Lemon Bundt Cake

Bring on ALL the spring and summer vibes with this tangy lemon Bundt cake! This cake is super flavorful and moist and PACKED with bright and zingy citrus in every bite. It so easy to make by hand and turns out beautifully every single time.

all about this lemon Bundt cake

I've been making this lemon cake for a few years now and I've finally landed on the perfect version of it! The original method for making this cake was a bit (unnecessarily) complicated and left too much room for error. This version yields much more consistently incredible results and it's so easy to whip up by hand.

Texture - This cake is like every delicious cake out there... combined! The texture is rich and buttery like a pound cake, it has the spring and the bounce of a tender vanilla cake, and it tastes just like the Starbucks lemon loaf cake.

Flavor - Speaking of flavor, there's no missing the lemon in this cake! It has 3 heaping tablespoons of lemon zest, a full ¼ cup of lemon juice, and even MORE lemon tanginess in the icing on top. It's the perfect balance of tart, tangy, and sweet.

Ease - This cake ticks all the boxes for an easy to make dessert. It comes together in one bowl and is so easy to mix together by hand. It also uses simple ingredients that come together into a standout cake.

how to make lemon Bundt cake

All this talk about how easy this cake is, let's take a quick look at how this lemon cake is made. As always, you can find the full recipe and instructions further down in this post.

1. Melted butter - I used to make this cake with softened butter but have made the switch to melted for 2 reasons. First, it was plain old unnecessary to cream together the butter and sugar because this cake gets enough lift from the baking powder alone. And second, we still get that same rich flavor but it's so much easier to make the batter by hand if you're using melted butter!
2. Wet ingredients - After melting and cooling the butter it's whisked together with sugar, oil, and lemon zest. The friction of the sugar granules hitting the zest will bruise the lemon and draw out its natural oil. This will add TONS of extra flavor! After they're combined, the remaining wet ingredients (minus the milk) are whisked in.
3. Alternating wet and dry - To complete the batter, the dry ingredients and milk are mixed into the remaining wet ingredients in 3 additions - starting and ending with the dry ingredients. By alternating the dry ingredients and milk, it's easier to incorporate everything together into a streak free batter with little chance of overmixing. And speaking of which...
4. Mixing - Watch out for overmixing when making the batter, specifically once the flour is added in. Overmixing will overwork the gluten in the flour and this will add structure to the cake. Cakes are meant to be light and tender, so adding structure will make for a denser, drier cake!

how to prevent sticking in a Bundt pan

There's nothing worse than making an otherwise perfect Bundt cake only to have the pan ruin the whole thing! Ironically, what makes Bundt pans so beautiful is also what makes them more fussy: their grooves. Here are my top 3 ways to ensure your Bundt cakes slide out perfectly every single time:

1. Picking the pan - Before trying ANYTHING, the most important thing is to pick a good quality pan. While cheaper pans may be nicer on the wallet, they typically have a poorer quality coating that's more prone to sticking. Additionally, using a lightweight pan can cause the outside of the cake to burn before the center has a chance to cook through. Now you definitely don't need to spend hundreds of dollars on a pan - but I would recommend looking at medium to higher end pans for the best results. THIS is the pan that I personally used here and it's really great with releasing!
2. Prepping the pan - Next is preparing the pan to get it best ready to release the cake with ease and minimal breaking. As for how to prepare the pan, start by generously buttering the pan, making sure to get into all the nooks and grooves. Once that's done, generously dust the bottom, sides, and center with a liberal coating of flour then tap out any excess. The key here is to make sure every little groove in the pan is generously coated in both butter and flour.
3. Cooling the cake - Finally (and most importantly), the process of cooling the cake will have the most significant impact on how well the cake comes out of the pan! When the cake is hot and fresh from the oven, the fats and sugars will still be melted and soft. As cakes cool, these fats and sugars solidify, giving it more structure and a more sliceable consistency (think: melted butter vs room temperature / cool butter). The best time to get the cake out of the pan is when the cake is hot and the fats and sugars are still in their "melted" stage. If you try to turn the cake out of the pan after it's cooled for too long, the fats / sugars will set and act as a glue - ultimately sticking the cake to the pan.

A bonus tip that I find also really helps before flipping the cake is to use your fingers or the back of a spoon to gently press the edges of the cake and pull them away from the sides of the pan. This isn't totally necessary (especially if you have a good quality pan) but it does offer some added assurance.

more tips

Finally, here are my last few tips to ensure your lemon Bundt cake comes out perfect every time:

Measuring the flour: I sound like a broken record on this, but it's really one of the most important baking tips! The best way to measure flour is by weight using a food scale - this ensures you always have the same, exact amount of flour. If you use cups, never scoop the cup directly into the bag of flour. Flour has a fine texture, so scooping the cup directly into the bag can condense it and leave you with ¼ cup (or more!) of extra flour per cup. Instead, use a spoon to lightly scoop spoonfuls of the flour into your measuring cup so it's very loosely packed.

Room temperature ingredients: Since we're using melted butter (for flavor) in the cake batter, it's important that all the remaining ingredients are at room temperature as well so the butter doesn't seize and clump. Using room temperature ingredients will ensure you have a smooth, velvety cake texture once it's baked - and it's just simply easier to whip up batter with ingredients that are at a similar temperature!

Mixing: Mixing is another super important cake making tip! Whenever your cake features flour, overmixing the batter once the flour is added in can overwork the gluten. Overworked gluten creates a more structured dessert - which isn't really what you want when making a light and tender cake! So make sure to mix just until the ingredients are incorporated. No more, no less.

Baking and cooling: Finally, it's time to bake the cake. To tell when it's ready to come out of the oven, the edges should be lightly browned, the surface evenly puffed and no longer shiny, and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean of any batter but still with a few moist crumbs on the tip. That's how you know the cake is perfectly baked and moist! Like I mentioned above, cooling the cake in the pan will be a VERY short process (to make sure it slides out easily). After it's out of the pan, give it at least 1 hour to cool on a wire rack before icing otherwise it will melt the glaze. I personally like this cake at room temperature but you can also serve it warm if you prefer.

watch how to make lemon Bundt cake

check out these other bright lemon recipes!

• Lemon Brownies
• Lemon Monkey Bread
• Easy Lemon Pudding
• Fresh Lemon Tiramisu
• Lemon Raspberry Cake
• Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf

Lastly, if you made this or any of my recipes, be sure to leave a comment and review below! I love hearing your thoughts! Also tag me on Instagram @eatsdelightfulblog so I can see what you're making.

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Enjoy!

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