Forget forks and plates! Grab up a slice of cake in your hand and get that picnic party rockin’ with this easy, old-fashioned Strawberry Lemonade Pound Cake drizzled in simple lemon icing! This recipe creates a super-moist, fast-make, slow-bake cake. This pound cake is made with strawberry yogurt, sour cream and sunflower oil to ratchet up the moist factor.  And just when’s the last time you made a big party cake without an electric mixer?  I think it’s perfect for a picnic!  While we could leave out the pink, I can’t think of anything more festive than pink lemonade for a party or for a picnic — so that’s how we’ll roll today. To jump directly to the recipe section>> Click here. Mothers don’t give up on your sons! We’re partying around here big time ’cause my son, Michelangelo, is now a college grad. Whoop-whoop, yeehaw and all that!  With a wink and a nod to all those solo moms out there raising a family on your own. I know so well how challenging it can be.The Long and Winding Road! Michelangelo was a fiercely independent, blue-haired, punk rock kid who dropped himself out of high school the day he turned 18 to enroll in independent study. (That, my friends, was a tough blow for me.) But then his grades actually began to rise, sort of like a rocket. Yeah, actually like a rocket blasting through a meteor shower against all odds. And he finished his last year of high school with all A’s in 3 months.

But then he moved out of the house (on the very day he graduated high school, ouch!). He hopped into his Baja Bug on a stormy, stormy night (without even knowing how to drive a stick-shift) and somehow made it to his destination 6 hours away. Will mothers ever stop worrying? I don’t think so!

But he ended up in a wonderful setting…

Turns out, he had wrangled an agreement with Granny Vi to live by himself in her little cottage in Carmel. And he had agreed (in a hand-written contract) that he would dress nicely and get a job and go to school if he wanted to live there. And so that happened in accordance with their contract. Miracles of all miracles. Now, those of you who know, understand that Carmel-by-the-Sea is a quiet little artist’s village on the coast, about 1 square mile all total and not especially lively for punk teen types. So Michelangelo began devouring Granny Vi’s books (from Homer to Plato and back again), taught himself to read Latin on his own and enrolled at the JC in Monterey. And I’m thinking Granny Vi’s inspiration was an amazing influence. I’m so grateful to my dearly departed mom and to my brother, Mark, and my family and friends for all their kindness and help (’cause it was all beyond me in so many ways). It takes a village, for sure! I’m also thinking that his current success has a lot to do with his employment at the amazing Casanova Restaurant in Carmel, where he worked his tail off –from hardcore Dishwasher all the way to Bread Baker alongside an amazing team of talented and creative and chefs. I think they sorta whooped Michelangelo into shape — and taught him lessons about hard work, fine food and sharp knives in the process. Thank you, Casanova!! I’m forever in your debt. With straight A’s under his belt from the junior college, he was accepted to the Classics Division at Berkeley to haul in a magna cum laude degree in Latin and Ancient Greek studies with his sights now on law school. I must say it’s been quite an adventure (as you might glean from these photos – my focus is on the hair). So now it’s time to party hearty — with a nice old-fashioned pound cake that is very easy to make. I’ve prepared 3 different recipes for you so that you can make: 1) a small cake for the family; 2) a doubled recipe for serving a crowd; and 3) a quadrupled recipe for serving a large party with lots and lots of guests. Zesting tool tip: Just about the only tool you should have on hand (though not actually necessary) is a microplane zesting tool ’cause the only real prep action is a heck of a lot of lemon zesting. That’s why we start with the zesting first in this recipe. My advice: Haul a bowl of lemons into the living room, lay a cotton dish towel across your knees (for strays) and watch your favorite classic movie (just to get you in the mood for vintage baking). The fresh lemon zest is what gives this moist pound cake it’s punch. 

And when you mix that zest with strawberry yogurt and sour cream, you’ve got a pound cake on your hands worthy of any puppy photo bomb. Our little chihuahua, Icaurus, dreaming of pink cake…

Second party weapon! I’ve learned from my pro baker friends that the easiest way to slice and serve cake for a large crowd is to use a long loaf pan.  So this is my go-to party pan for a simple “crowd cake”. It bakes well and allows you to serve slices quickly and easily…like little ducks in a row…boom, boom, boom. It comes to me from my buddy’s baking supply store, ShopBakersNook.com. It has clips on each end so that when you bake an angel food cake in it, you can flip it and let it rise upside down.

Third Tool – Heavy Whisk: My sister gave me this kitchen tool for Christmas and I didn’t use it for a long time — because I didn’t actually know what it was. Turns out, I love it, now that I know it is a heavy duty whisk. It works perfectly for this thick batter and scrapes the sides of the bowl with silicone-coated tines.

Dump and stir, that’s it! If you’ve ever heard of a dump cake, this is a pretty close cousin, since the ingredients are literally dumped into the bowls and stirred. More specifically, you can use a whisk to combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl, then combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl. After mixing the dry and wet ingredients together, you whisk in some oil (used vintage style in place of butter). Just smear the batter into the baking pan and bake it low and slow.  World’s Easiest Icing! This drizzle icing is full of flavor and extremely simple.  Just stir fresh lemon juice into powder sugar, done! What could be easier? I like to leave the cake crack facing up when the cake is done so that the icing catches into the crevices a little more than it would with a very smooth cake top. 🙂   Strawberry Lemonade Party Pound Cake – Angel Food Pan (Single Recipe):

This is the recipe that makes a small family style picnic cake.

Prepare a bundt pan (or a springform angel food tube pan) with shortening or butter and flour, set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (we’ll reduce the oven temperature for larger cake sizes).

Tip: If you use a tube pan, you should have a helper pull down the inner workings of the tube pan while you lift up the cake with 2 large spatulas on either side of the cake.

Dry ingredients Bowl – Single Recipe:

Use a whisk to thoroughly incorporate:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Wet Ingredient Bowl Single Recipe:

Add all ingredients into the bowl then mix thoroughly with a whisk (or on slow speed with a hand-held mixer): 2 teaspoons lemon zest from about 2 large lemons
1 cup strawberry yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract flavoring, fine quality
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, fine quality
4 drops of natural red food coloring (or 1/2 teaspoon of red food gel)

Large Full-Batter Bowl – Single Recipe:

In bowl large enough to hold both the dry and wet ingredients, use a whisk to combine dry and wet ingredients until thorough incorporated.

After the main batter is thoroughly mixed (and looking your desired color of pink), use a whisk to stir until thoroughly incorporated:
1/2 cup sunflower oil, or similar oil

Spread the batter in a bundt pan (or angel food pan) that has been greased and floured.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or until the internal cake temperature of the pound cake reaches about 210 degrees.

Remove from the pan immediately to cool on a wire rack.

Tip: If the top crust becomes initially hard, you may brush the top crust with a little butter when it is hot from the oven. We reduced the oven temperature to prevent this, but you can soften the crust with a little butter just in case, remembering that the cake can be flipped upside down.

Double Tip: This cake usually produces a ridge down the center of the cake. That’s normal (and it leaves a nice little crevice to catch some extra icing if you leave the ridge on top).

Sweet Lemon Drizzle – Single Recipe:

Using a fork, stir in a bowl until dissolved:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

Place aluminum foil under the cake cooling rack to catch overflow icing and pour the room temperature icing over top of the cake, letting the icing drip down the sides.

Strawberry Lemonade Party Pound Cake – Long Loaf Pan (Double Recipe): This is the doubled cake recipe that produces one large, long loaf cake.

Prepare a long loaf-shaped pan (16″x4″x4″) (I got mine from ShopBakersNook.com). This shape allows this doubled cake recipe to be sliced in thick pound cake slices to easily serve a crowd.  You may substitute 2 angel food pans (aka tube pans).

Dry ingredients Large Bowl – Double Recipe:

Use a whisk to thoroughly incorporate:
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Wet Ingredient Large Bowl – Double Recipe:

Add all ingredients into the bowl then mix thoroughly with a whisk (or on slow speed with a hand-held mixer):
4 teaspoons lemon zest from about 4 large lemons
2 cups strawberry yogurt
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 teaspoon lemon extract flavoring, fine quality
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, fine quality 8 drops of natural red food coloring (or 1 teaspoon of red food gel)

Very Large Full Batter Bowl – Double Recipe:

In bowl large enough to hold both the dry and wet ingredients, use a whisk to combine dry and wet ingredients until thorough incorporated.

After the main batter is thoroughly mixed (and looking your desired color of pink), use a whisk to stir until thoroughly incorporated:
1 cup sunflower oil, or similar oil

Spread the batter in loaf pan that has been greased and floured.

Bake at 325 for about 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until the internal cake temperature of the pound cake reaches about 210 degrees.

Tip: If the top crust becomes initially hard, you may brush the top crust with a little butter when it is hot from the oven. We reduced the oven temperature to prevent this, but you can soften the crust with a little butter just in case, remembering that the cake can be flipped upside down.

Double Tip: This cake usually produces a ridge down the center of the cake. That’s normal (and it leaves a nice little crevice to catch some extra icing if you leave the ridge on top).

Remove from the pan immediately to cool on a wire rack.

Sweet Lemon Drizzle – – Double Recipe:

Using a fork, stir in a bowl until dissolved:
2 cups powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

Place aluminum foil under the cake cooling rack to catch overflow icing and pour the room temperature icing over top of the cake, letting the icing drip down the sides.

Strawberry Lemonade Pound Cake Ingredients in 2 Large Loaf Pans (Party 4X Recipe): This is the Quadrupled Recipe  (divided between 2 large bowls of dry and 2 large bowls of wet).

2 Dry ingredients bowls – party size for 2 large loaf pans:
8 cups all-purpose flour (4 cups in each large bowl)
4 Tablespoons baking powder (2 Tablespoons in each large bowl)
2 teaspoons salt (1 teaspoon in each large bowl)
2 teaspoons baking soda (1 teaspoon in each large bowl)

2 Wet Ingredient Large Bowls – party size for 2 large loaf pans:
4 cups strawberry yogurt (2 cups in each large bowl)
2 cups sour cream (1 cup in each large bowl)
1 cup heavy whipping cream (1/2 cup in each large bowl)
4 cups sugar (2 cups in each large bowl)
12 large eggs (6 eggs in each large bowl)
8 teaspoons lemon zest (4 teaspoons in each large bowl)
2 teaspoons lemon extract flavoring (1 teaspoon in each large bowl)
4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (2 teaspoons in each large bowl)
2 teaspoons red food coloring gel or 16 drops of good quality natural red food coloring (8 drops of food coloring or 1 teaspoon of gel in each large bowl)

After all previous dry and wet ingredients are added, stir in to thoroughly blend:
2 cups sunflower oil, or similar oil (1 cup in each large bowl)

Evenly divide the batter (unless you’ve been using separate batter bowls as discussed above) and spread the batter into 2 large loaf pans that have been greased and floured.

Bake at 325 for about 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until the internal cake temperature of the pound cake reaches about 210 degrees.

Tip: For 2 large cakes, I used the center oven rack of a double oven, placing one cake dead center in each oven. I think these cakes can bake side by side in a single oven but let us know in the comments if you have experience baking 2 very large cakes together at the same time.

Double Tip: If the top crust becomes initially hard, you may brush the top crust with a little butter when it is hot from the oven. We reduced the oven temperature to prevent this, but you can soften the crust with a little butter just in case, remembering that the cake can be flipped upside down.

Triple Tip: This cake usually produces a ridge down the center of the cake. That’s normal (and it leaves a nice little crevice to catch some extra icing if you leave the ridge on top).

Remove from the pan immediately to cool on a wire rack.

Sweet Lemon Drizzle Quadrupled 4X Party Size:

Using a fork, stir in a bowl until dissolved:
4 cups powdered sugar
8 Tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

Place 2 large sheets of aluminum foil under 2 large cooling racks (or side by side smaller racks) to catch overflow icing and pour the room temperature icing over tops, letting the icing drip down the sides. Or, forget the wire racks and just drizzle and serve.

Nix-the-pink version: So if you’d like to leave out the red food coloring and go au naturel with this puppy, you’ll turn out a nice, moist and lemony pound cake in a rather golden color (depending on which strawberry yogurt you use) with little bits of strawberry dotting each slice, like this… I do hope you’ve enjoyed your romp down the 3 lane highway of party cake recipes for small, large and super-large lemonade pound cake.

Now after the party is over and the house is back in order, consider sharing a little slice with a buddy.

Coffee, tea or pink lemonade comin’ up! I hope you’ll join us on Facebook or on Instagram or on Pinterest. We’re having lots of fun chatting up and sharing photo inspiration.

Leslie

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