This lemon bundt cake recipe features moist crumbs and plenty of lemon flavor! Light and fluffy and topped with a lemon glaze, it’s one of my all-time favorite lemon desserts and perfect for any lemon lover! Baked in a 12-cup bundt pan, this cake requires little assembly but looks stunning on a cake stand or dessert plate.
Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe
Say hello to the lemon bundt cake that almost drove me insane. Seriously, I tested this lemon bundt cake recipe 13 times in 2 weeks! While 37 weeks pregnant lol. I was so determined to get it right before baby so I could share it with you for Easter.
And although it took over a dozen experiments to get there! Some cakes were too dense, others had overly moist crumbs, while some cakes completely lacked the flavor I was looking for. I felt like Goldilocks searching for the perfect lemon cake!
But after tons of trial and error, I finally found my perfect lemon bundt cake! And I think you’re going to love it, too!
Texture wise, it’s quite similar to lemon pound cake – but a little more light and fluffy overall. This lemon cake has tight, moist crumbs packed with buttery lemon flavor. A lemon soaking syrup and lemon glaze help enhance the overall lemon flavor – and keep the cake moist for days on end.
Lemon Bundt Cake Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour: For best results, only use all-purpose flour for the flour mixture. A 1-for-1 GF flour mixture may work. I don’t suggest using nut flours or wheat flour.
- Baking Powder: Do NOT sub with baking soda. This recipe does not use baking soda.
- Salt: A small amount helps balance sweetness and enhance the lemon flavor.
- Butter: Use room temperature butter, preferably unsalted. Salted butter will work in a pinch, but you’ll want to reduce the amount of salt called for.
- Brick-Style Cream Cheese: room temperature
- Granulated Sugar: Adds sweetness and body to the cake batter, and sweetens the lemon simple syrup.
- Lemon: For maximum lemon flavor, this recipe uses fresh lemon juice lemon zest, and lemon extract. If you can’t find lemon extract or prefer not to use it, you can leave it out. The cake will have a slightly less intense lemon flavor without the lemon extract.
- Vanilla Extract: Use pure vanilla extract, not artificial vanilla. In a pinch, you can leave out the vanilla.
- Eggs: This recipe calls for 5 eggs, which is NOT a typo! Use large eggs and add the eggs one at a time. Adding the adds one at a time allows them to evenly combine while adding air into the batter.
- Oil: I use canola oil but vegetable oil, olive oil, or even melted coconut oil will work fine.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Aka powdered sugar. Powdered sugar sweetens the lemon glaze.
Make the Cake: Secrets to Moist Crumbs
- Baking Prep: Preheat the oven at least 30 minutes before baking. Don’t worry about greasing your pan yet. Unlike most recipes, you’ll actually want to do this right before baking. This ensures the pan is completely coated (nonstick baking sprays can slowly drain down the edges of a pan and pool at the bottom).
- Make the Cake Batter: Grab a medium bowl and whisk the dry ingredients. Use an electric mixer to whip together your butter and cream cheese (used this instead of sour cream and it’s so good!). Add sugar and extracts, then eggs. Then add lemon zest, lemon juice and oil. Once you add the dry ingredients, mix gently.
- Bundt Pan: Once your batter is ready, you’ll want to generously spray your 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick baking spray. Be sure to grease every nook and cranny of the pan! You don’t want to risk the cake sticking to the cake pan.
- Add The Batter: Once you prep your cake pan, scrape the lemon cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Pop the pan in the oven and bake!
Bake the Cake
- This lemon bundt cake will bake low and slow. By baking at a lower temperature of 325 degrees, you allow it to bake through without burning.
- The bake time for this lemon bundt cake is typically 1 hour, but this time may vary depending on your baking pan and oven.
- Check if the cake has baked through by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake. If the toothpick inserted comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs attached, it’s ready to come out of the oven.
- If the toothpick inserted is wet, continue baking until it comes out clean or with moist crumbs attached. I like to check every 3 to 5 minutes after the estimated bake time is reached.
Removing the Cake from the Pan
No need to manually loosen the cake from the pan! Instead, place the cake – inside the bundt cake pan – on a cooling rack and cool for exactly 10 minutes. Then very carefully unmold the cake onto another cooling rack and set aside.
So, you’ll press the cooling rack right onto the bottom of the bunt cake, hold on firmly to both, then flip. Once you’ve flipped, place the rack onto the counter and carefully remove the bundt cake pan. Does that make sense?
Make the Lemon Glaze & Lemon Syrup
While the lemon bundt cake cools, make your lemon soaking syrup and lemon glaze!
- You’ll brush the lemon soaking syrup onto the cake while it’s still warm, then set it aside to cool completely. This cake take about 2 hours to completely cool, so plan ahead time wise.
- Once the cake has completely cooled, you can make your simple lemon glaze and pour it on! A word to the wise, the lemon glaze should be super thick and almost look too thick to drizzle.
- The thick consistency that allows the lemon glaze to coat the cake and create that classic white “shell” look. If you add too much liquid, it will disappear into the cake as you drizzle it on.
If you’re planning on serving the cake right away, feel free to add some freshly grated lemon zest on top of the drizzle! This lemon bundt cake recipe is full of lemon flavor – and it’s perfect for Easter, Mother’s Day!
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