Ritz Carlton Hotel Lemon Pound Cake

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The Famous Ritz Carlton Hotel Lemon Pound Cake has a fine crumb texture and bright lemon flavor. This classic lemon pound cake is supremely moist & tender! It’s the perfect finale to dinner!

Famous Ritz Carlton Hotel Lemon Pound Cake

Shop baking equipment needed at Walmart below. Click on the item to open the product.

Famous Ritz Carlton Hotel Lemon Pound Cake

I found this recipe in a stack of recipes that were my grandmother’s and have no idea if it actually was served at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Furthermore, I couldn’t find it on any of their menus now. But, being #PoundCakePaula as one reader put it, I have been wanting to test this Famous Ritz Carlton Hotel Lemon Pound Cake for my Pound Cakes Reviewed Series for a long time.

Believe me, I wish I had sooner. This is one of my favorite pound cakes now.

Lemon Pound Cake

When given a choice between chocolate and lemon I will choose lemon every time. I know that seems bizarre to most people. Lemon is bright and fresh. It’s tart yet sweet.

The lemon flavor is intense. The texture is buttery with a small crumb. It’s tender on the inside crusty on the outside. However, the top did not yield that crusty layer that my Coconut Pound or Whipping Cream Pound Cake does.

Between the golden crust and the lemon flavor, I did not feel this cake needed any frosting or glaze. I do have this wonderful Lemon Glaze if you prefer your Famous Ritz Carlton Hotel Lemon Pound Cake to be sweeter.

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Pans and such

I bake my pound cakes on a cookie sheet to bake. Setting the pan on a cookie sheet may affect the baking time. As well, using a light versus a dark tube pan will affect baking times. For my cakes, I bake in a light pan on a round cookie sheet.

Your tube pan or bundt pan needs to be at least a 12-cup pan. You can test it using water. If your pan isn’t large enough, don’t fill it with batter above 2 inches from the top. In this case, you can fill your pan not more than 2 inches from the top of the pan and use the remaining batter in cupcakes. Note your cupcakes will take less time to bake and need to be carefully removed when they’re done. Cooking time for the cupcakes will vary depending on how large they are. Start watching them at 20 minutes.

I’m not a fan of non-stick spray for pound cakes. Some of the sides always stick pulling off that crust that I worked so hard to create. Instead, I like to use solid vegetable shortening and follow that with a dusting of granulated sugar. (Yes, sugar. Sugar doesn’t leave any white areas on the cake.) Alternately, I like the Wilton cake release. (When I started this pound cake series, I did use non-stick spray. However, after making so many and trying other methods, I do not use non-stick spray for cakes now. I have tried to go back and update those posts, but may have missed some.)

HOW TO MEASURE FLOUR CORRECTLY

Measure all the ingredients carefully, especially the flour.  

How do you measure flour?

To correctly measure flour, first, sift the flour. Then using a spoon or scoop lightly scoop flour out of its container into a measuring cup. Continue filling the cup until it is overflowing, then using the back of a butter knife level the flour. Scooping the measuring cup directly into the flour to fill can result in up to 25% more flour than lightly spooning the flour into the measuring cup. More flour in a recipe will make it dense and dry.

lemon tube pan cake

Pound Cake Tips

It’s very important when making this cake to start with room temperature ingredients. Don’t rush the mixing process, make sure each ingredient is combined well before moving to the next one.

As well, sift and measure your flour carefully.

Please read this post for more tips on How to Bake the Perfect Pound Cake.

I can’t stress enough to calibrate your oven. Everyone thinks their oven is the correct temperature, but ovens really need to be calibrated every year. For more information, please read How to Calibrate your Oven.

pound cake sliced

Below are a few pound cake recipes that I’ve reviewed. Click the photo for the recipe. You can get all of the recipes here: Pound Cakes Reviewed.

Ruby Red Grapefruit Pound Cake

Ruby Red Grapefruit Pound Cake

Ruby Red Grapefruit Pound Cake recipe, tart and sweet, this dessert is inventive, interesting, and unique. This cake is light and airy with a luscious texture. I fell a little more in love with it with every bite.
make this recipe
plated slice of moist cinnamon roll cake.

Sour Cream Cinnamon Roll Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Homemade Sour Cream Cinnamon Roll Pound Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting, laced with a cinnamon swirl, this cake is buttery, yet light and is smothered in sweet cream cheese frosting.
make this recipe
Classic Ricotta Pound Cake

Classic Ricotta Pound Cake

Classic Ricotta Pound Cake is moist, buttery, and rich. This pound cake recipe yields a very dense but moist cake. It’s a smaller pound cake that makes one loaf pan instead of the standard tube or bundt pan.
make this recipe
Mile High Pound Cake

Mile High Pound Cake

Mile High Pound Cake is dense, moist and over-the-top good!
make this recipe
Praline Glazed Pumpkin Pound Cake

Praline Glazed Pumpkin Pound Cake

I love this Praline Glazed Pumpkin Pound Cake. It’s soft, springy, moist and fluffy. Smothered in a pecan praline sauce makes it even more rich and decadent.
make this recipe
Million Dollar Pound Cake

Million Dollar Pound Cake

Million Dollar Pound Cake has a fine, rich, smooth texture with classic vanilla flavor. It’s a classic for a reason and you’ll understand the title million dollar after one taste! The cake recipe is always a crowd-pleaser!
make this recipe

Shop Ritz Carlton Hotel Lemon Pound Cake

  1. I recommend Crisco solid vegetable shortening and White Lily or Martha White flour. Pans and more recommendations are here.
  2. I have found solid vegetable shortening and sugar instead of flour to be the best for coating the pan to prevent sticking. By using sugar instead of flour, you won’t have white patches on the cake. You can use flour if you prefer.
  3. If you use a bundt pan instead of a tube pan, make sure it’s a taller bundt, about 5 inches tall.
  4. I couldn’t do without my stand mixer for baking!

Equipment

More recipes you’ll enjoy

Famous Ritz Carlton Hotel Lemon Pound Cake

Famous Ritz Carlton Hotel Lemon Pound Cake

The Famous Ritz Carlton Hotel Lemon Pound Cake has a fine crumb texture and bright lemon flavor. This classic lemon pound cake is supremely moist & tender! It’s the perfect finale to dinner!
Author: Paula
4.84 from 42 votes
Print Rate
Save To Your Recipe Box
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 16 slices

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Grease and sugar or flour a tube pan or bundt pan. (These are pans I recommend: tube pan, bundt pan.)
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Sift flour, baking powder, and salt.
    3 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
  • In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, shortening, and sugar.
    3 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup unsalted butter, ½ cup Crisco shortening
  • Add eggs one at a time beating until the yellow is incorporated before adding the next egg. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides, beat again.
    6 large eggs
  • With the mixer on low, add dry ingredients alternating with the heavy cream and milk. (Add 1/3 dry ingredients, add heavy cream, add 1/3 dry ingredients, add milk, add last 1/3 dry ingredients. 
    ½ cup whole milk, ½ cup heavy whipping cream
  • Mix in lemon juice and zest. Stop the mixer and scrap down the sides of the bowl. Mix again.
    6 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, zest of one lemon
  • Spoon into prepared pan.
  • Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until done. Cooking time will vary depending on your oven and the color and size of the pan you're using. Watch it closely the first time you bake this cake and make notes.
  • Cool on wire rack for 20 minutes before inverting on a cake plate.
  • Cool completely before covering.

Nutrition

Calories: 451kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 121mg | Sodium: 112mg | Potassium: 155mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 591IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are important to you, I recommend calculating them yourself.

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44 Comments

  1. I have made this cake several times….it is my favorite lemon pound cake, but it ALWAYS sinks no matter what. It is delicious though, and my family loves it. I have tried to figure out why it sinks, and I wonder if it is the amount of liquid… mainly the 6 tablespoons of lemon juice. That is a good bit of juice.

  2. 5 stars
    Every time I bake this pound cake I get rave reviews! It’s a crowd pleaser! 🥰

4.84 from 42 votes (22 ratings without comment)

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