate that as well. Let me know how it works for you – as written it’s amazing, but I haven’t tried any other way.
Susan says
thank you! I do not have any sweet rice or white rice flour so wanted to try it with my all purpose mix. I live in a very rural area and the closest store that has anything worthwhile driving for gluten related is at least 60 miles away so have kind of tried to make do as I can. Gluten free baking is so very different from regular baking…but, I keep plugging along,lol. Your recipes look amazing and can’t wait to get started on trying some of them
Jeanine Friesen says
Susan, did your all purpose flour blend work? I know what it’s like to live rural too – it’s not easy when you need multiple ingredients just to bake. 🙂
Jennifer says
This recipe was incredible. I love it. It got rave reviews from guests I had over this weekend – even though I didn’t use the glaze. I’ve also tried it with the glaze in a previous attempt and that was amazing, too. I used coconut milk and coconut oil in place of the milk and butter since one of my guests was allergic to dairy and it worked very, very well.
Jeanine Friesen says
Great tips on making it dairy-free, Jennifer! Thanks so much for sharing what worked for you, I appreciate it!
Peggy Dennison says
I made the lemon gf pound cake this morning.
It looked beautiful when it first came out of the over.
I had tested it to make sure that it was done, and the tester came out clean.
As soon as it was starting to cool, it fell.
When I cut a piece after cooling, it was doughy.
The flavor was good, but that was about all I could say about the cake.
I was so disappointed.
Jeanine Friesen says
I’m sorry to hear that, Peggy! A few questions that might help me figure out what went wrong – Did you make any substitutions? Do you have an oven thermometer? What kind of bakeware did you use (silicone, glass, non-stick metal, etc)?
It really is a great cake, sorry it didn’t work well for you though.
Peggy Dennison says
I didn’t make any substitutions and I used a metal loaf pan.
I do not have a oven thermometer.
The cake really smelled good and had a good pound cake flavor.
Jeanine Friesen says
Very odd – I wish I had an answer for you, Peggy. There are so many factors in gluten-free baking, it’s hard to pin-point exactly what it could be. Sometimes, it’s as simple as 5 more minutes of baking.
Bonnie Springer says
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I made this Friday evening for a dinner party last night. It was a huge hit with the guests who declared it the best pound cake they had ever eaten period. Most were shocked to find out that it was gluten free. I’m definitely going to make it again. I think a slice would make a great base for strawberry shortcake (perhaps skipping the glaze if used for shortcake). I’m also going to try different citrus flavors like orange or lime.
Jeanine Friesen says
Ah, Bonnie, sounds like you’re onto something! Different citrus flavours (or even a combination of them) would be fantastic! I love when people who don’t eat gluten-free don’t have a clue that they are. 🙂
Alice Theofan says
Hi Jeanine,
I made this lemon pound cake yesterday. It looked as if it was going to be a success until half way through the baking time and then……it sunk! Right down the middle. I don’t understand what I did wrong. I was going to toss it because it didn’t look very nice but My husband saved it and LOVED it! LOL! It is very lemony and doesn’t seem GF at all. I will make it again and see if I can keep it from sinking. THanks again for another wonderful recipe.
Claudia says
I made this cake in a flower cake pan today. It was amazing. Texture and taste are heavenly. We are a GF/DF family and I used rice milk and margarine, they worked great. I also forgot to buy xantham gum and substituted psyllium husk for it.
Jill says
I don’t know why I waited so long to make this! It was superb. No icing for me as it was sweet and delish on its own! Thank you, thank you again!
Martha says
So Good! I used GF corn starch and robin-hood pre mixed gluten free flour. I also added a few drops of lemon oil to up the lemon kick. I cut back on the sugar 3/4cups of palm sugar instead of 1cup white sugar. I didn’t have any pudding mix so I used lemon pie filling powder. IT WAS AWESOME! It has a lovely texture, hard to tell it’s gluten free.
Dorothy Galea says
Hi Jeanine……. I made the lemon pound cake for my friend and she is still in awe of how good it is. She also asked me to give her your website to look for more wonderful recipes. Thank you. I have one question…..can I change one cup of all purpose flour to a one cup of your gluten free flour mix. so that I can bake some of my own recipes?
Thank you,
Dorothy
Maggie says
I live in the UK. This is an amazing site! My little grandson loves lemon cake and he has just been diagnosed as being gluten intolerant. I wld love to make this cake, but am not sure about converting cups to grammes. There are several conversion sites on internet and they have different amounts!!! I don’t suppose you are able to give me the recipe in grammes ….nor lbs and ounces please?
Thank you in anticipation!!! ( if you can of course !)
Maggie
Jeanine says
Hi Maggie! I don’t have the weights for this one, I usually weigh while I’m baking now, makes things much easier (and more accurate). 😉 BUT – this lemon cake has the flour weights included: http://www.faithfullyglutenfree.com/2015/02/gluten-free-lemon-poke-cake.html
Janice says
I’m not a fan of xanthan gum. I find it gives an odd mouthfeel to cakes. What can I use as a substitute? Would ground chia or ground flax work? I noticed somebody above mentioned psyllium husks. I’ve never tried that…
Jeanine says
Hi Janice!
I have never tried using psyllium or chia on their own as a xanthan replacer.
Francine Singer says
Have you ever tried this cake with fruit? I was looking for a pound cake recipe that I could use when making trifles.My inside pan measures 12 inches long X 3.25inches wide is a little longer than your pullman pan. Do you think I double the recipe to fit my pan?
Jeanine Friesen says
Hmm… good question. That is a really long pan. I think a double recipe should work well. I’ve never tried adding fruit to it though, sorry.