When life gives you lemons, you make bundt cake! This is the lightest cake topped with a smooth lemon cream cheese frosting to bring a rich citrus flavor in every bite.
This is another “the longer it sits, the yummier it gets” cake! Of course, it is perfect the day of but also a flavor explosion the next day. Either way, you will not have left overs for very long!
The texture is credited to the oil, sour cream, and buttermilk combo. It is the trifecta of ingredients in any cake. Everything about this cake is worth trying, and I am not even a citrus lemon person! However, I did devour me a slice.
Ok, Ok……two slices…..
It is just THAT good!
Quick insight to how I made this cake. It takes about an hour to bake and invert. You want it completely cooled before you frost the cake. So I typically will make the cake, let it cool for about 30 minutes after the flip and then cover it. I leave the frosting for when I am about to serve OR if I do not want to leave it out over night I will frost and pop in the refrigerator. Depends how you want to serve, room temperature or chilled.
If you do want to leave it on the counter over night I suggest you either glaze it right out of the oven to hold the moisture, or wrap in plastic wrap and then cover on your cake stand. I suggest you do this anyways because it will take the cake flavor from amazing to extraordinary! It is like a glazed donut, you get that extra sweetness from the outer layer. For the glaze, you will mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice. Once you have removed the cake, let the cake cool for about 10 minutes then invert onto your platter. Spread the glaze over the warm cake then let cake cool completely. Your cake is great this way, but who doesn’t frost a cake? You know the right thing to do….so go get started!
Lemon Pound Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Big pinch of salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup), softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Zest of 2 large lemons
- 3 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the glaze (optional):
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
For the frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon reserved
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. Liberally grease bundt pan.
- In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a standing mixer fitted with the whisk, or a hand beater, on medium-high beat butter and sugar together until creamed together.
- Turn the mixer down to medium-low, add in one egg at a time.
- Add in sour cream, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest. Mix well.
- Add in half of the buttermilk, then half the flour. Mix until just incorporated.
- Add in the rest of flour and buttermilk.
- Blend in vanilla extract. Beat until just combined.
- Dollop batter around bundt pan and spread evenly.
- Bake 40-45 minutes. Top with foil if the top is browning.
- Toothpick test should come out with crumbs. Bake in another 5-8 minutes if still barely wet.
- Remove and let cool. If glazing, invert after about 5-8 minutes. Invert period after 15 minutes.
- For the glaze, mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice. Pour over warm cake after inverting. It is a thin glaze, this is what you want!
For the frosting:
- In a standing mixer, or hand beater, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar by the spoonful, lemon juice, and zest together on medium-low.
- If too thick, add in a dash of reserved lemon juice at a time. You want the frosting to hold its’ shape.
- Spread evenly over layer cake or pipe lines from the center up the cake and down the sides.
- Once frosted, serve immediately or place in refrigerate.
I had about 4 lemons on hand. I like to test the batter and frosting before I make a final decision to bake and frost. For more lemon flavor add zest, not so much juice. This is why I keep so many lemons on hand because I want the lemon to really shine!
If you are not into frosting, sift powdered sugar over the top of the cake. Adding a bunch of zest to the cake in the beginning will help enhance the lemon flavor in the sponge with the absence of lemon frosting.
