A sweet, moist, dense key lime pound cake drizzled with a tart key lime glaze. A delicious Southern twist to a traditional pound cake.
This recipe I originally shared as part of a virtual progressive dinner – of course I brought the dessert. This cake has become one of my most popular cake recipes and if you missed it the first time around, you’ll definitely want to give it a try.
The recipe uses both butter and shortening in the batter. I thought about changing the recipe and using all butter, but decided not to because shortening creates higher, lighter-textured baked goods, while the butter adds great flavor. So I knew a combination would give me the best of both worlds.
When I’m baking with shortening I love using the Crisco Baking Sticks. It makes measuring shortening so much easier. My cakes stuck to the pan little bit, so I used my thin, flexible icing spatula to loosen the edges. They looked a little ragged when I took them out of the pan, but after adding the glaze, they were gorgeous – so don’t be discourage if your cakes are perfect.
I did however, make several changes to the recipe, including adjusting it for my high altitude, and baking it in two half sized bundt pans instead of a 12 cup tube pan. Unless I’m serving a crowd, I prefer two small bundts so I can serve one now and put one in the freezer for later.
The cake has a mild key lime flavor, but the tart glaze gives it a great burst of lime flavor. It’s a sweet, moist pound cake, but not quite as dense as most pound cakes, which made it feel like you’re eating a little lighter.
I served the cake the way they served it on Southern Living with a dollop of whipped cream and a slice of lime.
Check out the video to see just how easy this popular Key Lime Pound Cake is to make.
Key Lime Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder*
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup shortening
- 3 cups sugar*
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- ¼ cup fresh Key lime juice
Glaze
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons fresh Key lime juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and shortening at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended.
- Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition.
- Mix in vanilla, lime zest, and lime juice. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch (12-cup) tube pan. (I used two 6-cup bundt pans.)
- Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. (Bake half size Bundts for 50–55 minutes.) Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack.
- Prepare Key Lime Glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons fresh Key lime juice, and ½ teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Immediately brush or drizzle over top and sides of cake. Cool completely before serving.
Video
Notes
Main Course
Never Enough Thyme – Creole Style Smothered Chicken
Appetizers
The Heritage Cook – Old Bay Shrimp Boil Skewers
Stetted – Fried Green Tomatoes with Smoked Tomato Basil Aioli
Bread
Savvy Eats – Jalapeno Cornbread + How to Store Cornbread
Salads
Miss in the Kitchen – Creamy Coleslaw
Life’s a Feast – Shrimp, Grilled Peach and Quinoa Salad
Soup
Spiceroots – Maque Choux Soup
Sides
Creative Culinary – Bacon and Caramelized Onion Creamed Corn
Pastry Chef Online – Spicy Succotash
Beverage
Healthy. Delicious. – Watermelon Lemonade
Desserts
Barbara Bakes – Key Lime Pound Cake
That Skinny Chick Can Bake – Banana Cream Cheesecake Pie
karenf
Followed recipe exactly, except I don’t feed anyone shortening, so I used all butter. As far as being a pound cake, it got 5 stars. It was everything a pound cake should be. As for the key lime flavor …. everyone loved the icing, but thought the cake was too mild. I’m not sure how to give it a more limy taste without ruining the ingredient balance.