Key Lime Pound Cake in Bundt Pan

For this recipe for key lime pound cake, you’re making this from scratch versus using a cake mix. But don’t worry: it’s an easy recipe that you’ll bake in a bundt pan and finish out with a delicious, citrus glaze. This will easily become your favorite cake to make for all occasions.

Key Lime Pound Cake in Bundt Pan

When you think about key lime, you’re probably thinking about key lime pie, so named for the lime that has its origins in the Florida Keys. The dessert also likely originated there as well though some argue that as a no bake pie in the icebox dessert category, that seems to indicate it got its start in the North. As someone who grew up with a grandmother’s icebox dessert, closely mimicking this no bake chocolate icebox cake recipe, that makes sense.

But enough about key limes, pies and no-bake desserts. This recipe for key lime pound cake brings the taste of the pie alive but in cake form that, yes, you definitely need to bake. Not only does the cake itself have a citrus flavor but so does the glaze that you’ll make from scratch and top the cake with once it has cooled.

This bright flavor just screams warm weather, which is why I think you’ll love this recipe as a go-to spring or summer dessert. Or, if you live in a warm weather climate, anytime you want a light, citrus-infused dessert.

Baked in a bundt cake pan, which some also call an angel food cake pan or a tube cake pan, its shape reminds me of the traditional Italian Easter cake called pigna. I think the donut shape gives this cake an air of sophistication.

Ingredients

The image above for this cake’s ingredients are all grouped together. However, since you need some for the cake batter and some for the key lime glaze, I’ve broken out the ingredients list below.

Key Lime Cake

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 6 eggs
• 1 cup cream cheese
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze Ingredients

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon key lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions 

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Grease and flour a 9-10 inch angel food cake pan, tube cake or bundt pan.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, and shortening together until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt to make the cake flour. Then, sift the cake flour and baking powder together.

To the butter mixture, beat in the eggs, cream cheese, key lime juice, lime zest and vanilla extract. Next beat in the cake flour mixture until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes; remove cake from the pan to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling, make the glaze. Whisk the powdered sugar, key lime juice and vanilla extract in a bowl. Immediately spoon glaze over the top and sides of the cake once it has cooled. Serve, slice and enjoy.

Notes

While it is always best to use fresh limes for this recipe — and key limes at that — if you don’t have fresh limes, you can use bottle lime juice.

In fact, if you don’t have limes at all or even lime juice, you could modify this recipe to become a lemon pound cake recipe. Just swap lemon juice for lime juice and lemon zest for lemon juice.

The donut-shaped cake pan that I’m using for this recipe? It goes by three different names:

• bundt cake pan
• tube pan
• angel food cake pan

I know that for me, I associated bundt cakes with the waves on the top. But it turns out there are smooth surface bundt cake pans, which most people call an angel food cake pan. Another way to describe this is a tube pan, because it has a metal tube in the middle that provides heat to the center of the cake and helps it cook faster. This article on the different types of baking pans explains things a bit better.

If you have neither of these named pans, you can easily find them online.