Lemons, limes and 7-Up make this cake quite refreshing and moist. Any good southern girl must know how to whip up a pound cake. I learned to make a pound cake as a very young girl with my grandmother. She showed me how to make a basic cake and then how to make several variations. Sometimes you can create a whole different cake, just by adding a different extract.
For this cake, you don’t need any extract because the fresh lemons and limes provide TONS of flavor! You don’t have to use 7Up in this cake. Almost any clear soda will do EXCEPT Fresca. According to America’s Test Kitchen, Fresca leaves the cake pale and tough because of the artificial sweeteners. And by all means, do NOT use DIET anything. It’s a pound cake people, NOT a diet cake!
| 7-Up Pound Cake |
- 2 1/2 c. granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 c. 7Up, room temperature
- 1 T. grated lemon zest
- 2 T. fresh lemon juice
- 1 T. grated lime zest
- 2 T. fresh lime juice
- 1/2 t. salt
- 20 T. (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melting and cooled slightly
- 3 1/4 cake flour
- GLAZE:
- 1 c. confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
- 1 T. fresh lemon juice
- 1 T. fresh lime juice
- Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup nonstick tube pan. Process the granulated sugar, eggs, 7Up, lemon zest and juice, lime zest and juice, and salt in a food processor until smooth, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, slowly pour in the butter and process until incorporated. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the flour in three additions, whisking until combined.
- Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Gently tap the pan on the counter to release any trapped air bubbles. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 75-90 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet to cool completely, 2 hours.
- GLAZE: Whisk the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Pour the glaze over the cooled cake. Let the glaze set for 10 minutes. Serve.
