Gluten Free Lemon Pound Cake – Best Ever Recipe

This is the best gluten free pound cake recipe you’ll ever find. I know this because I couldn’t believe that it was gluten free when I first tasted it myself!

You may or may not know that I have strict standards for my gluten-free baking. The rule is that it cannot taste “gluten free.”

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You know how you sometimes taste something that just isn’t as good as it should be? Whether it’s low-calorie, low-fat or gluten-free, whatever I eat needs to taste good, first. At my age, every calorie has to be worthwhile; in other words, it has to taste fabulous.

So, today I am delighted to share this gluten free pound cake recipe with you. I first tasted it a couple of years ago when my friend Judy from My Well Seasoned Life had brought a Lemon Pound Cake to a video shoot that a group of us were doing. I had initially declined having a slice, but when I heard the others raving about it, I changed my mind.

Oh yes, it was a perfect lemon pound cake, full of citrus flavor and just the right texture, so you can imagine our shock when Judy told us it was also gluten-free! I almost couldn’t believe it, but I knew Judy would never lie to us. The next question was, “Recipe, please?” This cake simply does not taste “gluten free”.

The Gluten Free Recipe Discovery

Judy obliged, and said it wasn’t her own recipe, but an America’s Test Kitchen’s recipe. Not a problem. The only problem I had was that one of the ingredients was xanthan gum, and not in my kitchen cabinet. I was wary of using something that I usually only see on packaged foods.

According to the recipe, the xanthan gum is critical to the success of the recipe, so omitting it was out of the question. However, after doing my own research online and discovering it is a plant-based thickening agent, and as as Judy explained, only using one quarter of a teaspoon in an entire cake which is only made once in a while, it seems pretty innocuous.

One of the fun things about this cake is that it’s made in a food processor. I love that it’s just a matter of adding the ingredients to the processor bowl, adding the flour into another bowl, then pouring the batter into the pan! It seems as if it’s too runny for a proper cake, but it turns out beautifully each time.

Another type of lemon cake using a whole orange, skin and all.

 

America’s Test Kitchen used a different brand of gluten-free flour without the rice flour and potato starch. You could try using 7 oz of just gluten-free flour, but I used the other two additions the first time as I didn’t have enough and it turned out so well, I continued making it this way.

A Wonderful Gift Idea!

I made this lemon cake for two friends over the Christmas holidays who are on gluten-free diets, and they were both over the moon. Last week, I tried an orange version which was wonderful, except for being just a little too sweet. I should have reduced the sugar as oranges are naturally sweet, so you’ll see the difference for the sugar quantity between the orange and lemon in the recipe below.

Thank you Judy; you just keep finding and making such phenomenal recipes, I can barely keep up!

The Best Gluten Free 
Pound Cake Recipe

adapted from America’s Test Kitchen recipe for Lemon Pound Cake
(correct measurements are critical in this recipe so please use a scale  
if you’d like to make this cake)          makes 12 servings (slices)

FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C)

Grease and flour a loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, rice flour, potato starch, baking powder, salt and xanthan gum.

Place the sugar and citrus rind in a food processor and pulse to combine. Next add the juice, lemon oil or orange oil, eggs, cream cheese and vanilla and process for a few seconds until well combined. While processing, add the butter in a steady stream. It shouldn’t take more than 30 seconds; pour mixture into another bowl and whisk in the dry ingredients until smooth.

Pour into prepared pan, and bake for 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 325°F (160°C) and continue to bake for another 40 minutes (turn cake halfway around after 20 minutes) or until tester comes out clean.

Allow to cool in pan for about 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge, carefully remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on a rack.

Meanwhile prepare the glaze if using: mix the confectioner’s sugar and juice together to form a runny glaze. Keep covered until ready to use, then drizzle over the cake. Alternatively, you can dust the top with confectioner’s sugar, or go nude! You’ll see that this recipe truly makes the best gluten free pound cake, ever!

Yes, it actually tastes just as good as it looks.

All that’s left to do is slice and enjoy!

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gluten free pound cake recipe