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    Home » Recipes » Dessert » Cakes

    Key Lime Pound Cake

    Published by Melissa on June 7, 2019 | Updated June 23, 2022 | 148 Comments

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    A sweet, moist, dense key lime pound cake drizzled with a tart key lime glaze. A delicious Southern twist to a traditional 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.

    key lime pound cake promo graphic

    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.

    Key-Lime-Pound-Cake-Collage-Barbara-Bakes

    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.

    Key Lime Pound Cake recipe from Barbara Bakes. The cake has a mild key lime flavor, but the tart glaze gives it a great burst of lime flavor.

    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. 

     

    A sweet, moist, dense key lime pound cake drizzled with a tart key lime glaze. A delicious Southern twist to a traditional pound cake.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate this Recipe
    4.40 from 436 votes

    Key Lime Pound Cake

    Prep Time10 minutes mins
    Cook Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
    Additional Time10 minutes mins
    Total Time1 hour hr 35 minutes mins
    Course: Cakes
    Keyword: baking, cake, fruit
    Servings: 16 servings
    Author: Barbara Schieving
    Prevent your screen from going to sleep

    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

    *I used 2 ¾ cups sugar and ¼ teaspoon baking powder to adjust for my high altitude.
    Adapted from Southern Living.
    Lana from Never Enough Thyme chose the theme Summer in the South. Lana said one of the best online resources for Southern recipes is the Southern Living web site. There were so many great recipes it was hard to narrow it down, but the luscious key lime pound cake recipe looked too irresistible not to try it.

    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

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    about us

    About Melissa & Barbara

    As of June 2022 Melissa Griffiths now is the one adding recipes. So think of it as Barbara Bakes, and Melissa too! Melissa and Barbara have been blogging friends for over 10 years and when Barbara was ready to retire and spend more time with her family, Melissa took over the site. Read more...

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Phelida Hughes

      June 18, 2020 at 8:40 am

      Turned out deliciously beautiful👩🏾‍🍳

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        June 18, 2020 at 10:07 am

        That’s great to hear – thanks Phelida!

        Reply
    2. Gloria

      June 07, 2020 at 3:50 pm

      Can you use a boxed cake mix for cake part and add zest and lime juice??

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        June 07, 2020 at 4:15 pm

        Hi Gloria – if you want to use a cake mix, I would use this recipe for the cake https://lilluna.com/key-lime-cake/#wprm-recipe-container-98485 bake it in a bundt pan until the internal temperature is 210 degrees and then you can glaze it with my recipe. Enjoy!

        Reply
    3. Jacqulyn

      April 28, 2020 at 11:15 am

      Need the steps what to mix first try to bak this cake now at stand still about to mix butter and crisco what next waiting on answer 

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        April 28, 2020 at 11:19 am

        Hi Jacqulyn – I’m not sure about your confusion. After you mix the butter and crisco, you beat the sugar until creamy, beat in the eggs – then the flour and milk, then the vanilla, lime zest and juice.

        Reply
        • Nicole Johnson

          December 21, 2020 at 11:19 am

          Can you store the cake to eat at a later date, if so how would i do it.

          Reply
          • Barbara Schieving

            December 21, 2020 at 1:38 pm

            Hi Nicole – if it’s more than a day or two, then you’ll want to freeze it. It freezes and thaws very well on the counter. You can freeze it unwrapped and then once it’s frozen, wrap it well with plastic wrap.

            Reply
    4. Linda

      April 19, 2020 at 1:07 pm

      How long to bake as cup cakes?

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        April 19, 2020 at 3:56 pm

        Hi Linda – I haven’t tried making cupcakes from this recipe, but cupcakes will probably take 20 minutes.

        Reply
    5. Joyce

      April 12, 2020 at 8:02 am

      This cake was D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.!!! Totally a hit! ❤️

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        April 12, 2020 at 8:32 am

        That’s G.R.E.A.T – thanks Joyce! 🙂

        Reply
    6. Marie

      March 03, 2020 at 12:36 pm

      In search on google it shows there are 119 reviews of this recipe. However, I cannot find any reviews which helps me decide how I might alter or improve on a recipe. Are there any reviews on this recipe? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        March 04, 2020 at 7:13 am

        Hi Marie – thanks for the question. The vast majority of the reviewers leave a star review and no comment. However, if you read the comments, there are 96 comments with the kind of information you’re looking for.

        Reply
    7. L. T.

      November 28, 2019 at 9:42 am

      Disappointed that my cake turned out just ok. I’m sure it’s something I did or didn’t do. 😔

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        November 28, 2019 at 9:45 am

        Sorry you didn’t love it. Do you think you cooked it too long? Were your limes not flavorful?

        Reply
        • L.T.

          November 28, 2019 at 11:09 am

          I used the Nellies lime juice and lime zest but it didn’t come through in the flavor at all. I’ll try it again soon. Have a great Thanksgiving!

          Reply
    8. Lori

      November 27, 2019 at 1:20 pm

      Lovely cake! Delicious!

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        November 27, 2019 at 5:14 pm

        Thanks Lori!

        Reply
    9. Rosie Swindell

      October 24, 2019 at 9:29 am

      I have a pan for making mini bundt cakes. How do I adjust baking time for lemon blueberry pound cake?

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        October 24, 2019 at 7:35 pm

        Hi Rosie – my guess is 20 minutes for mini bundt cakes. Just keep an eye on them and when they start to pull away from the sides of the pan and bounce back when lightly pressed on top and has an internal temperature of 210 degrees they’re done.

        Reply
    10. Stephanie

      August 25, 2019 at 8:52 pm

      Oh my goodness, this cake is amazing. Thank you for sharing your recipe!

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        August 25, 2019 at 9:09 pm

        Glad it was a hit – thanks Stephanie!

        Reply
    11. Tilkeya Ware

      February 24, 2019 at 5:34 am

      Do you still use butter when you use the baking stick

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        February 24, 2019 at 12:22 pm

        Yes, you still need to use both the butter and the shortening. Enjoy!

        Reply
    12. Barb

      January 10, 2019 at 7:11 pm

      Delicious pound cake; key lime taste is not too over powering.  However I thought the glaze was way too strong.  I’ll definitely make this again but cut the key lime juice in glaze down by half.

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        January 11, 2019 at 8:37 am

        Thanks Barb – definitely change it up to suit your tastes.

        Reply
    13. Britney Ray

      November 20, 2018 at 6:01 pm

      Is cake flour the same as all purpose flour? And if you use cake flour will you still need to add the salt and baking powder?

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        November 20, 2018 at 7:48 pm

        Hi Britney – no, cake flour is a mixture of all purpose flour and cornstarch. I haven’t tried it in this recipe, but assume you could use cake flour with no other changes. You will still need to use the salt and baking powder. Enjoy!

        Reply
    14. Jane

      October 07, 2018 at 12:48 pm

      This looks great! However, I don’t own a bundt pan. I’m wondering if I could make this in a loaf pan?

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        October 07, 2018 at 1:08 pm

        Hi Jane – yes, you can make it in loaf pans. I haven’t tried it, but I assume the batter will fit in two loaf pans – don’t fill the pans more than 2/3’s full. Your cook time will be less, probably about 40 minutes.

        Reply
    15. Wendy

      September 23, 2018 at 1:35 pm

      Hi! Just tried this recipe. Followed all the directions. Baked at 325 for 90 min. The toothpick came out dry. So I assumed it was done. Came out nice and golden. Let cool in pan , then turned out onto place and the cake fell apart. Some of the inside was still raw. Don’t know what happened. Apparently it didn’t bake long enough. Maybe it should have baked at 350. Any ideas.

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        September 23, 2018 at 3:03 pm

        Hi Wendy – different ovens and different pans cook at different rates. If in doubt, you can use an Instant Read Thermometer to check the internal temperature. It should be 210 degrees F. Other signs that the cake are done is it’s pulling away for the sides of the pan and it bounces back when pressed lightly.

        Reply
    16. Carolyn

      June 18, 2018 at 7:15 am

      Never mind, I saw it after asking the question 

      Reply
    17. Carolyn

      June 18, 2018 at 7:09 am

      How long should I bake if using one large tube pan?

      Reply
    18. Kathy

      April 05, 2018 at 7:28 am

      what are you using for the 1/2 cup of shortening? And would you recommend the King Arthur Flour for this recipe?

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        April 06, 2018 at 5:21 pm

        Hi Kathy – I use Crisco butter flavored shortening in this recipe. I haven’t tried it with King Arthur Flour, but I’m a big fan of their products.

        Reply
    19. Marianne

      July 20, 2017 at 9:29 am

      I live at 9000 feet above sea level. Any suggestions for baking modifications?

      Reply
      • Valerie Zack

        August 27, 2017 at 7:28 pm

        Call your county extension services office. They have always been a wealth of information. Good luck with your cake.

        Reply
    20. Heather

      June 06, 2017 at 4:37 pm

      Delicious sounding recipe! I tried it out and my cake turned black on the bottom just 20 minutes into baking! ? No idea what happened. Any ideas?

      Reply
      • Barbara Schieving

        June 06, 2017 at 4:42 pm

        Hi Heather – sorry you had troubles with the recipe. Sounds like perhaps your heat was inadvertently set too high.

        Reply
      • Heather

        June 06, 2017 at 5:52 pm

        Disregard previous comment. Turned out my oven decided to go rogue and never turn off preheat (even though it dinged to let me know it was at temperature! Scraped off the burnt bottom and took it to my in laws to finish cooking. Turned out great considering what it went through. I’d like to try it again without the crazy oven part

        Reply
        • Barbara Schieving

          June 06, 2017 at 6:49 pm

          So glad there was a happy ending. Thanks for the update.

          Reply
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