Key Lime Pound Cake

Key limes deliver an incredible fragrance, offering a glimpse inside. Those tiny little spheres of citrus come packed with an intoxicating citrus note.

And though we most often think of key lime in pies and tarts, the essence of key limes bake up beautifully inside a tender pound cake.

There’s a delightful wisp of lime gently infused into this delicate pound cake. It’s our favorite pound cake, tweaked just a bit, then baked until golden and topped with a lightly sweet, slightly tart key lime glaze.

We start with our favorite pound cake, made rich with butter and a half-dozen eggs, tender and moist from sour cream. Flour sifted with a touch of kosher salt and a pinch of baking soda adds to a light texture. Lime is added in triplicate with fresh lime zest, lime juice and a touch of pure lime oil, all deepened with the addition of pure vanilla extract.

Then the warm cakes are finished with a glaze filled with more lime.

It’s a tweak on an old family recipe, ideal to showcase key limes in a most delicious way!

Key Lime Pound Cake

For the pound cakes:

1-½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature

3 cups sugar

6 extra-large eggs, room temperature

1 cup sour cream

3 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

⅛ teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ teaspoon pure lime oil

1 tablespoon fresh key lime zest, about 10 key limes

2 tablespoons fresh key lime juice, about 6 key limes

For the glaze:

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

2 teaspoons fresh key lime zest, about 3 key limes

2 tablespoons fresh key lime juice, about 6 key limes

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon pure lime oil

Preheat the oven to 325-degrees. Spray 2 large loaf pans, 9” x 5” with a cooking spray and line with a sheet of parchment paper, pressing into the bottom and edges of the pans. Using a large stand mixer, beat the butter on low speed until it becomes creamy. Raise the speed to medium and continue beating until it is very light and fluffy, looking much like whipped cream, about 4 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl to make certain all the butter is whipped thoroughly.

On medium speed, add the sugar, about ¼ cup at a time allowing the sugar to blend into the butter before adding more.

Once all the sugar has been combined with the butter add the eggs one at a time.

Stir the sour cream in using medium-low speed.

Using separate bowls, sift together the flour, baking soda, and kosher salt three times. Don’t’ skip this step; it makes a difference in the light texture of your cake.

On low speed, add the dry ingredients to the batter, blending in about ⅓ cup at a time, beating just until the flour disappears.

Add the vanilla extract, lime oil, lime zest and lime juice, stirring into the batter on low speed.

Divide the batter evenly between the 2 large loaf pans.

Bake the pound cakes on the center rack of your oven at 325-degrees for about 60 to 65 minutes or until the cakes are golden and when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for about 15 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack and glaze while the cakes are still warm.

For the glaze:

Whisk the powdered sugar together with the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract, and lime oil until very smooth.

Using a toothpick, poke holes all across the tops of the cakes then spoon the glaze over the tops of each cake.

Makes 2 large loaves.