Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each. Add flour and cream alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Add soda and extract last. Bake in a greased and floured tube cake pan 1 1/4 hours in a 325 degree oven.
To make a chocolate pound cake using the same recipe, use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and omit the lemon. Add 5 tablespoons of sifted cocoa to flour. Can be frozen.