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Easy Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe from Scratch

Best Ever Lemon Pudding Bundt Cake Recipe

If you are looking for an easy to make lemon cake that is tangy and sweet and the perfect afternoon treat, this is the one for you! Using a package of lemon pudding keeps this cake moist and adds an additional layer of lemon flavor to the cake.

Spring is one of my favorite baking seasons because I can break out all things lemon (and other citrus fruits too!). The bright and tangy flavor mixed with the sweetness of sugar – like in our Lemon Coconut Cupcakes, is the perfect combination to awaken our taste buds for the changing season.

I love to make a good bundt cake too (see our Chocolate Peanut Butter Bundt Cake), but I knew I wanted something lighter and this lemon cake does not disappoint.

Finished lemon cake on crystal cake stand with freshly sliced lemons on top.

So that brings us to why this Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe is THE BEST- and I don’t say that lightly my friends. First off, it is easy to make, that is one of the biggest things in my books for making something the best… no one wants a complicated recipe they can’t even follow!

Secondly, this cake recipe uses ingredients that most of us almost always have on hand (minus the pudding of course, unless you’re like me and ALWAYS have boxes in your pantry).

The cake itself comes out as the perfect texture too, it isn’t dense at all, in fact it is fluffy and melts in your mouth as you eat it.

My last reason I know you will love our lemon cake is the simple lemon glaze that finishes it off! Ohhhh guys, I could seriously just eat this glaze straight from the bowl with a spoon.

It would even go well drizzled over a fat stack of pancakes for a nice Sunday brunch.

Lemon bundt cake being drizzled with fresh lemon glaze over a metal cooling rack.

Ingredients

A couple of quick notes on some of the ingredients used in this moist lemon cake!

  • Butter – room temperature is best for this, and most baking you will do.
  • Fresh Lemon – you will need the juice and zest from the lemon so be sure to pick a nice yellow one that is firm when squeezed.
  • Lemon Pudding Mix – any box instant lemon pudding will do for this bundt cake recipe, just ensure it isn’t one that requires cooking as that will not yield the same results.
  • Cornstarch – while it seems weird to add this to a cake, it really helps to keep it moist and create the lovely texture that makes this lemon cake standout.
Ingredients for Lemon Cake on marble countertop.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you keep a Bundt Cake from sticking?

The trick to having a Bundt cake that slides out of the pan perfectly after flipping is in the prep stage when you should always grease your cake pan! Some recipes you can even add a very fine sprinkle of flour after greasing to help with the release – this works best for very wet batters.

How do you grease a Bundt pan?

There are a couple of methods for greasing your pan, I prefer softened butter spread using a paper towel to really get around all the creases of the pan. You can also use a non-stick cooking spray like Pam, or even melted butter with a pastry brush.

Should you let a Bundt cake cool before flipping it?

Yes but not completely or you can have a mess on your hands! I recommended letting the cake cool for about 10 minutes and then gently flipping it over onto a cooling rack. And don’t stress if you have a little bit of breakage on top of your cake, you can always disguise this with icing, glaze or fresh fruit!

Be sure to PIN THIS BUNDT CAKE RECIPE so you have it for later!

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One thing I love when I bake a beautiful cake and want to keep it simple (meaning I don’t want to cover it in a thick frosting) is doing a simple glaze and then finishing it off with a delicate sprinkle of powdered sugar.

In order to get an even dusting and ensure there are no clumps you will want to make sure you use a metal sifter to gently shake the icing over the entire cake. Trust me, it makes the difference! This tool comes in handy for so much more than dusting your cake too, you can use it to sift dry ingredients for any recipe.

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How to make Lemon Pudding Bundt Cake

  1. Preheat oven to 325F and grease bundt pan. Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy using a stand mixer.
Creamed butter and sugar in stainless steel mixing bowl.

2. Add in eggs one at a time and beat until fully incorporated, then add lemon zest.

Cake batter in mixing bowl with lemon zest on top.

3. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, pudding mix, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. In another medium bowl mix together milk, vegetable oil, lemon juice and vanilla (yes you really do need to do this in separate bowls!)

Glass bowl with wet ingredients for lemon cake on marble countertop.

4. Slowly alternate adding your dry and wet ingredients to the creamed sugar mixture from step 1.

Dry ingredients added to wet lemon cake batter in stainless mixing bowl.

5. Once finished adding the wet and dry to the cake batter, set mixer to medium speed and mix for 3 minutes. Pour into prepared bundt cake pan and bake.

Cake batter in bundt pan before baking.

6. Once baked cool about 10 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack.

Lemon bundt cake on cooling rack.

Lemon Glaze for Bundt Cake

To make the lemon glaze you need powdered sugar, milk, lemon juice and zest. It takes just a couple of minutes to mix up and really makes this lemon bundt cake complete!

Place all ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl and mix using a fork or whisk until smooth.

To make it easier for drizzling the cake you can add to a pourable container/jug. Drizzle over the cooled cake and then sprinkle powdered sugar and top with fresh lemon slices.

Yield: 16 slices

Easy Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe from Scratch

Finished lemon cake on crystal cake stand with freshly sliced lemons on top.

An easy to make Lemon Bundt Cake using lemon pudding mix for extra flavor and the perfect texture.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 3/4 c Butter, softened
  • 1.5 c Granulated Sugar
  • 4 lg Eggs
  • 1 1/4 c Milk
  • 1/3 c Vegetable Oil
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
  • 2 tbsp Lemon Zest
  • 1 pkg Lemon Pudding Mix (99g)
  • 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
  • 1 3/4 c All Purpose Flour
  • 2 tbsp Cornstarch
  • 4 tsp Baking Powder
  • Glaze
  • 1 c Powdered Sugar
  • 3 tbsp Milk (may need more to thin it out)
  • 1 tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
  • 2 tbsp Lemon zest

Instructions

  1. Begin by preheating oven to 325F, grease bundt pan thoroughly and set aside.
  2. In stand mixer with paddle attachment cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time and beat until fully incorporated.
  3. Mix in lemon zest.
  4. In medium bowl whisk/sift together the flour, pudding mix, cornstarch, baking powder and salt, set aside for step 6.
  5. In another medium bowl mix together milk, vegetable oil, lemon juice and vanilla., set aside for next step.
  6. Beginning with dry ingredients from step 4, add about 1/3 of the mixture to your batter and mix well. Then add in 1/3 of the wet mix from step 5 and mix well to incorporate. Continue alternating until both mixtures are fully incorporated into your batter.
  7. Once all ingredients are added to batter mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes to get it light and fluffy and fully mixed.
  8. Pour batter into prepared Bundt cake pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
  9. Allow to cool on baking rack (in the pan)
    for 10 minutes before gently flipping out onto the rack to fully cool.
  10. Mix all ingredients for glaze until smooth, drizzle over entire cake and top with a sprinkle of powdered sugar and sliced lemons.

Notes

If you are a lemon lover like myself then feel free to add even more lemon zest to the batter and the glaze!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

16

Serving Size:

1 slice

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 317Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 72mgSodium: 318mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 1gSugar: 28gProtein: 4g

*Please note that nutritional values are not always 100% accurate and are to be used as a guide.

Did you make this recipe?

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Luscious and Moist Lemon Bundt Cake

R.ZMoore

Saturday 21st of May 2022

Salted or unsalted butter

Oliv Blogger

Wednesday 25th of May 2022

I use whatever I have on hand - If I am using a salted butter I just make sure to account for that in the recipe itself (i.e. if the recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of salt I would do half of that when using salted butter). Hope this helps!

MJ

Monday 21st of June 2021

your easy lemon bunt cake is missing the amount of corn strarch?????????????????????

Oliv Blogger

Monday 21st of June 2021

Hey MJ, so sorry for that! I've updated it to include the 2 tbsp of cornstarch in the ingredients section. Thankfully if you made the cake without the cornstarch it would still be okay, this simple addition just helps with the texture of the cake.

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