Lemon Bundt Cake

My love affair with lemon desserts is well documented, and here I am with another one!

This lemon bundt cake uses the same base recipe as my lemon pound cake, so you know it’s extra rich and buttery.

I love this cake because it’s sweet, but not overly so. The glaze increases the sweetness, but if you’re a person who doesn’t love a sickly sweet dessert, then this is the one for you!

Bundt cakes are great to bring to a party, but I also love to have them for a brunch or afternoon gathering.

What do I need to make this recipe?

• Butter – for baking recipes like this one, I recommend using unsalted butter, so you can control the amount of salt.
• Granulated sugar – there are two kinds of sugar in this recipe; granulated for the cake, and powdered for the glaze.
• Eggs – this recipe was developed and tested with large eggs.
• Sour cream – I recommend full fat sour cream for this recipe; as it adds moisture.
• Vanilla – for this recipe, I prefer to use real vanilla extract, rather than imitation.
• Lemon juice – freshly squeezed lemon juice is recommended.
• Lemon zest – the zest is where much of the classic bright lemon flavor is found.
• Milk – I recommend using whole milk for this recipe, as that’s what it’s been tested with.
• Flour – nothing fancy here, just regular all-purpose flour.
• Baking powder – make sure you’re using baking powder, not baking soda, they’re not interchangeable in baking recipes.
• Salt – I use kosher salt. If using table salt or sea salt, you may want to use a bit less than what’s called for.
• Powdered sugar – powdered sugar is used to make the glaze, so it doesn’t have any grittiness.

How to make a lemon bundt cake?

This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.

1. Beat butter and sugar. I like to beat the butter first, then add the sugar and beat again.
2. Combine other wet ingredients. This is the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest, and milk.
3. Beat. Mix until well combined.
4. Whisk dry ingredients. I like to combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, so they incorporate better into the batter.
5. Stir in. When adding the dry ingredients, I like to use a rubber spatula to stir them in, so the batter doesn’t get over-mixed.
6. Transfer to the baking pan. Make sure the cake pan is well greased first.
7. Bake. Bundt cakes take a while to bake, so keep that in mind when planning your baking.
8. Make glaze. No fancy tools required, just a whisk or fork and a small bowl.
9. Glaze cake. Pour or spoon the glaze over the cooled cake.

Variations of this recipe

• Salted butter – if you’d prefer to use salted butter, you can, just omit the salt from the recipe.
• Greek yogurt – in place of the sour cream, you can use full-fat, plain, unflavored greek yogurt.
• Lemon juice – in a pinch, you can use bottled lemon juice (although I much prefer the flavor of fresh).
• Topping options – instead of sprinkling the top of the glaze with lemon zest, you could try dotting it with some fresh blueberries or raspberries.
• Lemon syrup – to increase the moistness of this cake, you can add 1/2 cup each of water and granulated sugar, and the peel of a lemon to a saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil, and boil for about 4-5 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. Let the syrup cool, and remove the lemon peel from the syrup. Brush onto the warm cake once it’s been turned out on the cooling rack, then once cooled, glaze as desired.
• Alternate baking pans – if you don’t have a bundt cake pan and don’t want to pick one up, you can bake these in 2 (9×5″ each) loaf pans. Bake at 325°F for 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Making a bundt cake ahead of time

I think cakes, like most baked goods, taste best when made fresh before serving, but this cake can be made a day or so ahead of time.

Just know that it may be a little less moist.

I do recommend waiting to glaze the cake though, until you’re ready to serve it.

Storage

Leftover cake should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

You can also refrigerate the cake (also in an airtight container), but that can lead to the cake being dried out, so I don’t typically recommend it.