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!
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- Brands I recommend Crisco solid vegetable shortening, and White Lily or Martha White flour. Pans and more recommendations here.
- I have found solid vegetable shortening and sugar instead of flour to be the best for coating the pan with 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.
- If you use a bundt pan instead of a tube pan, make sure it’s a taller bundt, about 5 inches tall.
- I couldn’t do with my stand mixer for baking!
I found this recipe in a stack of recipes that were my grandmother’s. I have no idea if it actually was served at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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- Ruby Red Grapefruit Pound Cake
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- Homemade Sour Cream Cinnamon Roll Pound Cake Recipe with Cream Cheese Frosting
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- Classic Ricotta Pound Cake
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- Mile High Pound Cake
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- Praline Glazed Pumpkin Pound Cake
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- Million Dollar 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!
- 3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup shortening at room temperature
- 6 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 6 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- zest from 1 lemon
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Grease and sugar or flour a 10 inch tube pan or 12 cup bundt pan.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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Sift flour, baking powder, and salt.
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In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, shortening, and sugar.
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Add eggs one at a time beating until the yellow is incorporated before adding the next egg.
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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.
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Mix in lemon juice and zest.
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Spoon into prepared pan.
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Bake 55 to 65 minutes.
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Cool on wire rack for 20 minutes before inverting on a serving tray.
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Cool completely before covering.
Recipe from Paula @CallMePMc.com All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission that includes copying the ingredient list or entire recipe and posting in the comments on Pinterest for Facebook. If you want to share this recipe, please simply link back to this post for the recipe.
Thank you, Paula
You can also find great recipes here or at Meal Plan Monday or Weekend Potluck.
As a busy mom, Paula saw the need to simplify cooking and meal prep without sacrificing flavor. She provides simple recipes and time-saving strategies for delicious and nutritious meals for your family. Please share CallMePMc.com with your friends.
This post contains an affiliate link. If you click the link and make a purchase I will receive a small commission at no cost to you.
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Yoly says
Hello, looking for a new recipe of my favorite flavor, lemon, I found yours and loved it. I made it today exactly as per recipe, the only thing I did was prepare a simple syrup just to make the cake shinny. It is delicious and beautiful, the instructions are very easy to follow with great tips and the ingredients very easy to find. Now, I will try some other recipes.
Thank you
Paula says
Thanks so much! I’m happy you liked it!
Cay James says
I tried this recipe 3 times. I read all of the instructions on how to make the perfect pound cake. I used quality ingredients. I used room temperature eggs and butter. I brushed up on the proper way to sift the flour and measured it out perfectly. I measured out all of the ingredients. I didn’t over mix the batter. I calibrated my oven and when preheating to 350 degrees, I put an oven thermometer in the oven to be sure. I made sure that the rack was at the proper height. I did not open the oven until the 1h 5 min was done.
Despite all of that, my cake sank. On the last try, it sank in the middle less than the other 2 – but it sank. I don’t know what else I could’ve done which is making me wonder if there’s a misprint on the recipe. Anyone have that same experience? If so, did you resolve it? Please share because I think this would be a great cake IF I can just get it right. Thanks!
Paula says
I can’t begin to apologize enough to you. I did leave out the milk in the recipe and I am so very sorry! But thank you for commenting so that I looked at the recipe again. I had tried different liquids and had them written in the margin of my notes and just overlooked them.
Cay James says
Yeyyyy! Thank you so much for looking into this! I can’t wait to try this again! My family’s tastebuds thank you!
lillian mittner says
what are your thoughts on using a European butter
Lil
Paula says
I enjoy European butter on biscuits and such. And, I like it in pie crusts. But for cakes, I stick to traditional (American) butter (I always use salted) because it’s cheaper and I find the sometimes the flavor of the European butter I’ve tried conflicts with certain flavors of my pound cakes. I will admit, I haven’t tried it extensively in baking though.
Ann Marshall says
I have used the European butter in my pound cakes & they all come out great. European butter is a better butter because it has more fat than American butter which can be watery. There is a better crumb when using European butter. You still use exactly the same amount as recipe states.
Paula says
Good info. Thanks!
Cynthia Nastri says
This Ritz lemon pound cake sounds amazing.Can not wait to make it!Thank you.
Shari says
Can butter instead of shortening be used?
Paula says
Butter can be used
Dave says
Will be making this soon. There’s a similar recipe regarding Carlton’s 1920’s Tea-Room Lemon Pound Cake.
Katie says
Pound cakes are my favorite. If you have a recipe for a coconut pound cake, I would love to have it…
Paula says
This one is so good! https://www.callmepmc.com/coconut-cream-cheese-pound-cake/
Annette says
Pound cakes are the best. I had a cookbook years ago. This cook booksold as a fundraiser by the United Way. It contained appetizers and desserts. In the cake section it had the recipes for about 10 pound cakes. I miss my book. But, any way, this lemon pound cake is it really tart and a little sweet or is it the opposite.
Paula says
It’s not overly sweet. I don’t know that I’d classify it as tart though but the lemon flavor does come through
Betty A Rogers says
Will a regular hand mixer do the job if you don’t have a stand mixer?
Paula says
Yes, a hand mixer will work. I just didn’t grow up using a hand-mixer so I fall back on my stand mixer always