For all the lemon lovers, this Lemon Bundt Cake recipe is for you. Easily made from scratch and baked golden brown with juicy lemon pieces baked in the batter and a creamy lemon glaze drizzled down the sides, you will enjoy every lemony bite.
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We all love a beautiful layer cake covered in creamy frosting, but the elegance of serving a bundt cake with maybe a dusting of powdered sugar or a pretty icing drizzling down the sides is always a welcome dessert to serve.
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Why you will love lemon cake
Making a homemade bundt cake is so easy and I love that it serves a crowd, or in my case. a hungry man who loves lemon.
Lemons are available throughout the year, making this a perfect dessert to make at any time. We love this cake in the middle of a hot summer but serve this lemon bundt on a cold winter day, and you will feel like basking in the sunshine.
Seriously, this is the ultimate lemon cake that has a fresh citrus flavor and is made super moist and rich from sour cream and lemon juice.
This is a great cake to make ahead of serving time; just bake and top with powdered sugar or a glaze. It's not a fussy cake.
What to do with lemons?
- Make lemonade
- Juice the lemons, pour into ice cube trays, and freeze it for later
- Zest the lemons and freeze in ziplock bags for adding to all kinds of recipes
- You can actually freeze whole lemons and grate them while frozen
Favorite lemon recipes
- Classic Lemon Shortbread Cookies are made with just six ingredients and lots of lemon zest.
- Lemon Sponge Cake with Raspberries is a delicious cake to serve for any occasion.
- Frosted Lemon Cookies are tender and chewy with the perfect lemon frosting on top.
- Lemon Ricotta Cheese Dip is a quick-to-make appetizer filled with fresh herbs that bakes up golden brown on top.
- Lemon Muffins with Ricotta are made with olive oil for a tender muffin that is full of lemon flavor.
- We love this moist and tender Gluten-Free Lemon Cake topped with sliced almonds.
- Lemon Blueberry Scones make the most delicious breakfast treat or dessert.
Lemon Cake Ingredients
- Lemons - you will need four
- Cake flour - for a soft and tender cake
- Baking soda - this ingredient works with the lemon juice to leaven the cake so it rises.
- Salt - enhances the cake flavor.
- Butter - because all cakes should have a delicious buttery flavor.
- White granulated sugar - adding sugar will add 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 are baked into the cake that adds a burst of lemon flavor.
- 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 Lemon Bundt 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 to remove 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.
Step 4. Once you remove the membrane, break up the slices into small pieces, which will be added to the cake batter.
With all this zesting and slicing, your kitchen will have a wonderful citrus smell to it. I love that!
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 other half of the lemon/sugar mixture and mix for four minutes.
Step 6. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well to combine.
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 that is in the bowl after supreming, to the mixing bowl.
Step 9. Mix the batter by hand until incorporated.
Step 10. Pour the batter into a prepared bundt pan; see my notes in the FAQ section. And, yes, I prefer to dust the pan with sugar. Bake the cake for 1 ¼ hours at 325 degrees F. I know this is quite a long time, but this cake is very dense and needs time to fully bake.
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 cover the pan plus 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 11. Once the cake is baked, let it cool for about 15 minutes and remove it from the pan. Gently tap all around the pan with the palm of your hand to loosen the cake, and then shake the pan a little 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 13. While the cake is cooling, make the tart lemon glaze to drizzle on top of the cake. Mix powdered sugar, lemon zest, and freshly squeezed lemon juice and stir until combined. With a spoon, just drizzle the icing all over the cake.
You can see the pieces of lemon 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 citruses. 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 that has nice defined fluting. There are many designs to choose from but for this cake, I like 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.
Lemon Cake Recipe FAQs
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.
Use vegetable shortening and thoroughly grease the whole bundt pan up to the top edge and the center core. Cover the center hole of the bundt pan or stuff it with a paper towel, then sprinkle ¼ cup of flour or sugar into the pan. Cover the top of the pan with plastic wrap, then shake the pan until it is completely covered with flour or sugar.
Dusting a cake pan with sugar adds some additional sweetness to your cake and will slightly caramelize the outside, which leaves a sweet crust. The sugar also allows the cake to release more easily than flour. If you use flour for dusting the pan it can leave a floury taste to the cake and also bits and pieces of flour on the outside of the cake that doesn't look pretty.
You can easily use a full-fat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream in most baked goods.
More bundt cake recipes
- Everyone needs a good chocolate cake recipe, and this Chocolate Stout Beer Cake is often requested in my family for birthdays, St. Patrick's Day, and sometimes just for a good weekend dessert.
- Not all cakes need to be made from scratch. This Banana Vanilla Bean Caramel Bundt Cake starts with a box of yellow cake mix and some very 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.
You May Also Like These Cakes
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Recipe
Sweet, Tart and Tangy Lemon Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 4 lemons washed and dried
- 3 cups cake flour
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
Lemon Glaze
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1 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 over the bottom of the pan and shake the sugar 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 bowl cutting 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 ¼ to 1 ½ 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: Aug 4, 2021, 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.
Andrea Carlisle
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?
Jere Cassidy
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.
Cayla
Delicious! It was easy to follow her instructions too! I will definitely make again!
Jessica Formicola
I love lemon this time of year, and this cake is just delightful! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Emmy
Can you clarify how much juice you use? Is it just the juice created by supreme the lemon? Thanks for your recipe.
Jere Cassidy
Emmy, yes, that is the juice leftover after supreming the lemons.
Nart | Cooking with Nart
I love desserts that are both sweet and tart so this is perfect for me!
Patti
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.
Jere Cassidy
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.
Linda
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
Jere Cassidy
Hmmm, yes. The cake for the oven.
Stephanie Simmons
This looks like the perfect dessert to serve for Memorial Day! I love the flavors of lemon cake!
Jere Cassidy
I still have so many lemons left I need to make another cake.
Mimi
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.
Jere Cassidy
The lemon trees are the best part of my backyard.
April
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!
Maman de sara
I would love a piece of this lemon cake with my morning coffee. That looks absolutely delicious.
Jere Cassidy
If you lived nearby I would have you over for a piece.
Emmanuella Sjogren
Ohh I love lemon cakes and this looks gorgeous. I also love how the light flirts with the edg of the cake. Great shot!
Jacqueline Debono
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!
Jeannette (Jay Joy)
6 eggs? I wonder if you can use egg whites instead of whole eggs. This looks delicious.
Jere Cassidy
Yes, this cakes uses a lot of eggs. I think if you used egg whites you would have more of an angel food cake.
Alice
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.
Jere Cassidy
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.
Jenni LeBaron
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!
Jere Cassidy
This cake goes great with a good cup of tea.