Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze

It's officially March and I couldn't be happier! February was not a great month at all. I'm hoping March brings happier times and warmer weather. I usually love the cold weather for the simple fact that I love to wear my many coats (I'm obsessed), but I'm so over this cold weather now.  Being a grownup and having a heating bill is another reason I welcome the warmth. Duke Power, you are on my hate list.

I'm starting this month off bright with a delicious cream cheese pound cake from one of my favorite bloggers, Joy the Baker, topped with a bright and tart lemon glaze.  The trick to this pound cake, and most baked things, is not to over bake it, which I did the first time I made it.

The glaze is a perfect mix of tart and sweet, but of course you could use any kind of glaze you want.

If you really want to bump up the lemon flavor, you could add some lemon zest to the pound cake batter.  This recipe makes one 9x5-inch loaf or 3 mini loaves.

Happy March!

CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE
Source:  Joy the Baker Cookbook

2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs


Preheat oven to 325*, making sure a rack is in the center. Grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan or 3 mini loaf pans.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until soft and pliable. Add butter and sugar and beat until fluffy, approximately 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and mix until blended, then beat in the eggs one at a time.

With the mixer on low, slowly add in the flour mixture and beat until just incorporated. Stop the mixer and finish folding together the batter with a spatula.

Spoon into your prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the cake, and if it's browning too quickly, move to an upper rack. (For the mini loaves, I baked at 15 minutes, then rotated and baked another 15-20 minutes.)

Bake for another 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.

It should last for up to 4 days at room temperature, well wrapped.


Lemon Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice


Mix together the powdered sugar and lemon juice and whisk until smooth.  Drizzle over cooled cake.