Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Citrus Glaze

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Do ahead: Cake can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

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  • 8

Ingredients

  • Cake:
  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
  • 2 tsp finely grated orange zest
  • 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • 1/2 tsp finely grated lime zest
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup cream cheese (5 oz), room temperature
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • Glaze:
  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • 1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest
  • 1/4 tsp finely grated lime zest
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

Preparation

Step 1

Special equipment: 9x4x3" loaf pan
Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat loaf pan generously with nonstick spray; line bottom and long sides with parchment paper, leaving about 1 1/2" overhang. coat paper with nonstick spray.

2. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese in a large bowl until blended and smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar mixture; beat on high speed until very light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. (Make sure mixture is completely incorporated so flour won't clump when added.) With mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients; mix just to blend (do not overmix or cake will become tough). Scrape batter into prepared pan; smooth top.

4. Bake cake until top is golden brown and springs back when gently pressed with fingertips and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 60-70 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cake cook in pan for 30 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, stir lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved for lemon syrup.

6. Using parchment paper overhang as an aid, remove cake from pan; peel off and discard paper. Place cake top side up on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Using a skewer, pierce top of cake all over. Inserting skewer about halfway through cake (this helps the lemon syrup soak in.

7. Using a pastry brush, baste with lemon syrup. Use all of syrup plus any that may have dripped onto baking sheet. Let cake cool completely.

Glaze:
Whisk all ingredients in a medium bowl; strain, if desired. Pour over cake. Scoop up any glaze that may have dripped into sheet and spread over top and sides of cake. Let cake stand at room temperature until icing is set, about 30 minutes. Cut cake into 1/2-inch slides.

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