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
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.
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.
TIPS AND MORE
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
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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 without my stand mixer for baking!
Famous Ritz Carlton Hotel Lemon Pound Cake
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Save To Your Recipe BoxIngredients
- 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 lemon juice fresh
- zest from 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Sift flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add eggs one at a time beating until the yellow is incorporated before adding the next egg.
- 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.
- Mix in lemon juice and zest.
- Spoon into prepared pan.
- Bake 55 to 65 minutes.
- Cool on wire rack for 20 minutes before inverting on a serving tray.
- Cool completely before covering.
Notes
Nutrition
You can also find great recipes in my recipe index.
T. Stewart says
Made your lemon pound cake today. All the right ingredients, followed the recipe to the T. Used Crisco vegetable shortening (solid) to coat the angle food cake pan, with sprinkling of sugar.
Baked it 65 minutes plus another 5 minutes.
Flavor was great, sunk like a rock. Any suggestions?
Paula says
I don’t think it was cooked through and fell. It takes my oven 85 minutes to cook a pound cake.
Edmund W. Roberts says
My memories of pound cake go back to 1943 when I was a student in a boarding school in England. One of the boys lived on a farm close by, now and then his mother would give him a madeira (pound) cake to share with his friends at school. I can close my eyes and taste that slice of cake even now. I could taste eggs and butter and maybe vanilla, I’ve carried that taste and that memory all these years without being able to equal it. Well here I am at 91 years old, living by myself in Canada, I’m teaching myself how to cook. I don’t have a tube pan or the other one (memory loss for name), I do have three bread tins. My questions are 1. Will the recipe fit in two or three of the tins, 2. How high should I fill them and 3. At what temperature and for how long should they be baked.
Thank you for your help, now if I could just remember that I have asked for help. Sometimes when I get busy I forget that I forget.
Paula says
I think it’s wonderful that you’re teaching yourself to cook! Yes, the bread tins will work, fill them no more than 3/4 full. Bake them at 325 degrees F…. Not knowing exactly what size your pans are it’s hard to know the time they will take so watch them and when they are browned on the top test with a toothpick. Stick the toothpick in the center and when it comes out clean or with dry crumbs it’s done. Good luck!!
Ginger says
I can’t wait to try this. I love lemon, too! Please explain ‘ I couldn’t do with my stand mixer for baking!“
Thank you
Tammie says
Hi Paula
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I have medium eggs though. Can I use those? If so, how many?
Thanks
Paula says
Add 7 medium eggs
SG says
Hi! Made this today after following all instructions except that my recipe for this same cake called for 5 eggs n also I used 2 tbsp vanilla instead of 6 tbsp of lemon juice..just made it plain. ..love the recipe without the lemon..
Jan says
Can I use coconut oil instead of Crisco?
Paula says
It won’t be exactly the same. I find using coconut oil makes them a little tougher/not as tender.
SaintsBaker says
Could you use cake flour instead to lighten the cake up a bit?
Paula says
YOu can sub cake flour in pound cakes.
Mary Jo says
Does this cake freeze well?
Paula says
Yes. Wrap airtight in plastic wrap then aluminum foil. It’ll keep in the freezer 8 to 10 weeks. If I’m freezing it for ourselves (and not a party) I’ll cut into 4 or 5 large chunks so that I can remove it to serve without having to thaw the entire cake.
Diane Allen says
This is one of the loveliest lemon cakes I have ever made. I always look forward to bring it to any gathering be cause everyone loves it
Shajuana says
I’m so excited to make this cake. Is it okay to use butter flavor shorting?
Paula says
It is, but personally I’d use the non-flavor or real butter.
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!
Dianne Thrash says
My cake sank in the middle. I make lots of pound cakes and don’t normally have a problem. The cake has a wonderful taste. I wondered if 1 T of baking powder was too much. I noticed other bakers had the same problem. What is the solution?
Paula says
Most times when a cake sinks in the middle, it is underbaked. I would try baking it longer and calibrating you oven if you haven’t lately. https://www.callmepmc.com/how-to-calibrate-your-oven/
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