If you like real lemon flavor, this lemon Bundt cake delivers. It’s made from scratch with fresh lemon zest, juice, and pieces baked right into the batter, then finished with a simple glaze that soaks into every slice.
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We all love a beautiful layer cake covered in creamy frosting, but the elegance of serving a bundt cake, maybe with a dusting of powdered sugar or a pretty drizzle of icing down the sides, is always a welcome dessert.
This easy lemon Bundt cake is made with fresh lemon zest, juice, and lemon pieces for a strong citrus flavor in every bite. Sour cream keeps the cake moist, and the simple lemon glaze adds just enough sweetness without making the cake heavy.
I make this easy lemon Bundt cake when I want something fruity that still feels a little special. It doesn’t take a full afternoon to bake, and I know it’s going to turn out right every time. It slices clean and keeps well for a few days.
If you want a smaller everyday lemon cake instead of a full Bundt cake, my Lemon Loaf Cake has that same bright citrus flavor in an easy loaf-style dessert that works well for brunch, coffee breaks, or simple weeknight baking.
- Type of recipe: Bundt cake, classic American dessert
- Cooking method: Oven baked
- Skill level: Easy, basic mixing with a few simple prep steps
- Flavors & textures: Bright lemon flavor from zest, juice, and lemon pieces, moist and tender crumb with a light glaze on top
- Best for: Dessert, brunch, or serving with coffee or tea any time of year
Before You Start, Here’s What To Know
- Use real lemons three ways so the flavor actually comes through
- Sour cream keeps the cake moist, so it doesn’t dry out
- Bakes evenly in a Bundt pan, so you don’t get a raw center
- Simple glaze, no fancy decorating needed
Lemon Cake Ingredients
- Lemons – you’ll need 4 medium lemons for zest, juice, and the pieces baked into the cake.
- Cake flour – for a soft and tender cake. If you don’t have cake flour, you can use all-purpose flour (the cake will just be slightly less tender)
- Baking soda – this ingredient works with the lemon juice to leaven the cake, allowing it to rise.
- Salt – enhances the cake flavor.
- Butter – because all cakes should have a delicious buttery flavor.
- White granulated sugar – adding the perfect amount of sweetness to offset the tart lemon flavor.
- Eggs – add color, help the cake rise and give it the necessary structure.
- Sour cream -this will add some tangy flavor to the cake and help make it moist.
- Powdered sugar – for the sweet icing drizzle.
How to get that great lemon flavor
Because this cake is all about lemons, this recipe uses lemons in three ways
- lemon zest goes into the cake, and the icing
- lemon pieces, which are baked into the cake, adding a burst of lemon flavor. Don’t worry about making them perfect. Just remove as much of the white membrane as you can so the pieces aren’t bitter.
- fresh squeezed lemon juice flavors the whole cake and the icing glaze.
I am sure you have had those recipes that say, “Add the juice of one lemon.” You know that lemons come in all sizes, so which size should you use? I have the solution for you in this post, all about lemon juice. The amount of juice in a lemon guide will help you know how many lemons to buy for a recipe.
How To Make A Moist Lemon Bundt Cake
Pan Prep Tip: This is my favorite tip for preparing a bundt pan. Heavily grease the pan with solid vegetable shortening, then sprinkle sugar all over to coat the pan and the inside cone, instead of using flour. Using sugar leaves a nice coating on the cake, and you won’t have that flour coating left on the baked cake.
Step 1. Zest the lemons using a lemon zester. It is easier to do this over a piece of wax paper or parchment paper. Make sure to check this post on how to zest a lemon, it’s very helpful.
Step 2. Mix the white granulated sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl until completely mixed. This step flavors the sugar and adds more lemon flavor to the cake batter.
Step 3. Next, make the lemon pieces by slicing the peel off the lemon you just zested with a paring knife. Then supreme the slices, which simply means removing the membrane from the lemon slices so they end up nice and clean-looking. Do this over a small bowl to catch all the juices.
If you haven’t supremed citrus before, make sure to read How to supreme citrus.
Step 5. Make the batter by adding the softened butter and half of the lemon/sugar mixture to a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer and mix at medium speed until combined. Add the remaining lemon/sugar mixture and mix for 4 minutes.
Step 6. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Step 7. With the mixer on low speed, add all the dry ingredients, mix well, and scrape the bowl often. Next, mix in the sour cream at medium speed.
Step 8. After the batter is mixed, add the lemon pieces and all the juice from the bowl after supreming to the mixing bowl. Mix the batter by hand until incorporated.
Step 9. Pour the batter into a prepared bundt pan; see my notes in the Tip section. And, yes, I prefer to dust the pan with sugar, but feel free to use flour. Bake the cake for 1 1/4 hours at 325 degrees F.
This is a longer bake time, but the cake is dense and needs it. Start checking at 1 hour by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean or with a few crumbs, it’s done.
Step 11. Once the cake is baked, let it cool for about 15 minutes and remove it from the pan. Gently tap the pan all around with the palm of your hand to loosen the cake, then shake the pan a bit. This should loosen it. If necessary, run a thin-bladed knife or spatula down the sides of the pan and the center tube to help release the cake. Once loosened, turn the cake upside down on a serving plate.
Step 12. While the cake cools, make the tart lemon glaze to drizzle over the cake. Mix the powdered sugar, lemon zest, and freshly squeezed lemon juice, stirring until combined. With a spoon, just drizzle the icing all over the cake.
You can see the lemon pieces inside the cake. That is what makes this cake so good.
Equipment to get the job done
- If you use a lot of lemons, both of these tools will come in handy and help you get the most flavor from all of your citrus. This citrus zester is nice and sturdy and makes those nice, fine pieces of lemon peel and, this wood lemon reamer is perfect for juicing all types of citrus.
- Make sure to use a heavy nonstick bundt pan with well-defined fluting. There are many designs to choose from, but for this cake, I prefer the traditional 10-cup pan design.
After an afternoon of baking, it’s time for a slice of this moist and tender cake and a pot of tea and fresh berries.
More Lemon Recipes To Try
If you like baking with lemon, here are a few more recipes I make on repeat.
- For something simple, these Classic Lemon Shortbread Cookies use just a handful of ingredients and have a strong lemon flavor from the zest
- These Frosted Lemon Cookies are soft and chewy with a lemon frosting that adds just the right amount of sweetness.
- For something a little different, this Lemon Ricotta Cheese Dip works well as an appetizer and bakes up golden on top.
- If you’re baking for breakfast or brunch, these Lemon Muffins with Ricotta and Lemon Blueberry Scones are both easy options that come together quickly.
Tips For A Lemon Bundt Cake That Turns Out Right
For this cake, yes. Since this cake has a heavy batter made with more butter, eggs, and sugar than a regular cake, plus the lemon pieces, a bundt pan is recommended. The center core of the pan will help bake the cake more evenly.
You can, but you’ll lose some of the strong lemon flavor. The pieces add little bursts of lemon throughout the cake, which is what makes this one stand out.
Grease the pan well with solid shortening, then coat it with sugar instead of flour. The sugar helps the cake release and gives the outside a light crust.
If you prefer, you can absolutely use flour. The cake will still release just fine, but you won’t get that slightly crisp, sweet finish on the outside
This cake takes longer to bake than most. Start checking at 1 hour by inserting a toothpick in the center. It should come out clean or with a few crumbs, not wet batter.
Yes, all-purpose flour works just fine. The cake will be slightly less tender, but it will still turn out well.
More Bundt Cakes To Bake Next
- Chocolate Stout Beer Cake is rich and moist with a deep chocolate flavor that works well for birthdays or weekend baking.
For an easy shortcut, this Banana Vanilla Bean Caramel Bundt Cake starts with a yellow cake mix and ripe bananas. - This is one of my most pinned recipes, and for good reason, it is delicious. Bake this Mandarin Orange Bundt Cake for an easy orange-flavored dessert.
- If you like your cakes on the smaller side, try this recipe for Mini Lemon Bundt Cakes.
Mandarin Orange Bundt Cake is one of my most popular recipes and comes together quickly with bright citrus flavor.
Tried it? Rate ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ & comment below, your feedback keeps the oven mitts flying here at One Hot Oven.
Recipe
Easy Lemon Bundt Cake From Scratch
Ingredients
- 4 mediium lemons washed and dried
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
Lemon Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 medium lemon
Instructions
- Heat oven to 325 degrees and thoroughly grease a 10-cup bundt pan, making sure to get the center core. Sprinkle granulated sugar or flour over the bottom of the pan and shake the sugar/flour all around to coat the bottom, sides, and center core. See notes below for full instructions.
- Using a citrus zester, zest four lemons over a piece of parchment paper or wax paper.
- Combine the sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl and mix with your fingers until the sugar becomes moist and grainy.
- Remove the peel from the lemons you just zested by cutting an end off the lemon and setting it on a cutting then cut the pith off the lemon by slicing it off with a knife.
- Now you have a lemon with no peel or pith on it. Hold the lemon over a medium-sized, and cut each segment on either side of the membrane to remove the flesh using a paring knife. This is called supreming. When done, make sure to remove any seeds and break up the lemon segments in the juice. Do this for each lemon.
- In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and half of the sugar mixture for two minutes and medium speed with the mixer. Add the remaining sugar mixture and beat for four minutes. Make sure to scrape the bowl occasionally.
- Add the eggs to the above mixture one at a time, beating each just until combined.
- On the lowest mixer setting, mix in the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt. Scrape the bowl after mixing.
- Mix in the sour cream on low speed until just combined.
- With a rubber spatula, fold in the lemon segments and all the juice in the bowl.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Bake about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours until a cake tester at the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.See notes below on depanning a bundt cake.
Making the glaze
- In a small bowl add the powdered sugar. Zest and juice one lemon and add this to the powdered sugar and stir until smooth.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake and top with more lemon zest.
Storing the cake
- Cover any leftover cake with a cake cover or plastic wrap. This cake will keep for several days. Because of the lemon pieces in the cake, consider keeping leftovers in the refrigerator on very warm days.
Notes
- Once your cake is baked let it sit for 15 minutes then flip it over onto a cooling rack. You want the cake to still be warm when you flip it since it will release better. If you let the cake completely cool in the pan it just might get completely stuck.
- Before flipping your cake over, jiggle the pan a little to loosen the cake, and if necessary slide a knife down the sides to coax it loose and jiggle the pan again. Let the pan sit on the cake upside down for about 5 minutes before removing again until the cake releases.
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Nutrition
First published: July 12, 2019, Last updated: April 8, 2026, for better readability
Thank you for stopping by the One Hot Oven blog. Please leave a comment to say hello or tell me what you are baking; I always love hearing from fellow bakers. Have any questions or want to chat about the recipe? Please visit my About page for information, and I’ll be happy to help!
About Jere’
From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending. Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven, sharing both sweet and savory recipes with all my baking friends.
This lemon cake was amazing. Super lemony and everyone loved the burst of lemon when you bit into some of the bits. Made it the first time and it was a big hit. I am wondering how you got your icing that you drizzled on the cake so white. Mine was very pale white and didn’t look as pretty as yours does. Can you help?
So glad you like the lemon cake. It’s those pieces of lemon in the cake that make this so good.
To make sure your icing is really white, you need to use milk. For this recipe use milk and add a clear lemon extract or lemon zest. For this mandarin orange cake, I used just powdered sugar and milk and it’s definitely whiter.
On the Mountain Dew Cake I added the soda which was definitely yellow but the icing came out nice and white, however, I made the icing thicker with 3 cups of powdered sugar, which does help to add whiteness.
I have ruined the looks of cakes by adding flavorings or spices like cinnamon, only to have the icing look like mud, so sometimes powdered sugar and milk are the way to go for the drizzle.
Delicious! It was easy to follow her instructions too! I will definitely make again!
I love lemon this time of year, and this cake is just delightful! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Can you clarify how much juice you use? Is it just the juice created by supreme the lemon? Thanks for your recipe.
Emmy, yes, that is the juice leftover after supreming the lemons.
I love desserts that are both sweet and tart so this is perfect for me!
I made this Bundt cake using King Arthurs gluten-free all-purpose baking mix and instead of the lemon glaze, I used a strawberry glaze. It was amazing. I will definitely be making it again. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. To those who are on a gluten-free diet, I did add an extra egg because of the dense nature of gluten-free baked goods.
Thank you for commenting. I have that King Arthur gluten-free flour and am glad to know it works just as well. And, great idea for the strawberry glaze.
I found this recipe under ip lemon tart, but it doesn’t have the directions for an instant pot. Was that a mistake
Linda Barreda
Hmmm, yes. The cake for the oven.
This looks like the perfect dessert to serve for Memorial Day! I love the flavors of lemon cake!
I still have so many lemons left I need to make another cake.
It must be so nice to have a lemon tree full of lemons, pick one in the morning and make a lemon cake, a lemon tea and maybe something else lemon… Fantastic dessert.
The lemon trees are the best part of my backyard.
The cake to fight for! I can only imagine all the lemon flavor that it has – it must give it so much zing… Delicious recipe, that’s for sure!
I would love a piece of this lemon cake with my morning coffee. That looks absolutely delicious.
If you lived nearby I would have you over for a piece.
Ohh I love lemon cakes and this looks gorgeous. I also love how the light flirts with the edg of the cake. Great shot!
Lucky you having lemon trees! It’s too cold here in Northern Italy for lemon tress, although I do have plum, pear and apricot trees! Lemon is my favourite summer dessert flavour. This cake sounds divine! Would love a piece right now!
6 eggs? I wonder if you can use egg whites instead of whole eggs. This looks delicious.
Yes, this cakes uses a lot of eggs. I think if you used egg whites you would have more of an angel food cake.
I tried this cake for Thanksgiving and it was what I’ve been looking for almost my whole life. My mom died when I was young and I was looking for a recipe close to the lemon cake she would make with some Sunday meals. This delicious cake brought back good memories.
Wow, this melts my heart. I am so glad you found this lemon cake recipe. My mom made a special bread and I lost her recipe. Seriously, it took me almost 40 years to find that recipe. It’s amazing how food brings back memories.
I love a good lemon cake and this one looks like the perfect balance of sweet, creamy, and tart! This would be perfect to eat while sipping a big mug of tea!
This cake goes great with a good cup of tea.