Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake
A bright and citrus-ey cake that's just perfect for breakfast, brunch, dessert, and all your coffee dates. Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake is sweet and tart and loaded with lemon. So lovely for spring!
This recipe was originally posted in 2013. I have updated the photos and edited the recipe slightly because sometimes things need tweaking. It's even better now than it was before!!
I think I just went all week without posting a dessert recipe. How did that even happen?
I could offer excuses but really there's no good explanation. So I'm offering cake. Good? Good.
I bought all these Meyer lemons awhile back because it was the first time I'd ever been able to find them in my little corner of the middle-a-nowhere. I got into this sort of hoarding I'm-never-gonna-find-any-more-Meyer-lemons mentality and ended up with entirely too many. I knew I needed to use them in EVERYTHING because I had like 257 Meyer lemons in a bowl on my kitchen table, but at the same time I felt like they had to be used in just the right recipe because I may not be able to buy them again until 2019.
I made those Meyer Lemon Oatmeal Cookies, made some lemony dressings, added the juice to a chicken marinade, and then I was afraid to spend the rest of my lemons.
Worried I'd be some kind of strange rotten fruit hoarder, I finally caved and made this Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake. With Easter just around the corner it seemed light and seasonal and like the kind of thing I'd like to see on my own brunch table. The super adorable Easter non-pariels helped, too.
Typical bundt cake has like 2 tons of butter (just ask this to-die-for Whiskey Sour Cake... ohhh mah gosh so good), but this one is made with sour cream (can i get an amen?!) and oil. So moist, light, sweet and tart--- add this one to your Easter menu for sure.
And stop hoarding the lemons.
Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake
A simple (and small!) bundt cake recipe that's perfect for brunch or tea time. Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake is a lovely way to celebrate Meyer lemons!
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest (zest from 2-3 lemons)
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
Glaze:
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons milk or cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 or 10 cup bundt pan (see note)
- In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, or in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whisk together the sour cream, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, oil, vanilla, and lemon extract.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix until just combined.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The "top" of the cake may split while baking; it's okay! You are going to flip it over before serving.
- Let the cake cool for 5-10 minutes before turning it out of the bundt pan onto a serving dish to let it cool completely.
- Make the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Add the milk or cream a teaspoon at a time to reach your desired consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and let it set up before slicing to serve.
Notes
This is a small cake. If you are looking for a full size pound cake, try this Lemon Yogurt Pound Cake.
You can use a 9 or 10 cup bundt pan for this recipe. Obviously the 10 cup pan will yield a more shallow cake. Keep that in mind when you are selecting which pan to use. It's also a great recipe for mini bundt pans. Adjust the bake time accordingly.
Greek yogurt is a good substitute for the sour cream in this recipe. Low fat Greek yogurt also works if you are cutting calories.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 293Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 196mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 0gSugar: 24gProtein: 4g
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Lemon Yogurt Pound Cake
Are you sure this bundt cake cooks in 20 minutes? Most bundts coo in 45min - 60 min.
I just made the cake and it looks good! It's smaller than other bundt cakes, but I'm guessing that's because the ingredients were cut in half compared to most bundt cake recipes..? I think next time I'll double the ingredients so it will rise higher and then bake it for 60-70 minutes. With this recipe, I had to bake mine for 40 minutes instead of 20 minutes, but I also used plain Kefir instead of sour cream (since I was out of sour cream). I'm looking forward to tasting it though! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Hey Melani - yup! This is a TINYYYY cake. If you are baking in a 9" bundt pan it should bake up pretty fast! I'll re-test and see what time I come up with ?
Saving this! Yum!!
I love lemon...but my Mom would really love this cake!!! YUM!!! I love meyer lemons they're fantastic!!!!
I don't always see Meyer lemons in my stores either. I suppose I should freeze the juice when I do get my hands on some! Your bundt cake makes me want to go on a Meyer lemon hunt! Pretty plates too 🙂
Aww thanks, Sandra.Those are my grandma's dishes. Go find some Meyer Lemons, for sure!!
Hi looking to try this recipe. But the cook Time is only 20 mins. Surely that’s a misprint. Or a typo
I wondered the same thing
Yes, it is a misprint. I cooked mine for 35 minutes and it was still raw. The ends were cooked and OMG delicious! Next time I’ll try 45 minutes.
mmmm, that looks so light and spongy and more-ish! I think I'd be polishing off the whole thing if I had that sat on my table!
Yeah I'll be making this one for Easter. So excited to have it again!
You are a lemon hoarder? So funny.
I love bundt cake and I love lemons! The sprinkles are a nice touch too. Really looks delicious. Your photography is gorgeous by the way!
Thanks, Ameena! I do hoard lemons. Only Meyers though. Huh.
Whoa, that's a lot of Meyer lemons! Because I'm the VP of the hard-to-find food hoarders society, I totally approve! 😉
Your photos are just amazing, by the way!
Awww thanks! That's so nice!
This is going in my recipe book. Looks great.---
Thanks, Rachel!
What a beautiful cake! I love lemon desserts. Its a tasty break from chocolate! I love the pastel sprinkles!!
I made some lemon bars earlier this week. It was a recipe that's in the works so they were ugly but DANG they were good. Thanks,Meghan!
I am not sure about the vanilla comment is it the amount of vanilla or not added. Thanks in advance Elizabeth
Hey Elizabeth! I'd originally typed "canilla" instead of vanilla because I was caffeine-deprived. It's fixed!! The amount of vanilla called for is correct! You could also substitute lemon extract for the vanilla if you wanna get crazy with it. Have a great weekend!!
Ok, I've been trying to avoid baking anything too carb-y, but I may have to make this over the weekend. Greek yogurt??? YUM. (one small comment: type-o in ingredients list "vanilla").
Thanks for the heads up! I was totally half asleep when I typed that out. This cake is GOOD. I haven't figured up the calories but leaving out the butter cuts it by way more than half of the original recipe.
I love Lemon! Can you bring this for Easter? If you don't want to, just say. But it looks light and perfect. Trying to figure out the rest of it.
I'll definitely bring this for Easter! I knew you'd love it. And no butter! It's really light.
This looks yummy! I love baking at the moment and cake especially 🙂 I don't have a bundt pan though so will have to get one a.s.ap.!
Hi, Jen! I got a bundt pan for Christmas-- they can be a little bit expensive. If you don't have one handy you could totally use a loaf pan and then adjust the bake time (it will probably take a little longer).
I also got a beautiful bundt pan from my family for Christmas. They found it at Costco for an excellent deal. So are you talking about the lemon bundt cake? I was going to attempt to make that tonight. But I would love to know what grade you would give it on taste.