Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake

Shortly after thanksgiving, P and I were sitting in Life Group at church on Sunday morning and a food sign-up came around for our Christmas get-together. I thought about all the eggs and butter sitting in our fridge leftover from the holiday. I knew they were going to go to waste if I didn't find an ingenious way to cook or bake with them. Pound cake seemed like the perfect solution to this struggle. I had never made a pound cake before and I was a bit intimidated at the thought of it not turning out and us showing up to the gathering empty handed.

I searched on pinterest for a good long while, looking for a recipe that seemed both manageable but also delicious. I'm not sure if anyone else does this, but I also look at the times something has been repinned before I decide to try it. I am ten times more likely to try a recipe with 94.5k repins over one that has 12. I also check the comments section on the blog post of the recipe for tweaks others have made or to see if the recipe was a flop for a large number of people. 

When I found the Lemon Sour Cream recipe, I hoped I had found a winner. The recipe didn't call for any milk, was going to use most of the butter and eggs we had left over, and the lactose-dairy elements were ones that I had easy switches for that I knew would hold up in baking. 

I made this cake with a hand mixer and I have to say I might not again before we decide to purchase a stand mixer. This cake was a workout, but so incredibly worth it. Sift your dry ingredients in a regular mixing bowl and start with your butter and sugar in your stand mixer if using one. Everything will be added to your bowl that you cream your butter and sugar in, so make sure it is a good size if not using a stand mixer. 

My biggest advice with this cake is to butter and flour the heck out of your pan! I was using a detailed bundt pan which was hard to get into all the different lines. But don't give up on it and leave it to chance. This is the most important step! When my cake came out, It slipped right out of the pan, and I think I started jumping around the kitchen with joy! There were some spots that had a bit of flour built up. I took a (clean) vegetable scrubbing brush and lightly brushed the flour spots off. 

It is up to you on how thick or thin you make the consistency of your glaze. For me, I kept it thick in order to be decorative and make thick drizzle lines around the cake. I also put paper towels under the cake's circumference to catch the puddles of glaze. I pulled them away after the glaze solidified, and this kept my cake plate looking clean around the outside. You also could wait to transfer to your cake plate until after you glaze. I used a spoon to drizzle the glaze, but pouring from a bowl with a spout would also work well! 

I cannot begin to tell you how amazing this cake tastes! It is moist, melts in your mouth, the lemon is evident without being overpowering, I could go on and on. It got rave reviews from our Life Group and I may or may not have had a piece for breakfast every day until it was gone :) 

So here is the recipe I used to make the cake Dairy (lactose) Free. Let me know if you give it a try!

Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 (3.4 ounces) package of lemon instant pudding

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1 and 1/2 cups of dairy free butter at room temperature

2 and 3/4 cups of sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

6 large eggs

8 ounces of dairy free sour cream

2 tablespoons of lemon extract

Glaze:

1 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons of lemon juice

1 Tablespoon of dairy free butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour pan. (Makes a 10 inch cake)

2. Sift flour, lemon pudding mix, salt, and baking soda. Set aside

3. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar and vanilla. Continue beating for 2-3 minutes. Should be pale yellow in color (but may differ depending on the color of your butter)

4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the bowl in between each egg.

5. Reduce speed of the mixer and begin adding dry ingredients, alternating with the sour cream. Add about 1/2 - 3/4 of a cup of dry ingredients at a time and a few ounces of sour cream in between. (doesn't need to be too exact, but don't overdo it, but don't overmix by adding too little at a time). Mix until combined.

6. Stir in lemon zest by hand

7. Pour into buttered and floured pan. Place into preheated oven with a piece of aluminum foil over top to prevent over-browning. 

8. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. A toothpick pushed into the center of the cake should be clean (no batter) when pulled back out. 

9. Place the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes before removing from pan. Let cool completely before glazing. 

10. To make the glaze, in a bowl, combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and melted butter. If too thin, add more powdered sugar. If too thick, add more lemon juice or water (a tiny amount at a time). Drizzle over the cake when cooled.