When you need a sweet treat that brings some sass too, this pink lemonade pound cake is just right. Shot-through with a stripe of hot pink, the cake is plenty citrusy, thanks to a whopping 2 tablespoons of lemon zest, plus juice in both the batter and glaze. Perfect for baby and bridal showers,  Mother’s day and afternoon tea party, this is the sort of statement dessert that stands out without much work. 

If you’d rather a totally pink cake, simply color the entire batter. Prefer to avoid food coloring? The cake is just as delicious without the pink hue. Simply skip the step of coloring the batter and proceed accordingly. Gel food coloring works the best for vibrant color, but regular food coloring would work fine; just add drops until you reach the color you like.

Got a glut of lemons? Use any leftover juice to make a detox lemonade, lemon icebox pie.

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YIELDS: 8 – 12

PREP TIME: 0 HOURS 10 MINS

TOTAL TIME: 4 HOURS 0 MINS

INGREDIENTS

Cooking spray

1 1/2 (300 g.) granulated sugar

1 c. (2 sticks; 225 g.) butter, room temperature

2 tbsp. finely grated lemon zest

4 large eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

2 c. (240 g.) all-purpose flour

3/4 (175 ml.) whole milk

1/2 c. fresh lemon juice (from about 3 large lemons), divided

12 (or more) drops pink or magenta gel food coloring

2 c. (450 g.) powdered sugar

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DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9″-by-5″ loaf pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on 2 long sides. Grease parchment with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat granulated sugar, butter, and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Add flour and beat on low speed, scraping down sides of bowl with a spatula, until no dry streaks remain. With the mixer running, slowly pour milk and 5 tablespoons lemon juice into batter and beat until just combined.
3. Transfer 1 1/2 cups batter to a medium bowl and stir in 8 to 15 drops food coloring, until batter is your desired pink hue. Spoon half of plain batter into prepared pan; spread pink batter over top. Spread pink batter with remaining plain batter; smooth top with spatula.
4. Bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes, tenting with foil during the last 20 minutes if necessary to prevent top from browning too fast. Let cool 15 minutes, then use parchment overhang to lift loaf out of pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Add 4 drops food coloring, then add remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice one drop at a time, whisking to combine after each addition, until glaze is a very thick lava consistency.
6. Spoon glaze over cooled cake and let set 15 minutes before slicing.