Celebrate zesty, tangy lemons with this lemon bundt cake! Neither too sweet nor too light on the lemon, this is the bundt cake to make if you want everything just right. 

THE INGREDIENTS: 

The Cake: 

Flour: Flour is what gives our cake structure! Without it, we can’t quite say what this cake would even be like. Well, we can. It would be a mess. We use all purpose flour in this recipe instead of cake flour because of the presence of cornstarch. A common cake flour substitute is all purpose flour plus cornstarch (although a little less cornstarch than we actually use in this recipe). Doing cake flour and cornstarch would be doing too much of a good thing, so to say, risking a crumbly cake. 

White Sugar: Without any sweetness to this lemon bundt cake, this cake would be missing most of its appeal! This cake recipe has the minimum amount of sugar in the cake, but it is not “low sugar” by any means. This cake already has the title of “not too sweet”, so we highly recommend not to decrease it. You can experiment with adding a bit more sugar, but know that risks changing the texture. If you do so, please comment on your experiment so we know how it worked for you! You’ll want to use white sugar over brown sugar here. Brown sugar would make the cake too moist and also add a molasses-esque flavor that clashes with the lemon. 

Cornstarch: Have you ever heard of Never Enough Chocolate Bundt Cake? In a nutshell, it’s cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, vegetable oil, chocolate chips, and sour cream. That bundt cake is what inspired us to make an entirely homemade lemon version! One thing that pudding mix has a decent amount of is cornstarch. Not only that, but cake mixes sometimes contain cake flour- a lower protein blend of flour compared to all purpose flour. Cake flour leads to a more delicate, fluffy cake. So, to copy that pudding mix AND cake flour effect we add a lot of cornstarch to this cake recipe. 

Salt: A little bit of salt helps you appreciate the sweetness! Since this cake has a fair amount of fat and acidity, we add a little less salt than we would to other cakes this size. Adjust as desired. 

Baking Soda: If you want this cake to be a cake, you can’t skip this little teaspoon of baking soda! Baking soda reacts with acidic ingredients in cake batter (such as our lemon juice and sour cream) in order to create gas bubbles that help the cake rise. Be careful, though! Baking soda cannot be swapped for baking powder. 

Lemon Zest: Lemons have two main components that are used in cooking (hey, have you ever heard of anyone that cooks with the seeds?): the juice and the zest. Lemon juice carries much of its tartness and acidity, whereas lemon zest carries much of that signature lemon flavor you think of. When we first made this recipe, we convinced ourselves two large lemons held plenty of zest. Out came a cake, however, that was far too mild! So, we do not recommend reducing the amount of lemon zest in this recipe as you risk the lemon flavor meekly standing up instead of standing tall. Although you can increase the lemon zest, know there can be too much of a good thing. We believe the amount stated in our recipe will satisfy most lemon cake eaters. 

Lemon Juice: Another thing we like about lemons is their tanginess. Besides adding some acidity to our cake batter, lemon juice also thins down the batter. This helps the cake rise and get the best texture. Since sour cream is already acidic enough to activate the baking soda, you can use water as an acceptable replacement. However, know you’ll be missing out on some of the lemony goodness! 

Sour Cream: Sour cream is in many cake recipes, and for good reason! Whole fat milk has fat, but sour cream is much further up there! All that dairy fat contributes to a moist, denser cake. Cornstarch may make this cake more delicate and fluffy, but sour cream brings it down a bit and makes the texture super moist, so the cake is extra soft. 

Vegetable Oil: Sour cream may add moisture, but that doesn’t mean you can omit the vegetable oil! Vegetable oil contributes a large amount of moisture to cake recipes, preventing any disastrously dry lemon cakes. 

Eggs: Luckily, you can’t taste eggs in cake! Without them, though, this cake would be nowhere near as good. Weird, right? Eggs help to bring our dry and wet ingredients together, as well as ensure our fats and water mix into a cohesive blend. Eggs are not something you want to change in this recipe!  

The Glaze: 

Powdered Sugar: If you’re making a glaze, chances are you want something smooth instead of grainy. Each grain of powdered sugar is much smaller than that of a grain of white sugar. What that means is using powdered sugar doesn’t give that grainy mouthfeel, whereas white sugar will! So, not all kinds of sugar are interchangeable for every recipe. Increasing the powdered sugar will make a thicker, sweeter glaze. Less powdered sugar makes for a runny, less sweet glaze. 

Cream: “There’s only a ¼ cup of cream, can’t I just use like 3 tablespoons of milk?” As tempting as this thought may be, please let us tell you from experience: you must use cream. You’ll have some extra left over, but there are plenty of recipes on this blog to help you use it up! Cream has a much higher milkfat than milk does, which means it makes for a thicker glaze. More dairy fat=thicker consistency is a good rule of thumb. If you use milk instead, even whole milk, it will be far too runny. You don’t want something nearly as thin as water on top of your hard-earned lemon cake! 

Lemon Zest: Even though we think this lemon cake has the perfect amount of lemon, it’s ok to want even more lemon! If you want to make sure your cake is strong, topping it with a lemon glaze instead of a plain glaze is the way to go. Lemon zest adds lemon flavor without changing the texture of the glaze. It cannot be substituted for lemon juice. You would most likely get a much thinner glaze by the time you add enough lemon juice to your liking. Feel free to omit this ingredient, as we often do, it you rather the glaze help offset all the lemon flavor in the cake. 

KEY INFORMATION: 

How Do I Know My Cake Is Done Baking? There are two main methods to tell when a cake is done baking. The first is to take a toothpick and insert it into the middle of the cake. If it comes out with some or no crumbs attached to it, the cake is done baking. No toothpick on hand? Another great method is to press the center of the cake lightly with your finger. If the spot you pressed comes back instead of staying just as indented as you made it, the cake is ready. Make sure to not poke it too hard! 

Do I Use Lemon Juice or Zest in Lemon Bundt Cake? Both! However, lemon zest is the most crucial ingredient for a good lemon cake. Whereas lemon juice has lemon’s tartness, lemon zest has most of its classic flavor. To omit the lemon zest is to turn a lemon cake into a plain cake. However, if lemon juice is present in your recipe and is the only acidic ingredient, it is best to keep it. That is because an acidic ingredient is necessary to activate baking soda, a common leavener in cake recipes. 

How Do You Make a Moist Lemon Bundt Cake? There are two tips when it comes to making a moist lemon bundt cake. The first thing to look at in your recipe is if you are using butter or vegetable oil as your main fat. Butter contributes to a drier cake and also leads the cake to become stale faster than an oil-based cake. Vegetable oil, on the other hand, is how you get a lot of moisture and a longer-lasting cake.

For why this makes sense, just think of the state butter and oil is in at room temperature. Butter would be a soft solid, whereas vegetable oil is a liquid. Which of these sounds more wet to you? Although half butter and half oil is a great balance for many cakes to have moisture while also not being so delicate they fall apart, lemon bundt cake is an outlier where all-oil is recommended. Replace any butter in your replace with equal parts of oil for cake recipes. 

Now, what is that second tip? Well, oil isn’t the only ingredient that adds moisture. The type of sugar you use and other dairy add-ins can make a difference. Brown sugar contributes more moisture than white sugar to a cake due to the presence of molasses, but also makes the cake more dense. Brown sugar does clash with the flavor of lemon, too. So, what else can you do? Dairy products with a high amount of dairy-fat (such as sour cream) are known to add moisture to cakes. When you think about it, oil is a liquid fat, and many dairy products are also liquids or at least solids that are softer than butter. Dairy products can also have a lot of fat! 

How Long Does Lemon Bundt Cake Last? An unglazed lemon bundt cake is best enjoyed fresh, but can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days. Although it could last a couple more days in the fridge, storing cakes in the fridge actually makes them drier. If your bundt cake is glazed, though, we recommend storing it in the fridge within 2 hours of glazing it in order to avoid the cream spoiling. 

Our personal method is to glaze as much cake as will be eaten the first time around, and then store the cake at room temperature and the extra glaze in the fridge.  

What Goes With Lemon Bundt Cake? We’ll address this question in two ways: what other desserts can be served with lemon bundt cake and what meals lead you to crave it for dessert? 

First, let’s focus on 100% desserts. If you’re having lemon bundt cake, what do you also want on the side? We’d say something creamy. Focus on other citrus fruits (orange or lime) as well as coconut, blueberry, mint, and vanilla as good pairing flavors. You could make a nice vanilla pudding or serve the cake with a blueberry cheesecake ice cream!

If you’re having a dessert spread for a large group, what else would you want on your table besides a lemon bundt cake? We say there are two routes to go: all bundt cake or all lemon! Make your home a cakery by having a lemon bundt cake, a chocolate bundt cake, a cinnamon bundt cake, and a carrot cake all set up! Otherwise, celebrate lemon with all of its most classic desserts. Not just a lemon bundt cake, but bring out the lemon bars, the lemon pie, and the lemon cheesecake. 

Next up, what meals actually make you want lemon afterwards? We say meals that are not too decadent nor coat your mouth after eating them like raw garlicky, raw onion-y, spicy, or tomato sauce meals tend to do. Try a white sauce pizza, such as our Cauliflower Alfredo Pizza or our Summer Vegetable and Pesto Pizza. You could also make a quiche, such as our Mushroom, Swiss, and Onion Quiche! Otherwise, why not try out Pasta Primavera or a simple, easy Mac n Cheese?