This delicious Easy Lemon Bundt Cake is bursting with flavor and filled with lemon zest and juice! It's the perfect dessert for lemon lovers!
Lemon is one of my favorite flavors in desserts and this Easy Lemon Bundt Cake is the real deal for lemon lovers out there. I'm so excited to share this recipe and add to it to my collection of cakes on this blog! It's so easy to put together, it only requires one pan, and no mixer! If you love lemons, this cake is for you!
If you're a lemon lover like myself, try my Lemon Butter Cake, Lemon Blueberry Mascarpone Cake, or Shortbread Lemon Blondies.
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🫶 Featured Review
"This lemon bundt cake is everything it proposes to be! It is bursting with lemon flavour from the addition of both lemon juice and lemon zest in the cake. It is also moist, because of the inclusion of butter, sour cream and vegetable oil in the batter.
The lemon glaze has cream cheese in it, which gives it an almost cheesecake like taste. This beautiful glaze is then poured over the cake while it’s still in the pan. You subsequently have the option of pricking the cake with holes so that the glaze soaks through the cake or you can simply leave it as is. I highly recommend you prick the cake so that the glaze seeps through. This takes the cake to a whole other level of deliciousness!!
This is a luscious cake! I enjoyed making it and I absolutely love the finished product. You must try this cake. It is so worth it!"
- Melanie.
♥ Why You'll Love This Recipe
Bursting with flavor - This Lemon Bundt Cake has loads of lemon flavor, especially due to the zest infused in the sugar, like my Lemon Butter Cake Recipe.
Moist & Tender - The oil and sour cream in this cake create such a delicious and tender cake.
Easy - It's an easy cake that doesn't require planning ahead and it comes together in no time! Bundt Cakes are some of the easiest cakes to make!
One-Bowl - You only need one bowl to make this recipe, just like my Orange Olive Oil Cake.
No mixer - This cake comes together with a bowl and a spatula! So no need to buy any new equipment.
Single Layer - I love an easy, no-fuss one layer cake.
📝 Ingredient Notes
A full list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions are located in the recipe card at the end of the post.
- All purpose flour: This cake works wonderful with regular all purpose flour.
- Baking Powder: Just baking powder to help the cake rise.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar to sweeten the cake.
- Melted butter: I love butter in cakes, but in this one I think melted butter works well. Unsalted butter is what we need for this cake.
- Neutral oil: Using oil helps create a moist and tender cake. You can use vegetable, canola, or even light olive oil.
- Lemon juice & zest: Two key ingredients in this cake. Loads of zest and lemon juice.
- Eggs: Room temperature large eggs are essential.
- Sour cream: To create an even more moist and flavorful cake, we use sour cream.
Lemon Glaze
- Powdered Sugar: using powdered sugar to create a sweet glaze.
- Lemon juice: Adding a bit of tang for the lemon flavor.
- Milk: If needed, using a little bit of milk to help thin out the glaze.
See recipe card for quantities.
🍴Special Equipment
Kitchen Scale: It's so important to use a kitchen scale for accurate results.
Bundt Pan: You'll need a 10-12 cup bundt pan.
Mixing bowls: I love using glass Mixing Bowls when making batters and doughs.
⇄ Substitutions
Greek Yogurt - In place of sour cream, you can use plain yogurt.
Oil - If you don't want the butter, swap it out for extra oil.
✨ Variations
Orange - Switch it up and use other citrus fruit, like orange.
Cream Cheese Frosting - If you're not a fan of the glaze, use a cream cheese frosting to pipe on top of the cake.
Mini size - Try my Mini Lemon Bundt Cakes recipe to turn this delicious cake into individual portions.
𓎩 Step-by-Step Instructions
A few instruction photos to help you nail this recipe every time.
Prep the pan: Prepare your 10-12 cup bundt pan by spraying it heavily with baking spray. Make sure to get every single nook and cranny so that the cake doesn't stick. My favorite method is to spray using a baking spray like Baker's Joy. This is the method that works 100% of the time for me.
Step 1
Combine the sugar and the lemon zest together in a large bowl, and using your fingers, rub them together. This helps bring out the oils in the zest, which yields more flavor.
Step 2
To the sugar/zest bowl, add the lemon juice, melted butter and oil and mix using a spatula, then add the eggs one at a time making sure that the eggs are mixed after each addition. Then add the sour cream and mix until all is incorporated.
Step 3
To the wet batter, add the dry ingredients and mix until all is incorporated. Don't over mix.
Step 4
Pour into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Step 5
In a bowl, add the powdered sugar and lemon juice and mix until combined. If it needs thinned out, add a little milk. Pour the glaze over the cake and enjoy!
💬 FAQ
To prevent a bundt cake from sticking, generously grease your pan. I find that greasing the pan using a baking spray and making sure to get every single nook and crappy helps when inverting the cake. 100% of the time they come out clean!
💡Pro Tips
Measure Flour Correctly - As always, with any recipe, use a kitchen scale, as it is the best form of measuring your ingredients. If you don't have a kitchen scale, fluff your flour, scoop flour with a spoon into a measuring cup and level off.
Infuse the sugar with zest: To achieve a cake bursting with lemon, infuse the sugar with the zest by rubbing the zest and sugar together with your fingers to release the oils in the zest. This creates an even better flavored cake.
Don’t over mix: Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, stop mixing.
Grease Bundt Pan: It’s so important to make sure your bundt pan is heavily greased when making bundt recipes because they tend to stick. To avoid a cake from sticking, grease every single nook and cranny of the pan. I HIGHLY recommend the Baker’s Joy cooking spray because I have had success 100% of the time using it.
Don’t over bake: Start checking the bundt cake at 50 minutes by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean, remove them from the oven. Depending on your oven, it could take longer.
Cool cake: Before inverting the cake onto a cooling rack, make sure the cake cools down for at least 15 minutes.
Changes made to this recipe in 2023
I originally published this recipe in March of 2022. Changes made to this version:
- Added more lemon juice to the recipe
- Changed the glaze.
- Original glaze consisted of cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and lemon juice that was poured over right after taking the cake out of the oven and before inverting.
❄ Storage
To store any leftovers, wrap tightly and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
📖 Recipe Card
Lemon Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups (360 g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1½ teaspoon Baking powder
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
- zest of 2 large lemons
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, 1 stick melted
- ½ cup (109 g) vegetable oil
- ¼ cup (61 g) lemon juice
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup (260 g) sour cream
Glaze
- 1⅔ cup (200 g) Powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoon (30 g) lemon juice
- ½ tablespoon (7.5 g) milk if needed
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 325°
- Prep the pan: Prepare your 10-12 cup bundt pan by spraying it heavily with baking spray. Make sure to get every single nook and cranny so that the cake doesn't stick. My favorite method is to spray using a baking spray like Baker's Joy. This is the method that works 100% of the time for me.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: Combine flour, salt and baking powder and whisk until combined.3 cups All Purpose Flour, 1 teaspoon Salt, 1½ teaspoon Baking powder
- Infuse the Sugar: In a large bowl, combine the sugar and the lemon zest together in a large bowl, and using your fingers, rub them together. This helps bring out the oils in the zest, which yields more flavor.2 cups granulated sugar, zest of 2 large lemons
- Combine Wet Ingredients: To the sugar/zest bowl, add the lemon juice, melted butter and oil and mix using a spatula, then add the eggs one at a time making sure that the eggs are mixed after each addition. Then add the sour cream and mix until all is incorporated.½ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, ½ cup vegetable oil, ¼ cup lemon juice, 3 large eggs, 1 cup sour cream
- Add the Dry Ingredients: To the wet batter, add the dry ingredients and mix until all is incorporated. Don't over mix.
- Pour & Bake: Pour into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool for 15 minutes before inverting on a wire rack. Let cool completely before adding glaze.
Glaze
- In a bowl, add the powdered sugar and lemon juice and mix until combined. If it needs thinned out, add a little milk. Pour the glaze over the cake and enjoy!1⅔ cup Powdered sugar, 2-3 tablespoon lemon juice, ½ tablespoon milk
- Store leftovers in an airtight container.
Melanie says
This lemon bundt cake is everything it proposes to be! It is bursting with lemon flavour from the addition of both lemon juice and lemon zest in the cake. It is also moist, because of the inclusion of butter, sour cream and vegetable oil in the batter.
The lemon glaze has cream cheese in it, which gives it an almost cheesecake like taste. This beautiful glaze is then poured over the cake while it’s still in the pan. You subsequently have the option of pricking the cake with holes so that the glaze soaks through the cake or you can simply leave it as is. I highly recommend you prick the cake so that the glaze seeps through. This takes the cake to a whole other level of deliciousness!!
This is a luscious cake! I enjoyed making it and I absolutely love the finished product. You must try this cake. It is so worth it!
Kima says
Thank you so much for the wonderful review, Melanie! I am so happy you loved this cake! 🙂
Keyri says
This is such a perfect recipe. All the ingredients are easy to get. It's moist, with such a perfect combination. My 2nd time trying it. I recommend it.
Ashleigh Scott says
Love this recipe! I made this cake for a family get together over the weekend and it was perfect! Thanks for sharing🫶🏻🫶🏻
Hakima says
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe and leaving a review, Ashleigh! So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Stacy says
By far the easiest lemon bundt cake recipe I've ever made. I love that everything just goes into one bowl and there's no mixer required. It was very moist and soft and the lemon flavor came through.
Jody says
Would yogurt work in place of sour cream?
Hakima says
Hi Jody, yes, I mention this in the substitute section. You can swap it out for equal amount of greek yogurt.
Jennifer Jones says
Delicious lemon Bundt cake recipe!
My family loved it!
Hakima says
Thank you for the review, Jennifer! Glad you loved it! 🙂
Kayla says
Thank you for this wonderful recipe!! I cut it into a third and it was the perfect amount for 4 mini bundt cakes! Such an easy and delicious recipe 😋
Sam says
Can i leave the butter out?
Hakima says
Hi Sam, I wouldn't suggest leaving the butter out. You could replace it with oil, but that might end up being too much oil for this cake.