Gluten-Free Lemon-Vanilla Pound Cake [Made with Yogurt Alternative]

This post for my gluten-free lemon-vanilla pound cake recipe is sponsored by Danone North America and contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own.

A while ago I found a gluten-free pound cake boxed mix. I enjoyed the pound cake, but I didn’t love all the added and unnecessary ingredients in the mix.

I’ve always wanted to create my own gluten-free pound cake… so when Danone asked me to create a recipe with its dairy-free yogurt, I immediately thought of making a gluten-free pound cake!

My gluten-free baking skills are getting better every day, and I’m able to look at different recipes to find inspiration.

As I searched my books and the Internet, it became clear to me that the way to give pound cake that moist texture is by using some sort of creamy dairy product in the batter. I found that many pound cake recipes call for cream cheese, sour cream or yogurt. The thought of sour cream grosses me out, and I don’t love working with cream cheese as I’ve been limiting dairy in my diet.

So that left me with the opportunity to use Danone’s wonderful dairy-free coconutmilk yogurt alternative instead. This dairy-free yogurt alternative is so creamy and light – I knew it would be the perfect secret ingredient in my gluten-free pound cake recipe.

What is Pound Cake?

The name “pound cake” got its name because it used to contain a pound of each of its core ingredients – flour, butter, sugar and eggs. If you used a pound of each of those items today, you’d have quite a large cake (or many cakes!). Before we had recipe books and the Internet, making a pound cake using a pound of each ingredient was an easy way to remember exactly what went into a pound cake.

Today’s pound cake recipes are smaller, thanks to leavening ingredients, and they don’t require butter if you want a lighter texture too.

How to Make Gluten-Free Pound Cake

To make this dairy-free and gluten-free pound cake, you’ll need a few ingredients:

(1) Gluten-Free Flour Blend:  When shopping for ingredients at Sprouts, grab a gluten-free flour blend. One-to-one or cup-for-cup gluten-free flour blends work best. Make sure your flour includes xanthan gum, an ingredient common in gluten-free baking, to ensure your pound cake mimics the texture of a pound cake made with wheat flour.

(2) So Delicious™ Coconutmilk Yogurt Alternative:  You’ll need two 5.3 ounce cartons of So Delicious™ Coconutmilk Yogurt Alternative, which you can get at Sprouts or at most grocery stores nationwide. I picked up the vanilla flavored yogurt. I personally like the unsweetened version, but you could use the sweetened one instead.

(3) Lemons: Don’t forget the lemons when you’re at Sprouts!  One lemon will suffice and you’ll use both the zest and juice of the lemon to make your gluten-free pound cake sing.  Tip: Pick up an extra lemon to use as garnish.

(4) Misc. Baking Ingredients:  Of course you’ll need baking powder, salt, sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs.

(5)  Icing supplies: Don’t forget the powdered sugar and a dairy-free milk alternative like Silk™ Cashewmilk – my personal choice – for the icing.

Combine all your wet ingredients (coconutmilk yogurt alternative, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla and lemon zest and juice) in a large bowl. Before you juice that lemon, make sure you zest it first (it’s much easier to zest an intact lemon).

Then you’ll add the sugar and continue mixing until well incorporated, about 30 seconds.

Once the wet ingredients are well combined, add your gluten-free flour blend, baking powder and salt. Mix gently until everything is incorporated well, scraping edges as you go. The batter will thicken.

Next, pour the batter into a greased and lightly floured loaf pan. Alternatively you can use a bundt pan.

Bake the pound cake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow the cake to cool in the baking pan for 30 minutes, then gently maneuver it out of the pan and onto a wire rack to finish cooling. You may need to run a butter knife along the edge of the cake to ensure it comes out clean.

While it’s cooling on the wire rack, combine the powdered sugar and Silk™ Cashewmilk in a small bowl to create your icing. No gluten-free pound cake would be complete without icing, right?

You can either pour or drizzle the icing over the cake (if drizzling, use a spoon).  It’s best to do the icing while the cake is on a wire rack and add parchment paper or paper towels below the wire rack to catch the run-off of icing.

I love how the icing coats the top of the cake, but drizzles down the sides of the cake – so pretty! Based on how much icing ran over the edge, I’m thinking I could have made my icing a little thicker. You can adjust the measurements by adding less liquid or more powdered sugar.

How Does It Taste?

I was really excited to dig into this cake. It smells wonderful and looks amazing – who wouldn’t want to gobble it up stat.

I moved the gluten-free pound cake to a cutting board and began to gently slice it. It’s moist so I recommend using a serrated knife to gently cut it.

Just look at how beautiful it is inside. Light and fluffy!  Thank you So Delicious™ for making this cake so spongy and dare I say the m-word… moist!  You can definitely taste the lemon as well as hints of vanilla and coconut, albeit much more subtle than the lemon flavor.

And those lemons – I got ’em at Sprouts and they are gorgeous!  This dessert reminds me of spring.

Simply put… this gluten-free pound cake looks and tastes divine! Your friends will be impressed with your mad gluten-free and dairy-free baking skills!

Thank You So Delicious™

All So Delicious™ products are free of dairy, lactose, gluten, casein, carrageenan, egg, peanut and MSG (except for its oat containing products and ice cream sandwiches; they both contain gluten).

Additionally, all So Delicious™ products are Kosher, contain no artificial colors or flavors and are verified by the Non-GMO Project’s product verification program.

Gluten-Free Lemon-Vanilla Pound Cake

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Gluten-Free Lemon-Vanilla Pound Cake

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

50 mins

Cooling time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 5 mins

 

This spongy and moist pound cake is free of gluten and dairy but it's not free of taste. The lemon sings, the cake has bite, and the icing offers a sweet addition on top. Be sure to use dairy-free yogurt. I used So Delicious® coconutmilk yogurt alternative and had wonderful results! This recipe is sponsored by Danone.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten-free and dairy-free pound cake recipe, gluten-free pound cake, lemon pound cake recipe, yogurt pound cake recipe

Servings: 10 slices

Calories: 245 kcal

Author: Jenny Finke, Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach

Ingredients

Pound Cake Batter

• 1 cup So Delicious® coconutmilk yogurt alternative This is equivalent to two 5.3 ounce containers
• 1/2 cup avocado oil Or vegetable oil of choice
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp lemon zest This is equivalent to the zest of one medium-sized lemon
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup one-to-one gluten-free flour blend Approximately 225 grams of a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend (blend should include xanthan gum)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp Silk™ Cashewmilk Or other dairy-free milk alternative

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8x5" loaf pan and then lightly dust it with gluten-free flour.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine yogurt, oil, eggs, lemon zest and juice and vanilla extract. Mix gently until well combined.

3. Add to mixture flour, baking powder and salt and gently mix for 30-60 seconds on low speed until well combined. Do not overmix.

4. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the pound cake comes out clean.

5. Allow cake to cool for 30 minutes before removing it from pan and placing it on a wire rack to cool. You may want to use a butter knife to ensure the edges come loose before removing it from the pan.

6. Once cake is cool, prepare the icing by combining the powdered sugar with cashewmilk or other milk alternative. The icing should be thick but still have good viscosity (flow). 

7. Place a piece of parchment paper or newspaper under the wire rack (to catch icing run-off). Drizzle the cake with the icing, completely covering the top but allowing the icing to drizzle down the sides. Allow icing to set and cake to cool for another 60 minutes before slicing. 

Recipe Notes

1. The cake is very spongy and tender. Allow it to cool completely before slicing. Use a serrated knife for best results. 
2. If your icing is too watery, it won't stick atop the cake well. Add more powdered sugar (or less milk) to get the right consistency.

Nutrition Facts

Gluten-Free Lemon-Vanilla Pound Cake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 245 Calories from Fat 117

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 13g 20%

Saturated Fat 1g 5%

Cholesterol 49mg 16%

Sodium 141mg 6%

Potassium 124mg 4%

Total Carbohydrates 28g 9%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 14g

Protein 4g 8%

Vitamin A 1.4%

Vitamin C 5.4%

Calcium 9.3%

Iron 5.4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.