Key Lime Pound Cake

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. 

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Yield: 16 servings

Key Lime Pound Cake

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Additional Time 10 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder*
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3 cups sugar*
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1/4 cup fresh Key lime juice

Glaze

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons fresh Key lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.)
5. 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.
6. Prepare Key Lime Glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons fresh Key lime juice, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Immediately brush or drizzle over top and sides of cake. Cool completely before serving.

Notes

*I used 2 3/4 cups sugar and 1/4 teaspoon baking powder to adjust for my high altitude.

Adapted from Southern Living.

Thanks to Barb from Creative Culinary for creating the Progressive Eats group. Now that you’ve had your dessert first, jump over to all the delicious recipes the group put together for our Southern progressive dinner:

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