I couldn’t wait to share this lemon pound cake recipe, after reading wonderful spring recipes on the food blogosphere. Lemons are not exactly spring produce, but they are refreshing and screams spring to me. I know, what else you may think it’s just another lemon pound cake recipe. You will probably find hundreds of pound cake recipes at the moment, lemon pound cake recipe in particular. However, this one is different, its gluten free (obviously) but it’s also soy and nut free. So I hope you don’t mind when I add mine.
The texture and taste of this cake is very much like a conventional pound cake. I used a blend of sorghum and sweet rice flour. I would not recommend substituting sorghum flour otherwise your cake will not be as dense and velvety as a traditional pound cake is known for. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you’ve most likely noticed that I use a wide variety of flours in my gluten free kitchen. Avoiding wheat /gluten means that you are missing out some key nutrients from your diet, which may lead to deficiencies. Rice flour mix is a pretty standard option in baking but its high in starch, and using just nut flours is not good either. I try to use a balance of all flours to replace the (missed) healthy nutrients of wheat.
Baking with these flours can be tough sometimes as they burn easily. I mostly use light colored pans and keep the oven temperature lower by 25-50° and also tent it with foil. If after following these steps the cake comes out burned around the edges or on the bottom, don’t feel disheartened, use a fine grater to scrape away the burned areas, it will not have any burned flavor.
This cake is delicious with a perfect moist and delicate crumb, and a good lemon flavor. I don’t glaze because I freeze this cake and use it for so many different things. It makes a great breakfast with summer berries and an after dinner dessert or a snack with ice cream or custard sauce.
Lemon pound cake makes a perfect breakfast, after dinner dessert or a snack.
Ingredients
- 117 g (1 cup) sorghum flour
- 108 g (3/4 cup) sweet rice flour
- 25 g (2 tbsp) corn starch
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 250 unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 200 g (1 cup) white granulated sugar
- 4 eggs (at room temperature)
- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease a loaf pan with butter and line it with parchment paper.
- Whisk together sorghum, sweet rice flour, corn starch, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl.
- Put sugar and the lemon zest in a bowl, working with your fingers, rub them together.
- With an electric beater or a stand up mixer, cream butter.
- Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture.and lemon juice, mix until just smooth.
- Spoon batter into the prepared pan, spread evenly.
- Bake on the middle oven rack until the cake is deep golden brown for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. After 25 minutes of baking, check on your pound cake if it has begun to darken rather quickly, loosely cover with an aluminum foil tent and resume baking.
- Allow to cool the cake for 10 minutes, then grabbing the edges of parchment paper, lift the cake out and finish cooling on wire rack.
- Remove parchment paper and discard.
- Slice and enjoy.
This recipe is part of Gluten Free Wednesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays.
Bam's Kitchen
How fun I am the first one to complement. I think lemon just screams spring. You pound cake looks so moist and delicious and will have to try your flour combinations. Have a super weekend.
Balvinder
So true! Lemon desserts are heavenly in spring and this flour blend is just delicious! Thank you and you too have a nice weekend!
Monica
I adore lemon treats and there can never be too many lemon pound cakes or lemon-anything in my book so bring it on! I’m impressed that this is gluten and nut-free. It looks very moist and flavorful…really perfect for right now. I’ll take two big slices, please. : )
Balvinder
Me, too! lemon pound cake do seem to be favorite of many 🙂 Thanks Monica!
ela@GrayApron
Can’t get enough of lemon cakes! This one looks just right! 🙂 ela
Ansh
Beautiful cake! And there is no such thing as too many lemon cakes. I adore you for posting this recipe. I have been on a gluten free diet for sometime now and it has made a lot of difference to my health. I am just gluten intolerant.. don’t have allergies as such. I will definitely try this recipe after in laws leave for India as they don’t eat meats and eggs…Thanks Bal.
Balvinder
Thank you my dear! I am gluten intolerant like you, and not celiac but I have to stay away from any gluten products, as advised by my doctor… Hey, My in laws also don’t eat meat or eggs,..but I can’t stop eating non-veg just because of them. They are here permanently, so sometimes I have to cook double meals.
Choc Chip Uru
What a moist and delicious pound cake recipe, I love the refreshing lemon tang 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Angie@Angie's Recipes
It has turned out perfect! Is sweet rice flour same as glutinous rice flour?
Balvinder
Yes, it is the same.
Blackswan
Have you heard of Sara Lee? I usually buy that brand of pound cake since I rarely bake. Gosh! Wish I’m living just next to you………
Jennifer Eloff
Fascinating mix of flours. Looks delish!
Coffee and Crumpets
There’s no such thing as too many pound cake recipes, especially ones with lemon! This looks great Bal, and I think sorghum flour makes really good GF cakes. It has a nice mild flavour and none of that gritty texture. I love lemon cakes so this one’s a winner!
Balvinder
Oh, great to hear you like lemon cakes and also familiar with sorghum flour’s mild flavor. So do you also use it in cakes?
Abbe@This is How I Cook
I never know what flours to use if cooking gluten free. This looks lovely and I would never have thought of sorghum flour! Thanks!
Balvinder
Now you know 🙂 I hope you try.Thanks Abbe!
Amira
This looks great Bal., I’ve never tackled GF recipes and would really like to as I’ve heard it is good for you from time to time even if you have no issues with gluten .
Sridevi Ravi
I love the fresh kick of lemons in cakes. This cake looks super moist and perfectly baked. I am trying gluten free recipes for a change and this will be a great treat.
Chai a Cup of Life
I have never made a pound cake before, but now I have a new bread tin I can make it!
Juliana
What a nice cake Balvinder…and yes lemon sounds really good…great recipe!
Enjoy your week 😀
Kitchen Belleicious
love using lemon flavors in my baking. this pound cake is spectacular
vasudha
Hi Balvinder
I made this cake and it came out to be the best pound cake ever I have tried.Thanks very much for your recipe.
Balvinder
You are very welcome, so glad you made the cake and liked it.
Ananya
Is it necessary to use sweet rice flour?Can i use regular rice flour??
Balvinder
White rice flour would work fine provided you increase the amount of corn starch to 1/4 cup or substitute with some other starch that you have. The reason is that pound cake is a heavy, dense and moist cake, you need the starchy quality of sweet rice flour to hold the sorghum flour for good results.
Ananya
Thank You so much for your quick reply. I am in Ontario,Canada and my husband and I have been on Gluten free diet for last 2 weeks,just trying it out…So I just have Sorghum flour right now and plain rice flour so I asked for substitute.
Balvinder
Are you allergic or just trying out for fun?
Mary Jo
Can Stevia be substituted for the sugar or a part of it without affecting the texture? My husband is diabetic.
Balvinder
I have never tried baking with stevia, but I know you can easily replace it. You also have to add add an extra ingredient like sour cream or yogurt to add bulkiness to the cake that sugar provides.
michelle
Has anybody tried this with egg substitute? Have egg iasues and trying to find a pound cake or angel food without eggs…. no luck so far, and this sounds amazing! 🙁
Balvinder
Hi Michelle,I once made a full gluten cake without eggs and substituted it with 1/2 cup yogurt and 1/4 cup milk for a two cup flour cake and also added ener G replacer. You can try the same combination for a gluten free cake but I don’t know exactly how it will turn out! I am so sorry for not having a perfect answer 🙁
Did you Google it for egg less pound cake recipes?
michelle
The googling is my next step, i see all these awesome sounding recipes and get side tracked. Lol my son can’t have eggs, cows milk, peanuts, wheat or soy…… so tends to be quite the search…. have been doing a lot of raw carrot cakes and things…… but he loves pound cake! Thank you for the input/response, greatly appreciated!
Balvinder
That sounds like a lot of food allergy, poor guy! Before I was thinking to suggest you to try tofu but he’s even allergic to soy. I think Ener G replacer would be right for you as it is made of tapioca starch.
Paula @CeliacCorner
Balvinder, this looks delicious … ! Looking forward to making it soon.
Sarala samakur
Your cake recipe asks for sweet rice flour. Do we have to make it or is it available in stores. I live in Florida. If have to make what tye of rice do we use. Thanks, Sarala
Balvinder
It is available in Canada, United States and online under the name Mochiko or sweet rce flour. If you have to meat home use sweet rice, also known as “glutinous rice”. Although it contains no gluten but its high starch quality works great in baking.
Velva
Beautiful lemon pound cake. I really enjoy a citrus flavor cakes and loafs. Looks like you replaced sugar with a sweet rice flour-very interesting. Thanks for sharing this healthier version of lemon loaf cake.
Velva
Carol
I do love pound cake and am especially fond of lemon pound cake. Your cake looks delicious!
Dewdrop
Hi, thank you for your recipe! I tried today. My cake didn’t raise up much. Does it because baking powder is not enough?
Balvinder
after your comment I just checked the recipe ingredients. The baking powder has to be 1 1/2 tsp. I corrected it.