This gluten free lemon pound cake is tart, sweet and tipsy with the addition of both fresh-squeezed lemon juice and Italian Limoncello (or lemon juice).
Made with my gfJules Flour, it’s also smooth, light and airy with no grit or funny aftertaste — no one will ever know it’s gluten free!
If you don’t happen to have this delicious liqueur, no worries. Substituting with more lemon juice works just fine.
Either way, this pound cake is a crowd-pleaser you won’t want to miss out on!
Look how gorgeous this authentic pound cake crumb is!
And for another twist on this yummy gluten free cake, bake in a bundt pan as @shoegirlberlin has done below.
She followed the directions as written, and baked for approximately 70 minutes, but recommends that you check your pound cake (with a toothpick) to make sure it’s done before removing, as bundt pans differ in size and material and ovens can bake at different rates. (Thanks for sharing, @Shoegirlberlin!)
How gorgeous is this gluten free lemon pound cake baked as a bundt? YUM!
Using different bundt pans will give your pound cake a unique look; none less appealing than another.
It makes a gorgeous cake on a plate or sliced with a drizzle of glaze and a sprinkle of lemon zest.
Here’s another reader’s twist on this lemony slice of heaven:
And here’s a brand NEW twist on this lemon cake favorite: make this recipe, as written, but use my new 1:1 grain-free Nada Flour in place of gfJules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour and you’ll have a delightful cake made with paleo, grain-free, lectin-free flour instead!
All my taste-testers were blown away at how delicious this cake was, and no one was the wiser that it was even gluten-free, much less grain-free!
You can’t go wrong with this amazing gluten free Lemon Poundcake Recipe. What are you waiting for?
What will YOUR twist be?
Gluten Free Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
Gluten Free Lemon Pound Cake Recipe
This gluten free lemon pound cake recipe is perfectly tart, sweet and tipsy with the addition of both fresh-squeezed lemon juice and Italian Limoncello!
Ingredients
Pound Cake
- 3/4 cup + 1 Tbs. milk, dairy or non-dairy (soy, almond, cashew, hemp, rice, etc.)
- 1 Tbs. fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2 Tbs. Limoncello (or 2 Tbs. additional lemon juice)
- 2 1/2 cups (337 grams) gfJules® Gluten Free All Purpose Flour OR (275 grams) Nada Flour*
- 1 Tbs. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup butter or non-dairy alternative (e.g. Earth Balance® Buttery Sticks)
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 Tbs. lemon zest
- 3 eggs, room temperature (or substitute like aquafaba)
Glaze (optional)
- 1 cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
- 2 Tbs. lemon juice
- 1 Tbs. lemon zest
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°F (convection) or 350° F (static).
Oil and flour (with GF cornstarch or gfJules® Flour) one 9×5-inch loaf pan, pullman bread pan OR medium sized (10") bundt pan. Using an 8-9" bundt pan, extra batter will need to be baked in a small loaf pan as well.
Measure and mix together the milk, lemon juice and limoncello and set aside. The milk will begin to curdle while you prepare the rest of the batter.
Whisk together gfJules® Flour or Nada Flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl.
In a large mixing bowl, whip butter and sugar at medium-high speed for 6-8 minutes, until very light and fluffy. Add vanilla and lemon zest, then the eggs, one at a time, and mixing in between each egg addition.
Slowly stir in the whisked dry ingredients, alternating with the milk mixture and stirring until fully integrated.
Pour batter into prepared pan, filling only 2/3 full. If you have extra batter that will not fit into your pan, bake in another small loaf pan or ramekin.
The edges of the cake will become lightly browned as well.
The bake time will depend in part on whether your pan is dark metal, light metal, glass or stoneware, so begin testing at 50 minutes so as not to overcook the cake.
Bake until a toothpick in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs -- approximately 65-75 minutes for a large/deep pan. The edges of the cake will become lightly browned as well. If also baking a small loaf pan, bake only about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the loaf springs back to a light touch.
Remove baked cake to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Go around the inside of the pan with a butter knife to help release the cake, then gently turn the cake out onto your palm then back to the wire rack once removed from the pan. When completely cooled, glaze following the directions below.
Lemon Glaze
Notes
*1 cup Nada Flour weighs 110 grams, so 2 1/2 cups Nada Flour = 275 grams
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Great recipe! Would love to try folding in some fresh blueberries. Any recommendations as to amount and how it would turn out? Thanks!
Oh yum – I love that combo! I’d start with about 3/4 cup and see how that looks. Too many fresh blueberries could get heavy and wet, so start with less and work up, proportionately. I would also roll the berries in gfJules Flour first so that they will be less likely to sink in the batter. Let me know how it goes — or share a pic!!!
~jules
Has anyone tried freezing this lemon pound cake? Or do you have any suggestions for another dessert that might freeze well?
Hi Lisa, this gluten free lemon poundcake should freeze just find for you. Be sure to freeze it only once it’s totally cooled though, and squeeze all the air out of the freezer bag. ENJOY!
~jules
This recipe is amazing, thank you!!
Oh Sue, I’m so glad you love it!! And your gluten free lemon pound cake turned out so well — it’s beautiful!!!!
~jules
Oh Sue, I’m so glad you love the recipe!! And clearly, your gluten free lemon pound cake turned out beautifully!!!!!
~jules
I decided to use this recipe to use in a trifle. I split the batter into two 8” cake pans with cake strips because I didn’t want any browning. They came out perfect. Obviously I didn’t make the glaze. I cut it up into squares. The texture was spot on. The lemon flavor of the cake went perfectly with the strawberries and pastry cream. in the trifle. I need to bake this the normal way with the glaze because it is so good! Thanks Jules!
That is absolutely stunning, Tim! I need to get myself a new trifle pan just so I can try this gluten free lemon pound cake recipe YOUR way! Sadly, my trifle pan didn’t make the move last time and shattered in a million pieces. Hey, Mother’s Day is coming up …!
Thanks SO much for taking the time to share your beautiful photo and method!!!!
~jules
could I use oil if I don’t have butter?
Hi Rachael, in this recipe, some of the texture comes from whipping the butter and sugar together until light. That won’t be possible if you use oil instead. You can still make the cake with oil but expect that the cake will be more dense and not look as pictured.
~jules
Pucture of the zest and juicing ice cube tray.
I just zested and juiced 40 meyer lemons. I love the meyers…they are tart but not bitter. Their color is a cross between a lemon and an orange.
I put 1 Tbs of zest with 1 Tbs of juice in the ice tray…and 2 Tbs of juice by itself. Once they are frozen I pop them out and freeze them in a ziplock bag. They last throughout the year…until next seasons lemon harvest.
Whenever I have a recipe requiring lemon zest and juice, I just pull them out of the ziplock bag, defrost and ready to go.
This is such a smart idea, Tina! Thanks so much for sharing your tip and your picture! I’m definitely trying this!
~jules
Lemon zest and frozen juice
I love lemon in recipes.. I get several lemons from neighbors with meyer lemon trees. I zest, juice and freeze them in ice cube trays….once frozen…pop them out and put them in ziplock bags. They last throughout the year until the next lemon harvest..
I zest the lemons in a bowl and then juice them in a separate bowl.
Each cube has 1Tbs of zest (since most recipes call for the zest of 1 lemon which is 1Tbs. ) and then add a couple drops of juice to help them freeze together. I had these zest cubes with 2 Tbs but changing to 1Tbs to accommodate most recipes.
In a seperate ice cube tray I put 2Tbs (or however many you want to fill each cube) with juice. Once frozen the cubes are popped out and frozen in another ziplock bag.
Whenever I need lemon for a recipe I just pull one out before cooking/baking and either let it defrost on its own or put in the microwave for a few seconds to defrost.
It saves a lot of time and last several months. 🙂
This is such a great time saving tip, Tina! Thanks so much for sharing!!!! (Wish I lived closer and could share some of those Meyer lemons, too!!!)
~jules
I was so amazed at how well this turned out. Beautiful. Sorry I used another gluten free flour and all lemon juice but the result was remarkable. Thank you.
Hi Anne, I’m just glad you made the recipe and enjoyed success!!!
~jules
Hi Jules,
Thanks for a great GF pound cake recipe. I baked one this afternoon for our son’s birthday. He and his new wife liked it. It was a hit with the family. I used an extra tablespoon of fresh lemon juice because I did not have the liquor. Came out Perfect!
Oh Madhu, that is so fantastic!!! I’m thrilled that you found this recipe for gluten free lemon poundcake and that it was a hit not only with your son on his birthday but also with his new wife (very important demographic!). Thanks so much for letting me know!
~jules
Thanks again! I am going to bake my own GF bread from now on. Looking for your GF flour in Northern California.
We do sell to a few small stores around the country, but are primarily on-line selling direct to consumers, so hopefully that’s still convenient for you. We find most people appreciate that we can deliver right to their door. Happy baking, Medhu!
~jules
Hi Jules,
I’m so making this recipe, it looks amazing! I recently made bread with your gf sandwich bread mix. It is honestly the best gf bread I’ve tried, way better than any store bought!
I have RA and like to use Swerve granular and powered in my recipes instead of granulated or confectioner’s sugar, would the measurements be the same? Thanks for all your recipes!
Hi Denise, I’m so excited you loved my gluten free sandwich bread mix! That’s wonderful to hear and I’m thrilled to know you have great bread in your future! As for Swerve, you should be able to use it 1:1, according to their recommendations, at least. Give it a shot – it’s developed for baking, so it should work well. I’ve also had good success with Just Like Sugar as another sugar alternative in baking.
~jules
Hi, I’m wondering if anyone has tried adding raspberries to this cake and if it changes the baking time due to added moisture from the berries? I have a specific request from my gf daughter for a lemon-raspberry loaf. Thanks!
Hi Michelle, your daughter has a great idea there! I haven’t done that yet, but if I were to try it, I would roll the raspberries first in more gfJules Flour to absorb extra liquid and keep them from sticking or sinking. Resist the temptation to add a ton of berries so you don’t overload the loaf. It should be beautiful and tasty! Come back and let us know how it turned out!
~jules
Hi can I use olive oil instead of butter also can I use backing soda instead of baking powder my daughter is allergic to many things
Hi Denise, in this recipe the butter and sugar are creamed together to whip air into batter which help to give this batter structure for this cake. But using oil in place of butter, the texture and structure of the cake will be quite different. Also, replacing one tablespoon of baking powder with baking soda will not be an appropriate replacement. You may be able to make your own baking powder that your daughter could tolerate using the recipe I offer in this article (scroll towards the end). I wish I had an easier answer for you, but hopefully that will help!
~jules
Just made this loaf cake and it is delicious! I used the Bob’s Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour with the same amount of ingredients. (I didn’t use that much zest but maintain the amount of lemon juice) Thank you for the recipe and will search for more recipes. 😁
Absolutely delicious!! I personally have made this cake more than 1/2 dozen times and it turns out fantastic EACH time. I am from Canada and Julesflour is not available here unfortunately. I have reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup as I prefer my cake to be more tart.
Thank you for the recipe 😃
Hi Jeanine, I’m so happy to know you are loving my recipe for gluten free lemon pound cake! It’s a wonderful go-to recipe, for sure! I don’t wait for summer to make it, either. For some reason, lemon tastes even brighter to me in the winter months — brings the sunshine indoors or something. 🙂
You mentioned that my gfJules Flour isn’t available in Canada and I just wanted to let you know that it is! We have worked really hard to bring it into Canada and make it available for our Canadian friends who have been asking for it for years! It is available through Amazon.ca (linked for you here) and you can also link to it through our Shop page. All of my gfJules products are available from our shop page to ship internationally to Canada, but my flour is most affordable shipped through Amazon.ca. I hope that helps you enjoy the best gluten free products now! Happy baking!
~jules
I made this lemon pound cake today and it is really good. I cut the recipe in half and probably shouldn’t have!!! It will be gone by tomorrow! I poked holes in the top and poured the glaze over it. Delicious! Thanks again for another great recipe.
WONDERFUL to hear, Susan! So happy you loved the recipe and know you have another keeper!!!
~jules
I ordered the flour about 1 month ago, feeling defeated and discouraged because I’m sensitive to wheat. I didn’t know how to bake without white flour! I received my order and have since made the banana bread and lemon pound cake. My family loved both, and I was extremely happy! Both items were moist, flavorful, and not grainy like most gluten-free items I’ve had in the past. And no tummy aches! I really didn’t believe anything could turn out like so great without wheat flour! Thank you, GFJules!
Oh Holly, I’m so very happy to hear that you didn’t give up and you ordered my gfJules Flour! And of course, that you actually did give it a try and were so pleased with the results! It truly is so very different from other gluten free flours on the market. It’s hard to explain to folks that the gluten free flour they use makes such a difference, but it does!! I’m thrilled for you that you’re on your way to a happier gluten free life ahead, knowing that it doesn’t have to be be filled with grainy, unsatisfying foods or tummy aches. Onward to delicious baked goods and feeling good!!!
Happy baking, Holly!
~jules
Hello, can I use almond flower?
Hi Christa, it’s a great question and not a simple answer. I recommend that you take a look at my article on gluten free flours. Unlike gluten flour (regular all purpose flour), you can’t just substitute one flour for another in gluten free baking. Almond flour is a completely different flour than a gluten free blend like gfJules Flour blend and will absorb moisture differently, rise differently, weigh differently … the article will explain different gluten free flours and also how blends work. I hope it helps you understand substituting flours and how they work for this recipe and for others you will find on my site and around the internet.
~jules