Key Lime Pound Cake
Key Lime Pound Cake infuses moist, dense, sweet pound cake with zippy lime flavor and tops it all with a rich, sweet lime icing glaze.
Pound cake is good, but it’s great when you add lime to it! We love this recipe because it has all the dense, delicious goodness of pound cake, and that tangy, zippy infusion of lime takes it right over the top.
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It uses simple baking ingredients you’ll find easily at your grocery store.
- It’s sweet, moist, and dense like all good pound cakes are.
- The lime adds a zingy kick to the sweetness of the pound cake.
🛒Ingredients
The following are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
You’ll only need some simple baking ingredients to make this recipe. Anything you don’t have is easily found at your local grocery store. The major players are below, but you’ll find the complete list of ingredients in the recipe card at the end of the post.
- Lime zest
- Lim juice
- Unsalted butter
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Key lime extract
- Sour cream
- Buttermilk
- Powdered sugar
🔪 How to Make Key Lime Pound Cake
Pound cake recipes are easy to make, and this one is no different. You’ll be in and out of the kitchen in no time.
Step 1: Prep
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease a bundt pan. Set aside.
Step 2: Combine the Dry Ingredients
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and lime zest together in a large bowl.
Step 3: Combine the Wet Ingredients
Cream the butter and sugar until just combined. Then, add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each one. Finally, mix in the vanilla and lime extract.
Step 4: Make the Batter
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing until just combined.
Step 5: Bake
Carefully pour or spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan and shake gently to level the batter and remove the air bubbles. Then, bake for 75 to 80 minutes.
Step 6: Cool
Remove the bundt pan from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. When the pan is cool, remove the cake and allow it to cool completely in a cooling rack.
Step 7: Make the Glaze
Mix the powdered sugar and lime juice until it becomes a thick mixture. Then, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and thin with lime juice until you get a pourable but thick icing.
Step 8: Glaze the Cake
After the cake is completely cooled, pour the glaze over the top of the cake. Enjoy!
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Orange – You can make an orange version by using orange juice, extract, and zest.
- Pan – You can use a 13×9 inch pan in place of a bundt pan. Just be sure not to over fill it and adjust baking time of course depending on your oven.
If you think this key lime bundt cake looks good, then you’ll want to try this lemon lime bundt cake.
🥄 Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Bundt pan
- Hand or stand mixer
- Cooling rack
🥫 Storage
Store this cake in a covered container for up to 4 days at room temperature. For longer storage, wrap the pound cake in a double layer of plastic wrap then foil and freeze it for up to 3 months in an air-tight, freezer-safe container.
💭 Tips
- When measuring the flour, gently spoon it out and level it with the flat of a knife. This prevents adding too much flour.
- Bring your eggs to room temperature for better texture.
- Use your eggs as soon as they’re at room temperature. Don’t let them remain at room temperature for too long, as eggs left at room temperature for hours can be a health hazard.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Room temperature eggs mix into the batter better and make a more tender cake.
Bundt pans are tricky. Every nook and cranny of the interior of the bundt pan has to be greased or the cake will stick.
Key limes are smaller and more mellow than standard limes. This mellowness is why key lime is so popular in baked goods.
🍽 More Recipes
Do you enjoy bundt cakes? Then try these delicious recipes:
📌 PIN IT!!
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Key Lime Pound Cake
Equipment
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Bundt pan
- Hand or Stand Mixer
- cooling rack
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour scooped and leveled
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- Zest of one lime
- 1 ½ cup 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 6 eggs brought to room temp (egg safety in baking basics)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lime extract
- ¼ cup lime juice
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup buttermilk
Key Lime Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325
- In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients: flour, Baking powder, salt, and zest set aside.
- In a separate bowl cream together butter and sugar until just combined with a hand or stand mixer.
- Add the eggs one at a time mixing after each.
- Add in vanilla and key lime extracts
- Gradually add the dry ingredients and stop mixing once incorporated.
- Carefully pour or spoon batter into greased Bundt pan and shake gently to level and remove air bubbles
- Bake for 75-80 mins.
- Remove from oven and place in cooling rack while still in Bundt pan.
- When pan is cool remove the cake and allow to continue to cool on cooling rack Glaze:
- Start by mixing powdered sugar and lime juice. Stir until well incorporated. This will be a thick non pourable mixture.
- Add in tsp of vanilla or lime extract.
- Add in water or milk 1 tsp at a time until the glaze loosens to a pourable but thick icing. (1-2 tsp should do it)
- Pour glaze over top once it’s completely cooled.
