The softest, lemon-packed cake you’ll ever eat. If you are a lemon lover, this Super Lemon Bundt Cake will be your new favorite!
*This post was originally written and published on August 28, 2014 (my first year of blogging!). It is now one of the most popular recipes on my blog! I updated it with new photos.*
You guys, this super lemon bundt cake is SO good.There’s something about the tart and sweet combination of lemon desserts that’s just so amazing. This cake is no exception. The texture is sort of dense – think: pound cake – but it is so ridiculously soft, moist and packed with lemony flavor. The lemon glaze on top really brings this dessert over the top and really packs a big punch of lemony flavor. The cake is delicious on it’s own but the lemon glaze is totally and completely necessary! The lemon sugar sprinkled on top makes it look even prettier while adding an extra punch of lemon flavor.
Ingredients
- Flour: All-Purpose flour is used in this recipe.
- Baking Powder: Makes the cake rise.
- Salt: For flavor.
- Eggs: To bind the ingredients together.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar is used in the cake and lemon sugar recipes.
- Vanilla extract: For flavor.
- Lemon juice: I use the juice in the cake and glaze for a strong and fresh lemon flavor.
- Choose lemons that have a good squeeze to them = more juice!
- Lemon zest: Used in the cake and lemon sugar topping to elevate the lemon flavor.
- Milk: Whole milk is used in this recipe. You can substitute 2%, if needed.
- Butter: Unsalted butter is used in this recipe to control sodium.
- Powdered sugar: Used to sweeten the glaze.
Instructions
- Prepare bundt pan: Grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan extremely well, making sure to really get into all crevices. Set aside.
- Make the batter: Lightly whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
- Beat eggs on low until they are thickened and very pale yellow in color. Slowly add sugar to running mixer and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest. Slowly pour in dry ingredients on low speed until combined.
- Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan until very hot and butter is just melted. Pour into batter and mix until smooth. Batter will be very thin.
- Bake: Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake for 27-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Make lemon sugar: Thoroughly mix the lemon zest and sugar together and let it sit for 5 minutes. If you don’t want the lemon zest on top of the cake, push the sugar through a fine mesh strainer, separating the two and discard the zest.
- Make the glaze: Whisk powdered sugar and lemon juice, using more or less lemon juice as needed to get a thick consistency.
- I like to keep mine slightly thick so it won’t thin out too much when I serve it over warm cake.)
- Drizzle glaze over warm cake. Sprinkle lemon sugar on top.
Recipe Tips:
- How to zest a lemon: Over a clean surface or cutting board, hold the grater in one hand and the lemon in the other. A microplane grater works best but you can also use a box grater – just be sure to use the smallest holes so you get the lemon zest very fine. Push the lemon down the grater in one direction, removing only the the yellow outer part of the fruit, being careful to avoid the bitter pith.
- Leaving the lemon zest in with the sugar is totally optional, but sometimes I push the sugar through a fine mesh strainer to separate the two, depending who I am serving. It’s all about personal preference.
- Bundt pan size: You can use any 12-cup bundt pan.
- Grease the pan: You want to be extremely generous with greasing a bundt pan – they are notorious for sticking!
If you love lemon, you absolutely need to make this.. like now.
More bundt cake recipes you’ll love:
- Lemon Raspberry Coconut Cake
- Banana Bundt Cake With Maple Brown Sugar Glaze
- Cinnamon Roll Bundt Cake
- Guinness Chocolate Stout Cake
- Coconut Pound Cake
- Carrot Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze
Super Lemon Bundt Cake
The softest, lemon-packed cake on the face of the earth. If you are a lemon lover, this Super Lemon Bundt Cake will be your new favorite!
Ingredients
Lemon Cake
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbs lemon zest
- 2 tbs + 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed
Lemon Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 3-5 tbs lemon juice
Lemon Sugar Topping
- 1 tbs lemon zest
- 1 tbs granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan very well, making sure to really get into all crevices. Then, lightly flour the pan. Set aside.
- Lightly whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer (if you're using one) fitted with the paddle attachment, beat eggs on low until they are thickened and very pale yellow in color. Turn mixer on low and slowly add sugar to running mixer and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest. Slowly pour in dry ingredients on low speed until combined.
- In a small saucepan, heat milk until very hot and butter is just melted. Do not boil and whisk the mixture to help the butter along. Pour into batter and mix until smooth. Batter will be very thin. Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 27-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Once done, remove cake from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes in pan. Release the sides of the cake with a butter knife to ensure it isn’t going to stick. Turn cake onto a large round platter or cake stand. (If using a 9×13 pan, do not remove cake, just place entire pan onto wire rack so underneath the pan can cool also.) Allow cake to finish cooling until warm to the touch.
- While cake is cooling, prepare lemon sugar and glaze. For the lemon sugar, thoroughly mix the lemon zest and sugar together and let it sit for 5 minutes. If you don’t want the lemon zest on top of the cake, push the sugar through a fine mesh strainer, separating the two and discard the zest. If you don’t mind the zest on top of your cake (it will give it a nice pop of color!), then just set the mixture aside.
- For the glaze, whisk powdered sugar and lemon juice, using more or less lemon juice as needed to get desired consistency. (I like to keep mine slightly thick so it won’t thin out too much when I serve it over warm cake.)Once cake is cooled down slightly, drizzle glaze over warm cake. Alternately, you can drizzle the glaze over each individual piece being served. Sprinkle lemon sugar on top.
- Cake will stay soft and moist for 3 days stored in an airtight container.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Wrap baked and cooled cake (without glaze) in a few layers of plastic wrap and then wrap in a layer of aluminum foil. You can freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator. Glaze once thawed.
Adapted from Amy Kay’s Kitchen originally adapted from Taste of Home.
Have you made this recipe? I’d love to know how it came out for you! Please leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #sprinklesomesugar so I can see it!
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Any chance you know the cooking time for mini Bundt pans. Was hoping to try this:-)
Our family loves this cake SO much! Every time our daughter is home on school break, she asks if we can have it. We have a SILICONE bundt pan, so here are our notes on that: 1) grease and flour the mold; 2) rest it on a sheet pan for baking; 3) Bake for 45-55 minutes – the dial on our oven has no numbers so maybe that huge margin is because we set the temp by memory; 4) Allow cake to cool in the mold for at least an hour…. SO we put half of the glaze over the warm cake from the bottom after it has rested for a bit; 5) The second half of the glaze we drizzle over the turned out cake, before sprinkling with the lemon sugar.
We made the cake many times and it came out great. This time we made it and left it out for 1/2 hour and the inner side wasn’t cooked and collapsed. So we threw it back in the oven and when we went to turn it over it got stuck. and the inner side still wasn’t cooked…but it was delicious…add blueberries and raspberries…..amazing…
any comments? on the cooking time..27-35 doesn’t seem long enough
Um, ma’am…this recipe has made me a local LEGEND (and obviously I direct everyone to your site!). I get REQUESTS from friends and family for this cake on a MONTHLY BASIS. 15/10 most popular recipe I have ever made
Haha, I love this so much!! Thank you!
My daughters 40 is coming up in early November 2021. And i asked her what kind of cake she would like. She said lemon. So i am going to make this lemon Bundt cake. Let u know how it turns out. Thank u Jess and everyone for ur comments.
Candy 🍭
I hope she loves it, Candy! 🙂
It’s raining today, has been for 3 days. I live in South Africa on a farm, we thank the Lord for this much needed rain. I am sitting here reading your recipe I can taste this cake as I read all the comments, I can’t wait to try it. Unfortunately I have no eggs, I’m going to chance the muddy roads to go and buy eggs. I just have to make this cake, how long it will last, is any bodies guess. Wish me luck. I will write a review once I’ve baked my cake. Thank you all Jessica for sharing your recipe.
Haha, well I hope you made it back safely and got to make and enjoy this cake!! 🙂
I asked as directed but my Bundt came out very dry and didn’t have much flavor. I even added extra lemon juice into the batter!? I always use a cake tester and. I took it out when the tester came out almost clean, a bit less than the recommended baking time. Any suggestions?
Could you have possibly measured the flour incorrectly? Too much flour would definitely result in a dry cake.
First time I made this it was gone the same day! Thank you for sharing such a lovely recipe. I will admit I added more lemon juice as we like our lemon deserts a bit more tangy. The sugary topping was a beautiful crunchy surprise with the bite. Can’t wait ait to make it again!!
My favorite! This is honestly the second time I’ve made it in two weeks! Today is the Super Bowl and we just needed it to add to the spread. If you haven’t tried it yet, GO FOR IT!! I am still playing around with the glaze to get it how I want it but I would give this a 10/10.
This is a favorite at our house! My fiance isn’t big on sweets, but his preference is towards citrus/tart. So when his birthday came up a few years ago, this is what I made. And he says I can make it for every future birthday celebration from now on (translation, he loved it!!! And so did our guests!) We call it “sunshine cake”. I also take it to potlucks and cookouts, it’s such a refreshing treat in summer!