Key Lime Pound Cake is the recipe that Lucia makes every spring and every summer gathering when she wants to create the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely refreshing citrus loaf cake that delivers the most vibrantly tart and the most deeply fragrant key lime character in the most beautifully moist and the most properly tender individual slice through the most brilliantly simple combination of the most generously measured fresh key lime juice — that simultaneously tenderizes the crumb through the most essential acidic reaction with the leavening and flavors every bite with the most bright and the most distinctly aromatic key lime character — and the most perfectly creamed.
Room-temperature butter and sugar for the most beautifully aerated and the most tender-crumbed individual loaf texture. The most gorgeous drizzled powdered sugar and fresh key lime juice glaze applied over the most completely cooled loaf creates the most beautifully glossy and the most naturally tart finishing layer that makes every individual slice the most completely extraordinary key lime dessert. She creams the most perfectly softened butter, adds eggs and key lime juice, combines dry ingredients, bakes until golden, and drizzles the most gorgeous glaze.
Key Lime Pound Cake is the most easy and deeply tangy moist butter loaf made by creaming softened butter and sugar adding eggs one at a time then key lime juice and vanilla gradually adding flour baking powder and salt pouring into greased loaf pan baking at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes and drizzling with powdered sugar and key lime juice glaze. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful cake recipes and easy citrus favorites from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Key Lime Pound Cake Recipe
This Key Lime Pound Cake recipe is the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely refreshing citrus loaf that delivers the most vibrantly tart and the most deeply fragrant key lime character throughout every individual slice from the most elegantly simple combination of ingredients that most home bakers already have on hand alongside the most easily sourced key lime juice.
The most essential and the most completely irreplaceable technique for the most gorgeously light and the most properly aerated pound cake texture is creaming the room-temperature softened butter and granulated sugar for the full recommended time until the most genuinely light and the most beautifully pale and fluffy mixture forms before any other ingredient is added. This most critical step incorporates the most essential air into the fat that creates the most properly light and the most tenderly crumbed individual pound cake rather than a dense and heavy result. Our Strawberry Lemonade Cake makes a beautifully equally citrus-bright and equally beautifully glazed companion for a complete and wonderful citrus loaf collection.
Ingredients Needed for This Key Lime Pound Cake Recipe
For the Key Lime Pound Cake:
- 1½ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1½ tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ cup Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 large Eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup Fresh Key Lime Juice
- 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- Fresh Key Lime Zest (optional but recommended)
For the Key Lime Glaze:
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- 2 to 3 tbsp Fresh Key Lime Juice
How to Make This Key Lime Pound Cake Recipe
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and grease a loaf pan most thoroughly.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl, beat the room-temperature softened butter and granulated sugar together until the most light and the most beautifully fluffy mixture forms — approximately 3 to 5 minutes of dedicated beating produces the most properly aerated and the most pale individual result, cara mia.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing most thoroughly after each addition for the most properly emulsified and the most uniformly incorporated batter. Stir in the key lime juice, vanilla extract, and optional lime zest.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture until just combined — do not overmix once the flour is incorporated.
Pour the batter most evenly into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the edges begin to pull away from the pan.
Allow the cake to cool most completely in the pan before removing. For the glaze, mix the powdered sugar with the fresh key lime juice until the most smooth and the most drizzle-able consistency forms. Drizzle over the most completely cooled cake.
How to Serve This Key Lime Pound Cake Recipe
Serve at room temperature after the key lime glaze has the most beautifully set and the most properly glossy finish on top of each individual slice for the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely refreshing citrus loaf experience. Slice into the most generous individual portions and arrange on a white serving platter with fresh lime slices alongside for the most completely beautiful and the most naturally vibrant presentation.
Pair alongside a cup of iced tea or lemonade for the most completely refreshing and the most genuinely summer-afternoon dessert pairing. Our Lemon Blueberry Cake makes a beautifully equally citrus-moist and equally glaze-finished companion for a complete and wonderful citrus loaf collection.
How to Store This Key Lime Pound Cake Recipe
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Refrigerate wrapped tightly in plastic wrap for up to one week — the flavor actually develops the most beautifully after overnight refrigerator resting. Freeze wrapped in plastic wrap then aluminum foil for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator then bring to room temperature before slicing and serving.
Tips to Make This Key Lime Pound Cake Recipe
Use fresh key limes rather than bottled key lime juice for the most vibrantly authentic and the most deeply aromatic individual flavor. Fresh key limes are smaller and the most intensely fragrant than regular Persian limes and require approximately 4 to 6 individual limes to yield the required half cup of juice. The bottled version lacks the most fresh aromatic oils that make key lime so distinctively extraordinary.
Bring both the butter and eggs fully to room temperature before beginning — approximately 30 minutes on the counter in most kitchen temperatures. Room-temperature butter creams to the most properly aerated and the most beautifully pale result instantly. Cold butter never fully aerates regardless of mixing time, producing a dense and the most improperly textured loaf.
Helpful Notes for This Key Lime Pound Cake Recipe
The loaf is the most properly done when a toothpick inserted in the very center comes out completely clean and the edges have visibly begun to pull away from the pan sides. The center of a pound cake takes the most time to bake through — a toothpick tested at the edge but not the center produces the most false-done reading that results in an underbaked center.
This pound cake actually tastes the most extraordinary one day after baking when the most complete flavor development has occurred throughout every crumb. Making it the day before serving is the most strongly recommended approach for the most deeply developed and the most vibrantly key-lime-flavored individual slice.
Variation of This Key Lime Pound Cake Recipe
Maria made a version adding half a cup of sweetened shredded coconut to the batter for the most completely extraordinary and the most tropically vibrant key lime coconut pound cake that pairs the most classically beloved tropical flavor combination. Teresa tried substituting half the key lime juice with fresh lemon juice for the most completely extraordinary and the most vibrant citrus combination loaf.
For a blueberry key lime version, fold one cup of fresh blueberries tossed in one tablespoon of flour through the batter before pouring into the loaf pan for the most completely extraordinary and the most beautifully colorful blueberry key lime pound cake. Our Lemon Blueberry Cake makes a beautifully equally blueberry-citrus and equally glazed-loaf companion for a complete and wonderful citrus cake collection.
FAQs About This Key Lime Pound Cake Recipe
Can I use regular lime juice instead of key lime juice?
Regular Persian lime juice substitutes directly in the same quantity and produces an equally bright and equally citrus-tart individual pound cake with a slightly less intensely aromatic and the most slightly less distinctive lime character than authentic key lime juice. The flavor will be genuinely delicious and the most properly tart — key lime juice produces the most classically authentic Florida Key Lime flavor.
Can I make this ahead of time?
Yes, and it is the most strongly recommended approach. The pound cake tastes the most extraordinarily developed and the most deeply flavored one full day after baking when the key lime flavor has the most completely permeated every crumb. Bake the day before, cool completely, wrap in plastic, and glaze on the day of serving for the most properly fresh and the most beautifully glossy glaze finish.
Why did my pound cake crack on top?
A crack down the center top of a pound cake is the most completely normal and the most expected result — it is not a sign of an improperly baked cake. The crack forms as steam escapes through the most tender center of the developing crust during the most rapid initial rise phase of baking. The most beautifully cracked top is a hallmark of the most properly baked and the most authentically homemade individual pound cake.
Conclusion
This Key Lime Pound Cake is the most completely extraordinary and the most deeply refreshing tangy citrus loaf that makes every spring and summer gathering feel genuinely and completely special through the most vibrantly fresh key lime juice and zest and the most beautifully moist buttery crumb and the most gorgeous glossy key lime glaze in every single tenderly sliced and completely irresistible key lime pound cake. We hope it brings the same deeply joyful citrus loaf brightness and the same completely satisfied table to your kitchen that it has always brought to ours. Make it, share it, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa.
Key Lime Pound Cake The Most Easy Moist Tangy Butter Fresh Key Lime Juice Zest Glaze Loaf You Will Bake
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 slices 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The most extraordinary moist tangy Key Lime Pound Cake made by preheating oven to 350°F greasing loaf pan whisking 1 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt setting aside beating 1/2 cup room temperature softened butter and 1 cup sugar 3 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy adding 2 room temperature eggs one at a time mixing thoroughly after each stirring in 1/2 cup fresh key lime juice 1 tsp vanilla and optional zest gradually adding dry ingredients just until combined pouring into loaf pan smoothing top and baking 50 to 60 minutes until toothpick clean and edges pulling away cooling completely in pan then mixing 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 to 3 tbsp key lime juice to smooth drizzle-able glaze drizzling over cooled cake. A completely perfect fresh key lime pound cake loaf recipe.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter softened to room temperature
1 cup Granulated Sugar
2 large Eggs room temperature
1/2 cup Fresh Key Lime Juice
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Fresh Key Lime Zest optional but recommended
1 cup Powdered Sugar for glaze
2 to 3 tbsp Fresh Key Lime Juice for glaze
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F 175°C. Grease loaf pan.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat room temperature butter and sugar 3 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs one at a time. Mix thoroughly after each.
5. Stir in key lime juice, vanilla, and optional zest.
6. Gradually add dry ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix.
7. Pour into loaf pan. Smooth top.
8. Bake 50 to 60 minutes until toothpick clean and edges pulling away.
9. Cool completely in pan.
10. Mix powdered sugar and key lime juice to smooth drizzle-able glaze.
11. Drizzle glaze over completely cooled cake.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cake, Loaf, Citrus
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 28g
- Sodium: 180mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 35g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 75mg
Keywords: key lime pound cake, easy moist tangy key lime pound cake recipe fresh key lime juice zest butter, best key lime loaf cake glaze, simple fresh key lime pound cake loaf
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