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–+ servings
Slices of lemon loaf cake on a marble board.

High Altitude Lemon Loaf Cake

Heather Smoke
Fluffy and perfectly lemony lemon loaf cake, topped with sweet and tart lemon icing.

All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.

5 from 6 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings1 loaf

Equipment

  • Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment

Ingredients
 

Cake

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
  • 2 small lemons, zested and juiced (you need 1/4 cup lemon juice)
  • ¼ cup sour cream
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp lemon extract

Icing

  • 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 tsp light corn syrup
  • 2 ½ - 3 tbsp lemon juice (from 1 small lemon)

Instructions
 

Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 325F, and line a standard-sized loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper so that the paper hangs over two sides. This makes it easy to lift the cake out of the pan.
  • In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar for 5 minutes on medium speed, scraping the bowl down several times.
  • Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating each for 10 seconds before adding the next.
  • In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  • Zest the lemons, then juice the lemons into a liquid measuring cup; you'll need 1/4 cup of juice. Combine the lemon juice, zest, sour cream, vanilla and lemon extracts.
  • With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the lemon juice mixture, starting and ending with the flour. Mix just until mostly combined, then use a spatula to fold in any remaining bits of flour. The batter will be thick.
  • Spread the batter into the loaf pan. Bake on the center oven rack for about 55-60 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
  • Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes, then lift the cake out by grabbing onto the overhang of parchment paper. Set on a cooling rack to cool to room temperature before pouring on the icing and serving.

Icing

  • Whisk together all ingredients until the icing is a smooth, thick drizzling consistency.
  • Pour the icing over the cake, letting it drip down the sides. The icing will set in about 15-20 minutes. Zest some fresh lemon zest on top of the icing.
Keyword High Altitude, Lemon Cake, Loaf Cake, Pound Cake
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