This Glazed Lemon Bundt Cake is the softest, lemon-packed cake you'll ever eat! While this cake is a delicious treat all year-round, it’s the perfect citrusy dessert to enjoy during the spring and summer months.
There's just something about the tart and sweet combination of lemon desserts that's just so delicious and this lemon bundt 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. This cake is delicious on its own but the lemon glaze on top really brings this dessert over the top and really packs a big punch of lemony flavor. The lemon sugar sprinkled on top makes it look even prettier while adding an extra dose of lemon.
Why you'll love this recipe
- You get triple the lemon in this outrageously delicious cake! There is lemon flavor in the cake, in the glaze AND lemon sugar is sprinkled on top.
- I have served this to guests who claim they do not like lemon desserts and in return receive absolute rave reviews because they can't believe how delicious this lemon bundt cake is.
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 . This = 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.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions & Variations
There are so many delicious ways to change up this cake to make it your own!
- Substitute lemons with limes for a lime bundt cake.
- For a lemon poppy seed cake, add 2 tbs of poppy seeds to the batter.
- For a lemon blueberry bundt cake, fold berries into the batter just before baking. You can also add raspberries for a lemon raspberry cake or even chopped strawberries for a lemon strawberry cake. Such yummy alternatives!!
How to make Glazed Lemon Bundt Cake
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.
Pro Baking 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 10-12-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.
Storage
Room temperature
Store cake at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Freezing
Cover lemon bundt cake without glaze very well in a layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of foil. Place wrapped cake in a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator overnight and allow to come to room temperature before serving. Drizzle with glaze and top with lemon sugar just before serving.
Recipe FAQs
The biggest difference is the shape of the pan. A regular 8-inch round cake pan holds up to 6 cups of batter and a standard bundt cake pan holds 10-12 cups of batter.
Grease your pan HEAVILY making sure to get all nooks and crannies. After greasing, flour your pan lightly and shake out excess. This method will ensure no sticking.
More bundt cake recipes you'll love:
Did you make this recipe?
Please leave a ⭐️ review below and tag @sprinkle_some_sugar on Instagram!
📋 Recipe
Glazed Lemon Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Lemon Cake
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tbs lemon zest
- 2 tbs + 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed
Lemon Glaze
- 1 ½ 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 40-50 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 9x13 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.
- 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 lemon 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 3-5 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.
The provided nutritional information is an estimate per serving. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jenn says
Can't wait to try this recipe but I don't have a bundt pan. Has anyone tried using other pans and what were the cake results?? I've got a spring form pan, rectangular pan and a loaf pan. Can I use any of those pans?
Heather Williams says
I made this Sunday for my grandmother's 95th birthday, and it was fantastic! I looked through a dozen recipes before I decided to use this one. I did put the glaze on in stages instead of doing it all at once. I put a little on while the cake was still warm so that it would seep into the cracks. When the cake was cool, I added more and let it dry before adding another layer. I did this several times. With the last of the glaze on the cake, I sprinkled on the lemon sugar. So when I was finally able to cut it (it was soooo hard to wait), it had a nice crunch on the outside with the layers of glaze and the sugar. The inside was the perfect density and was moist and lemony and delicious. Thanks for a great recipe. I will definitely make it again!
Carmela says
hi there! I love your website ! My cake came out undercooked, are you sure baking time is 27-35 minutes? Other recipes I have seen for bundt cake is at least an hour
Thanks!
Jessica says
Hi Carmela, I'm sorry your cake came out undercooked, what a bummer! In the recipe instructions I give an approximate time, which is when my cake in my specific oven is usually done. The time it bakes can vary for every oven, since every one is a little different. Which is also why I state to bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. So, next time you bake this cake, be sure to check it with a toothpick to make sure it's done all the way through! This cake is so delicious, I hope you give it another shot! 🙂
Jen says
Thank you for the recipe and for telling me what to anticipate along the way. My cake has been baking as directed for 40 minutes and is still batter on the inside. I am increasing the temp and leaving it in longer, but FYI for others. I am using a pretty heavy bunds pan so I think that might be why 🙂
Jessica says
Yes, that could definitely be why! I hope it came out awesome in the end, Jen!
Kathy says
Hi Jessica! I can't tell you how many times I've made your lemon loaves. They're really great and I receive compliments everywhere I bring them! I want to make this bundt cake now but I'd like to know if I could use buttermilk instead of whole milk in this..? I have some leftover in the fridge. Thanks in advance!
mari says
Can I salted butter??.
Jessica says
Yes, I would just omit the salt in the recipe.
Mina says
Hi Jessica
How many lemons did you have to use to get the zest for both the cake and frosting?
Jessica says
I usually use about 2-3, it all depends how big your lemons are. If your lemons are a good size, keep in mind that each one should have about 2-3 tbs lemon juice and 1 tbs of zest. Hope this helps!
Katie says
I made this yesterday for Mother's Day and it was DELICIOUS. I used skim milk instead of whole milk to make it a little leaner, and salted butter instead of unsalted because that's all I had. I did have to bake it a little longer than the recipe stated too. But it turned out wonderful! Definitely a recipe to remember. Thanks!
Laurie says
Great recipe -- I made some cupcakes with some new silicone molds and they turned out great! So then I bought a silicone pan with a sunflower pattern, put in the entire amount of batter and unfortunately, the center practically oozed out, yet the outside was very done, but not overdone. I gave it another 10 minutes, then another 8 minutes -- but still took it out too soon. ;-( I will just make sure when I bake it again, that it stays in longer. Have heard the suggestion of "tenting" to avoid the outside burning, in case this kind of thing happens again and it has to stay in longer. The recipe is delicious.
Angie says
I am so glad I found this recipe, it sounds perfect for Mother's Day this weekend!
Do you know if anyone has ever tried adding blueberries?
I was thinking of folding some in just before pouring into the bundt pan.
Have you tried this?
Sara says
I have just bake it and I like it, but next time I'll add more sugar, also I getconfused by the exactly amount of lemon juice because you day 2+2 tbs. I used 3tbs and it turned out not so lemony but still was ok.
As an advice, I'll put the pan in a baño Maria while baking