Mother’s Day is this weekend! If you’re still looking for a simple yet impressive dessert, look no further than this lemon bundt cake!
I made this lemon-y, flavorful cake for Easter, and it was beyond amazing. And what makes it even better is that it has a lot of wow factor for a dessert that’s so easy to make. It stayed so moist for days afterward.
The inspiration, oddly enough, was my Rich Chocolate Cake Recipe. It’s so easy and so incredibly delicious that I knew it had to be simple enough to adapt it to different flavors.
The sour cream and pudding mix are what help make this lemon-y cake so unbelievably moist. (Yes, I know, I’ve used that word a lot. But it’s SO true!)
What if I can’t find a lemon cake mix?
I used a lemon cake mix for this, but if your grocery store doesn’t have them, you can substitute a white or yellow mix. Just be sure to pick up an extra lemon, and then replace half of the water with the juice from that lemon. The extra juice plus adding in the extra zest should help bump up the lemon flavor.
Although we’ve missed National Lemonade Day this year (May 1), this lemon-y, moist lemon bundt cake recipe would be perfect to make on repeat during National Lemon Month in June. Plus, it’s a wonderful, simple cake to make for all of your spring and summer gatherings if you’re looking to impress your friends.
Need more dessert recipes for your next party? Give these a try! Candy Stash Cheesecake, Lemon Bars, and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Candy Cookies.
Lemon Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 lemon cake mix (just the mix – not the ingredients called for on the box)
- 2 small instant lemon pudding mixes can also use one large box instead
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs, slightly beaten
- ½ cup water
- juice of one lemon
- zest of one lemon
Glaze
- 1½ cup powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 lemon, zest and juice 2 to 4 tbsp of juice
- 1-2 tbsp milk if necessary
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°. Grease and flour your bundt pan very well, or spray liberally with cooking spray.
- Combine the cake mix and pudding mixes in a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine.
- Add in the sour cream, oil, eggs, water, lemon juice, and lemon zest and mix well. Using a mixer is easiest, but it's not absolutely necessary.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 50 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, melted butter, lemon zest, and 2 tbsp lemon juice. The glaze should be thick enough to not run directly off the cake but thin enough to actually drizzle onto the cake. If needed, add more lemon juice or a bit of milk, 1 tbsp at a time.
- Loosen the cake from the pan and turn out onto a serving plate.
- Drizzle the glaze on top of the cake.
Notes
- Be sure to let the cake cool completely, or some of it may stick to the bottom of the pan. That’s also the reason to be sure to grease it very well.
- If you can’t find a lemon cake mix, you can also use a white or yellow cake mix. You should replace half of the water with the juice of one more lemon, and add the zest from it too.
- In the photos, the glaze I used had 4 tbsp of lemon juice. It soaked into the cake like a poke cake. It was amazingly delicious, but I would have preferred that the glaze was a little thicker. Hence, the directions for the glaze.
Also, if you’re still looking for gifts for the special lady in your life, bookshop.org is a fantastic place to shop for books, games, puzzles, etc. They also have gift cards if you would rather let her pick her own gift. By going to the Grace, Laughter, and Coffee shop page, you can shop the website directly through there, and you’ll also be able to check out a couple lists of favorites – mine and Judah’s.
**Bookshop.org supports local bookshops by giving a portion of book sales to bookstores, either by the purchaser’s choosing or through a general fund to all eligible stores. This post may contain affiliate links. As an affiliate of bookshop.org, I may receive a small commission as well. Thanks for supporting small and local bookstores!**
