Lemon Bundt Cake
Moist, flavorful lemon bundt cake with a fresh cream cheese lemon glaze. Tips and tricks for making the perfect lemon bundt cake.
We are officially almost to Spring! The weather is starting to warm up here in Arizona and we are in the mid 70's today so it is practically perfect. This means to start whipping up light Spring desserts. Since we have an abundance of lemons ready for picking here in Arizona, I wanted to create the perfect lemon bundt cake recipe.
My Mom's favorite cake in the world is a fresh lemon cake. She loves my LEMON OLIVE OIL CAKE recipe but sometimes one of the easiest cakes to make is a bundt cake. The frosting or glaze is a breeze and there are no meticulously frosting layers of cake. Also, it is typically more like a lemon pound cake so it is extra moist. This Lemon Bundt Cake may be your new favorite!
I wanted to play around with this recipe to get it just right. I started off with butter which gives the cake a rich, buttery flavor. Since it is a bundt cake, I opted for butter instead of oil. To give it the ultimate moist texture, I used full-fat sour cream and dry instant pudding mix. The combination of the two ingredients is a real game-changer in this lemon cake.
To get a true, fresh lemon flavor, I use a good amount of fresh lemon zest. I love to use a ZESTER because it only removes the yellow peel instead of the bitter white part underneath. If you want extra lemon flavor, add more lemon zest.
Here are a few baking tools that are helpful when making this Lemon Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting -- a Nordicware Bundt Pan and Wilton
Decorating Bags and Tools
How to make the Best Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe:
- Start by creaming softened butter and sugar together for 5 minutes. This aerates the batter and gives it loft and also makes it smooth and creamy. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl several times to ensure even mixing.
- Add in eggs one at a time. Fold in full-fat sour cream. Use a zester and zest several fresh lemons to get enough lemon zest. Fold in dry pudding mix. You can use vanilla or lemon pudding mix, depending on how much lemon flavor you want in the cake.
- Use cake flour. The best part of cake flour is that it contains less gluten which results in a lighter, more tender crumb.
- Make sure to grease or spray the bundt pan very well to ensure the cake releases from the pan. Bake just until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Once it is slightly cooled, remove the cake from pan and let it fully cool before frosting.
- To make the frosting, whip the softened butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy. Stir in powdered sugar and more lemon zest. Pipe all over the cooled bundt cake. For a stiffer frosting, add more powdered sugar.
Lemon Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Lemon Bundt Cake:
- 1 cup Butter (softened)
- 2 ¼ cups Sugar
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 cup Full-Fat Sour Cream
- ¼ cup Dry Pudding Mix (lemon or vanilla)
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Zest
- 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 2 ¼ cups Cake Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese (softened)
- ¼ cup Butter (softened)
- 2 ¼ to 2 ½ cups Powdered Sugar (depending on desired stiffness)
- Lemon Zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream together softened butter and sugar for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping the sides of the bowl often.
- Add eggs one at a time. Stir in sour cream, dry pudding mix, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
- Fold in cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Spray or grease bundt cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. Pour batter into the pan and evenly spread.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let slightly cool and run a knife along the edges to loosen the cake. Invert cake onto a cooling rack. Set aside to cool.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together softened butter and cream cheese for at least 4 minutes until light and fluffy. Stir in powdered sugar and lemon zest. Add more powdered sugar depending on desired stiffness.
- Pipe all over cooled cake. Decorate with fresh lemon slices.
Marti
I made this for a friend's birthday and the cake was lemony, moist, and amazingly delicious. I also served it with lemon curd... because the birthday boy loves everything lemon. Thanks for this recipe!
Landon
I love this cake so much. It is extermely moist and has the perfect lemon flavor. Thank you for this recipe Modern Honey!!!
Martha
Thank you for this recipe. I love this cake! I'm out to make it for the third time, it's that good. My one problem is that the cake sticks a bit to the pan when I'm coaxing it out. Do you have any advice for getting the cake out of the pan successfully? Thank you.
Jackie
Hi
Are your baking times right, usually a bundt cake this size takes about 50 to 60 minutes to bake?
jayna
I also tried mine for 350° at 28 minutes (and it was *not* done!) -- so I tried another 5 minutes, then another 5 minutes. The edges were getting super dark in the pan, but the toothpick still wasn't coming out clean. Is there a trick to checking a cake made with pudding mix?
Amy
Hi there! Do you think greek yogurt would work in place of the sour cream?
Modern Honey
Absolutely! It would work best if you use full-fat Greek yogurt.
Tina
Looks delicious!! For the pudding mix, does it matter if you use cook and serve or instant? I have lemon pudding but it’s cook and serve.
Karen
Is your cook time correct? I cooked at 350 degrees for 38 minutes and it was still runny in the center.
Lynda Witenstein
I made the very yummy lemon bundt cake yesterday. It was fantastic and very light. Thanks for calling for cake flour to use instead of regular flour in the recipe. I will now always use cake flour for cake baking. Thanks for the great recipe and looking forward to more great food ideas. Lynda Witenstein
Donna A Pollock
Hey Melissa,
I love everything Lemon......I can't wait until this Saturday so I can make this Lemon Bundt Cake. It looks so good and with the Cream Cheese icing I bet it is to die for.. I'll let you know how many pieces I ate later.
Thank you for this recipe, keep em coming,
Donna