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This easy lemon bundt cake recipe delivers on taste and presentation. Follow my easy, foolproof steps to make a moist, tender cake with bright lemon flavor, topped with a simple lemon glaze.
What makes this the Best Lemon Bundt Cake
It’s one thing to make a gorgeous cake, but it’s another to make a cake that tastes so good it gets all the “Oohhs” and “Aahhs” every time someone tastes it. This is that cake! A gorgeous cake with the perfect balance of fresh lemon flavor and sweetness that is ultra-moist and tender.
What’s better? I’ve written out a step-by-step guide that will make it incredibly easy for you to make this cake, even with no baking experience. If this is your first time making a bundt cake, you’ve come to the right place!
Keep reading for everything you need to know about making the perfect lemon bundt cake.
Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe Ingredients
This delicious lemon cake is made with simple ingredients. It’s the perfect recipe for a Spring dinner party or just because the lemon lovers in your family have a craving! Get the full recipe with measurements and instructions in the recipe card below. Here’s what you’ll need:
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Unsalted butter: room temperature
- Granulated sugar
- Lemon zest
- Eggs: room temperature
- Sour cream
- Lemon juice
- Vanilla extract
- Whole milk: room temperature
Lemon Glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Fresh lemon juice
- Milk or heavy cream
- Salt
How to Make a Lemon Bundt Cake
Making an impressive lemon bundt cake with a perfect lemon glaze is easier than you may think! Get the full recipe in the recipe card below. Follow these easy steps to make the cake and glaze:
Bundt Cake
- Prep oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Mix dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Mix butter, sugar, and lemon zest. In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, granulated sugar, and lemon zest on medium speed with an electric mixer. Beat until light in color and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
- Add in the eggs, 3 at a time, mixing until combined.
- Mix in the sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
- Combine dry and wet ingredients and add milk. Add half of the dry ingredients, beating on low. Next, add the milk and beat again on low. Then add the remaining dry ingredients, mixing on low until fully combined.
- Prep bundt cake pan. Liberally grease a 9 inch bundt pan (it’s important to know what size you have) with butter. Get the butter in all the nooks. Once the pan is evenly coated with butter, add a few tablespoons of all-purpose flour to the pan. Hold the pan over the sink and rotate it, tapping the sides as you go, to distribute the flour evenly. Ensure the entire interior is covered with a thin layer of flour. Turn the pan upside down over the sink or trash can to remove any excess flour.
- Add batter to pan and bake. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes or until it’s starting to brown, appears set on top, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the cake appears to be browning too quickly, tent it with foil for the final 15 minutes of baking.
- Cool. Remove the bundt cake from the oven and allow it to cool (not inverted) for 15 minutes on a cooling rack. Then, invert the pan over a piece of parchment paper or a plate, tapping on the bottom of the pan to release the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely before adding the glaze.
Lemon Glaze
- Combine ingredients. Sift the powdered sugar. This helps to create a silky, smooth glaze. Add in 2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice, 2 tbsp milk or heavy cream, and vanilla extract, and whisk to combine. Add another teaspoon of lemon juice to thin out the glaze or more powdered sugar to thicken the glaze. Taste and adjust. Whisk in the salt.
- Top the cake. Drizzle generously over the cake. Allow the glaze to set for 30-60 minutes before slicing and serving.
Best Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe Variations
For best results, follow the recipe as is. However, here are some swaps you can make if needed:
- Lemon Juice: Fresh lemon juice is best, but if you need to use bottled, you can swap it. It may, however, alter the fresh lemon flavor.
- Lemon Zest: Fresh lemon zest is best, but if you don’t have fresh lemons, you can swap it for fresh lime zest or orange zest, but it will alter the flavor.
- Sour cream: Sour cream helps this cake be moist and rich, but you can try swapping it for full-fat plain unsweetened yogurt.
How to Store Moist Lemon Bundt Cake
Store leftover cake at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. To store, wrap the cooled cake in foil or plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container.
Recipe for Lemon Bundt Cake FAQs
A bundt cake is made in a bundt pan, giving it a large, circular shape with a hole in the middle (like a large donut). Bundt cakes are typically more moist and deeper than regular cakes.
Prepping your bundt pan properly is key to easily getting the cake out. Liberally grease your pan and coat it with a thin layer of flour. Once the cake is cooked, allow it to cool in the pan on a wire rack. Then, invert the pan over a plate or piece of parchment paper and gently tap the pan to release the cake.
First, cool the cake in the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Then, invert it to remove the cake and let it cool completely.
More Bundt Cake Recipes
- Banana Nut Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Peppermint Bundt Cake
- German Chocolate Bundt Cake
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Best Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, 360 grams
- 2 ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar, 298 grams
- lemon zest from 3 lemons
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream
- 4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 2-3 lemons
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup whole milk, room temperature, 170 grams
Lemon Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar, sift after measuring
- 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoons milk or heavy cream
- ⅛ tsp salt
Instructions
Bundt Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, granulated sugar and lemon zest on medium speed with an electric mixer. Beat until light in color and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.
- Add in the eggs, 3 at a time, mixing until combined.
- Mix in the sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla extract.
- Add half of the dry ingredients, beating on low. Next add the milk, beat again on low. Then add the remaining dry ingredients, mixing on low until fully combined.
- Liberally grease a 9 inch bundt pan (it’s important to know what size you have) with butter. Get the butter in all the nooks. Once the pan is evenly coated with butter, add a few tablespoons of all-purpose flour to the pan. Hold the pan over the sink and rotate it, tapping the sides as you go, to evenly distribute the flour. Ensure the entire interior is covered with a thin layer of flour. Turn the pan upside down over the sink or trash can to remove any excess flour.
- Transfer the batter to the pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until it’s starting to brown, appears set on top, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the cake appears to be browning too quickly, tent it with foil for the final 15 minutes of baking.
- Remove the bundt cake from the oven and allow it to cool (not inverted) for 15 minutes on a cooling rack. Then invert the pan over a piece of parchment paper or a plate, tapping on the bottom of the pan to release the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely before adding the glaze.
Lemon Glaze
- Sift the powdered sugar, this helps to create a silky, smooth glaze. Add in 2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice, 2 tbsp milk or heavy cream and vanilla extract, whisk to combine. Add another teaspoon of lemon juice to thin out the glaze or more powdered sugar to thicken the glaze. Taste and adjust, whisk in the salt.
- Drizzle generously over the cake. Allow the glaze to set for 30-60 minutes before slicing and serving.
Excelent
I made this delicious recipe for my family of six and the cake was gone in 45 minutes.
Amazing cake that looked as good as it tasted. My daughter told me this is her new birthday cake!
Amazing recipe! My cake turned out absolutely perfect!
This is literally the first cake I’ve ever baked. I followed the directions exactly as wrote and my cake turned out amazing! My kids said it was the best cake they’ve ever eaten.