Name: Key Lime Pound Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: ½ c. butter, softened; 1 c. sugar; 2 eggs; 1 cup key limes, zested and juiced; 1 ½ c. flour; ½ teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; ⅓ c. vanilla Greek yogurt; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 c. powdered sugar; 2 Tablespoons key lime juice

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This delicious Key Lime Pound Cake is the perfect combination of tart key lime flavor and a rich, buttery cake. This easy recipe is not only incredibly delicious, but also quick and simple to make.

Key limes are one of those things that I totally love but I can’t always getting. Living in the northeast they aren’t readily available and my market rarely carries them.

So when Melissa’s Produce sent me a box of produce that had several bags of key limes I was so excited to get baking. The first thing I made was key lime curd and then I made a few desserts using that.

I still had another bag left so I wanted to make something. I wanted to make sure it was something where the key lime flavor could really shine through. I decided to make a Key Lime Pound Cake.

Ingredients:

butter (I like salted to balance out the sweetness but you can use unsalted)
granulated sugar
eggs
key limes (you can use regular limes but try to find the key limes!)
all purpose flour
baking powder
salt (I like to use sea salt but table salt is fine)
vanilla Greek yogurt (you can also use plain Greek yogurt)
vanilla extract
powdered sugar

To Make the Cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs and mix well. In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix well. Stir in the Greek yogurt and vanilla extract. Mix in the key lime juice and key lime zest. Add remaining flour and mix well. Pour into a loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes.

Before starting to make the cake I recommend that you zest and juice the key limes. Since they are so small this takes a bit of time. It took me around 15 minutes to zest and juice a bag of key limes.

When juicing the limes I like to put afine mesh sieve over top of a liquid measuring cup and squeeze the limes over top of that. There are so may seeds in these limes and this is a fast and easy way to make sure that the seeds don’t end up in your juice.

Once you have finished zesting and juicing the key limes you can start making the cake. It’s really easy to mix up in about 10 minutes. Then you just pop it in the oven and let it bake.

What are key limes?

Key limes are small, spherical limes that grow in tropical and subtropical regions. They are lighter in color than limes, being more of a yellowish green than a solid green color. They also have a lot more seeds than traditional limes. The skins are thinner so they don’t last as long. Key limes are fragrant and tart and are are great when used in desserts to help balance out the sweetness.

Do I have to use key limes?

The short answer is that you don’t have to but the flavor will be a little different. If all you have are regular limes they will work fine and still give you that lime flavor.

Can I use bottled key lime juice?

You could but then you wouldn’t have any zest and you really need the zest in the cake. So if you don’t have key limes just go for regular limes so you can have fresh juice and zest.

Do I have to dye the glaze?

No! I did just because I wanted the green to give a hint of what the flavor was on the inside of the cake. You can keep it the way it is and make a white glaze. Then decorate it with slices of key limes or green sprinkles.

How do you store the cake?

I store the cake in an air tight container on the counter for up to 5 days. It rarely lasts that long but it will stay fresh for 5 days.

After the cake comes out of the oven it needs to cool completely. This is when you can start thinking about how you want to decorate it.

I went with a simple key lime glaze and then put key lime slices on top of the cake. It was simple but added a bit of sweetness and let everyone know what the flavor of the cake was going to be.

More Cake Recipes:

You could also go with green or clear sanding sugar or even some sprinkles on top. I would recommend you put the glaze on top since it gives the cake that extra little key lime kick.

I chose to put my glaze in a bag and drizzle it over the top because I thought it looked really pretty and was an easy way to decorate. You could also just pour the glaze over the top then finish with sprinkles or sugar.

The finished cake is delicious. It’s rich and buttery and has hints of key lime in it. The glaze gives the cake a sweet and tart key lime punch that brings the flavors home. It’s perfect when served with tea or coffee for dessert!

If you’ve tried my Key Lime Pound Cake or any other recipe on Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you! You can FOLLOW ME on: