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Incredible Lemon Bundt Cake

Incredible lemon bundt cake is bursting with lemon flavor throughout. Completely made from scratch drizzled with lemon cream cheese frosting and a lemon glaze sauce over the cake.

Lemon Bundt-9

Lemon Bundt-30

This heavenly lemon bundt cake is more of a pound cake in texture. The amazing lemon sauce helps to keep it moist while adding that lemon pow or punch. I wish I had a slice right now.

Lemon Bundt

This is a disclaimer: there is not a cake mix involved in this recipe for this cake. As much as I love using a cake mix when making a cake in a pinch like this one: Pineapple Bundt Poke Cake or this Strawberry Shortcake Poke Cake and this Cannoli Poke Cake. This cake is completely made by scratch using ingredients that you may already have in your pantry.

Lemon Bundt

Although, this is one of those cakes when baked that day will be gone by the end of the day… it is amazingly delicious!

Lemon Bundt

Make sure to refrigerate the cake or the icing will melt off. You don’t want that to happen, it is just too beautiful for that.

Lemon Bundt

WHAT IS A BUNDT PAN?

A bundt pan is almost like a tube pan except it has a pattern or design on the bottom and sides of the pan so that when your cake is turned out you have a pretty patterned shaped cake.  

Lemon Bundt

Easy Lemon Bundt Cake Tips & Tricks

  • Grease your bundt pan well. Really, really well. Bundt cakes are notorious for sticking inside of their pans so greasing it well will help the cake slide out easily.
  • If you do not have a bundt cake, you could make this a lemon loaf cake. Given the amount of batter this recipe makes, you will need to divide the batter between two loaf pans.

Lemon Bundt

Cake Ingredients:

  • Butter, yogurt, and cream cheese
  • Sugar 
  • Eggs
  • Salt, baking soda, all-purpose flour, powdered sugar 
  • vanilla extract
  • Lemon juice and lemon zest (the fresh lemon juice and zest truly brightens and enhances the flavor of this cake)

Lemon Bundt

How Long To Bake

  • Depending upon your oven, this lemon bundt can take anywhere from 65-75 minutes. Mine took exactly 70 minutes, but at the 65-minute mark, I kept a careful eye on the oven. As soon as a cake tester comes out clean (if there are a few moist crumbs—not wet but moist—it’s fine to take it out of the oven).
  • Let the cake cool for about 10-15 minutes, then remove it from the pan and allow it to finish cooling on a wire rack or a plate. If you allow it to cool entirely in the bundt pan, the heat of the pan might continue to cook the cake, which may lead to the cake being overdone and dry.

Lemon Bundt

For the bundt-

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Generously spray a bundt cake pan with baking spray, set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt set aside.

Lemon Bundt

In the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment add the butter and sugar, cream together until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, stirring in between additions. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir to combine.

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Alternating between the flour mixture and the yogurt, add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the stand mixer and mix until combined on medium-low speed. Add ½ of the yogurt, mix in. Add in another ⅓ of the flour, mix in. Add in the remaining yogurt, mix in. Add the remaining flour and mix until fully combined, scraping down the sides as needed.

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Spoon the batter into the bundt pan and bake for 65-75 minutes until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

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For the sauce-

  1. While the bundt is baking make the sauce by placing the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and let it melt. Add in the sugar and lemon juice, whisking constantly until the sugar dissolves. 
  2. Once the bundt is done baking, place it on a wire rack, make holes all over the cake with a skewer, and carefully pour half of the sauce on top. Let the sauce soak into the cake, let it sit in the pan like this for 20-30 minutes until the sauce is absorbed.
  3. Invert the cake onto a plate, brush the remaining sauce all over the cake. This will make a delicious crunchy coating on the cake.
  4. Let the cake cool down completely before adding the icing.

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For the icing-

  1. Place the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer. Cream together until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in the powdered sugar, place the speed on low and slowly mix in, once all the sugar is combined, crank up the speed to medium-high and mix until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  2. Add in the vanilla extract and the lemon zest, mix to combine. Add in 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, and mix for an additional 2 minutes.
  3. If the mixture seems too loose, add a little more powdered sugar to thicken it up, if it seems too thick, add more lemon juice.*

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Notes:

*Alternatively, if you want more of a glaze on the cake then a piped frosting, add more lemon juice or whole milk until pourable. 

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This icing is absolutely perfect! So delicious!

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More Lemon Recipes To Try!

Nettie is a wife and mother who is passionate about cooking and baking. With 5 children, Nettie insists that all meals, snacks, and desserts come together quickly! You will find a wide variety of easy yet scrumptious recipes on her very popular website Moore or Less Cooking

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Lemon Bundt
Yield: 12

Incredible Lemon Bundt Cake

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 16 minutes 5 seconds
Additional Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 56 minutes 5 seconds

Incredible lemon bundt cake is bursting with lemon flavor throughout. Completely made from scratch drizzled with lemon cream cheese frosting and a lemon glaze sauce over the cake.

Ingredients

  • For the bundt-
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 & ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh squeezed
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup plain yogurt
  • For the butter sauce-
  • ⅓ cup unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh squeezed
  • For the lemon cream cheese icing-
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened
  • 6 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Zest of one lemon
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh squeezed

Instructions

For the bundt-

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Generously spray a bundt cake pan with baking spray, set aside. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt set aside.
  2. In the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment add the butter and sugar, cream together until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, stirring in between additions. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
  3. Alternating between the flour mixture and the yogurt, add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the stand mixer and mix until combined on medium-low speed. Add ½ of the yogurt, mix in. Add in another ⅓ of the flour, mix in. Add in the remaining yogurt, mix in. Add the remaining flour and mix until fully combined, scraping down the sides as needed.
  4. Spoon the batter into the bundt pan and bake for 65-75 minutes until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.


For the sauce-

  1. While the bundt is baking make the sauce by placing the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and let it melt. Add in the sugar and lemon juice, whisking constantly until the sugar dissolves. 
  2. Once the bundt is done baking, place it on a wire rack, make holes all over the cake with a skewer, and carefully pour half of the sauce on top. Let the sauce soak into the cake, let it sit in the pan like this for 20-30 minutes until the sauce is absorbed.
  3. Invert the cake onto a plate, brush the remaining sauce all over the cake. This will make a delicious crunchy coating on the cake.
  4. Let the cake cool down completely before adding the icing.



For the icing-

  1. Place the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer. Cream together until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in the powdered sugar, place the speed on low and slowly mix in, once all the sugar is combined, crank up the speed to medium-high and mix until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  2. Add in the vanilla extract and the lemon zest, mix to combine. Add in 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice, and mix for an additional 2 minutes.
  3. If the mixture seems too loose, add a little more powdered sugar to thicken it up, if it seems too thick, add more lemon juice.*

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Lemon Bundt-30

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Incredible Lemon Bundt Cake

Incredible lemon bundt cake is bursting with lemon flavor throughout. Completely made from scratch drizzled with lemon cream cheese frosting and a lemon glaze sauce over the cake. via @Mooreorlesscook

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Jennifer R.

Tuesday 2nd of July 2024

There seems to be a contradiction with the cooling off and removing from the pan after 10-15 min and the the sauce directions saying leave it the pan for 20-30 min.

Kindly advise. Thanks!

Jennifer R.

Wednesday 3rd of July 2024

@Nettie, so the sauce directions supersede the ones mentioned regarding the cooling period. Thanks!

Nettie

Tuesday 2nd of July 2024

Once the bundt is done baking, place it on a wire rack, make holes all over the cake with a skewer, and carefully pour half of the sauce on top. Let the sauce soak into the cake, let it sit in the pan like this for 20-30 minutes until the sauce is absorbed. Invert the cake onto a plate, brush the remaining sauce all over the cake. This will make a delicious crunchy coating on the cake. Let the cake cool down completely before adding the icing.

Julie

Thursday 1st of June 2023

I made this cake and it was fantastic! My co-workers wanted the recipe and I had one report of a co-worker who took a slice home only to have most of it eaten by her mother! The cake had a very delicate lemon flavor, was very rich and had the perfect texture. My husband is already demanding another! The only alterations I made was I used greek full fat yogurt, Myers Lemon just and no lemon zest. I also ran out of butter so no cream cheese frosting, didn't miss it anyway. A real winner.

Karen J Addison

Tuesday 2nd of November 2021

+Very good lemony cake! I made it twice, once in a cake pan, which was cooked a shorter time. Second time in the bundt pan and it looks very pretty so far. Waiting to put on the frosting. However, it really needs some high altitude instructions. I didn't make any adjustments and both times the cake fell. Please consider adding high altitude adjustments.

Nettie

Tuesday 2nd of November 2021

Hello Karen,

I do not have a lot of experience baking at high altitude, but here are a few tips for next time:

High-Altitude Baking Chart Reduce baking powder: for each teaspoon decrease 1/8 teaspoon. Reduce sugar: for each cup, decrease 0 to 1 tablespoon. Increase liquid: for each cup, add 1 to 2 tablespoons. Increase oven temperature by 25 degrees F.

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