Key Lime Pound Cake – Only a few simple ingredients to make the most delicious homemade pound cake from scratch! Butter, shortening, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, milk, vanilla, and key limes. Top the cake with a quick key lime glaze. You can make the cake in advance and refrigerate or freeze for later. Great for parties, potlucks, and this makes a delicious homemade gift.
Preheat oven to 325ºF. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together butter and shortening at medium speed until light and creamy.
Gradually add sugar to the butter mixture, beat until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Stir in vanilla, key lime juice, and zest. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
Prepare glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, lime juice, and vanilla until smooth. Pour glaze over the top of the cake.
Notes:
One cup of flour weighs 4.25-ounces. To properly measure flour, give the flour a stir to loosen it up in the container. Use a spoon and lightly spoon the flour into your measuring cup. Use a flat straight edge (like the straight back of a knife) to level off the top of the flour in the measuring cup. Do NOT compact the flour in the measuring cup.
I use Bakers Joy or Pam Baking Spray to grease and flour the tube pan. Either works great. You can also use Crisco or butter and dust the pan with flour.
You can substitute lime juice for the key lime juice if you prefer.
Check the cake around the 1-hour mark. If the cake is starting to get too brown, cover it with foil until it is done.
Can pound cake be made in advance? Yes! You can make the cake ahead of time and store it in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days. The cake will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Can pound cake be frozen? Yes! You can freeze the baked cake. Wrap the cooled cake in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. The cake will keep for up to 6 months in the freezer.