This lemonade bundt cake is soft, fluffy, moist, and packed full of lemon flavour. It’s even filled with lemon curd after baking for a gooey filling! Topped with a simple tangy lemon glaze, this is the best lemon cake. Perfect to make for brunch and dessert.
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Why you will LOVE this recipe:
- Texture: The cake is soft, moist, and buttery. The perfect bundt cake texture!
- Glaze: An easy, tangy lemon glaze is poured over the cake after baking.
- Filling: Lemon curd is piped into the middle of the cake for a gooey filling.
- Easy: The bundt cake is easy to whip up and you can use pre-made lemon curd for convenience.
Jump to:
How to fill a bundt cake after baking
It's kind of like filling a donut! Use a chopstick or skewer to poke through the cake. Poke about eight holes through the thickest part of the cake. Wiggle it around to make space for the lemon curd filling.
Scoop the curd into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the end cut off. Poke it through the holes and squeeze as much as will fit into the hole. Continue with the rest of the holes.
Clean off any curd that came out of the top and glaze! The glaze will cover all of the holes.
Make ahead:
You can make the lemon curd up to a few days ahead of time. Store refrigerated in an airtight container or jar. In a pinch, pre-made lemon curd will work but homemade is so much better.
You can make and fill the lemonade bundt cake a day ahead of time, store in the refrigerator and glaze right before serving.
Storage instructions
The filled and glazed lemonade bundt cake will keep well in the fridge for up to a few days. Store it in an airtight container to keep it moist.
Leftover filled cake also keeps really well in the freezer in an airtight container or freezer bag.
Make sure you let the cake come to room temperature before eating so that the butter in the cake softens up again. 25
Key ingredients
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below. But read through these for all the tips you will need for success!
Lemon curd: Premade or homemade lemon curd both work well in this recipe. I definitely prefer homemade because it's so easy to make and tastes way better.
Lemons: Fresh lemons will give you the best flavour.
Butter: Good quality, real butter will give you the best flavour and results. Make sure it's softened (at room temperature) to combine properly.
Vegetable oil: Any flavourless oil will work great. I used grapeseed oil. You can use canola, peanut, light olive oil... I don't recommend using coconut oil.
All purpose flour: Weigh the flour to get the most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.
Sour cream: Full fat sour cream will give the best results.
Buttermilk: Storebought buttermilk will give the best results. You can make diy buttermilk in a pinch but the texture won't be as spot on.
Step by step: making the cake
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Rub a cold piece of butter all along the inside of a bundt pan. Make sure it’s completely covered. Add a tablespoon of flour into the pan and tap it to distribute the flour everywhere. Flip the pan over to remove the excess. Set aside for later.
Step 2 - In a large bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest. Rub the zest and sugar until fragrant with your fingers.
Step 3 - Add oil, softened butter, and salt into the same bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl halfway through.
Step 4 - Add eggs one by one, beating between each egg and scraping down the bowl.
Step 5 - Into the same bowl, add sour cream and lemon juice, beating to combine. Then scrape the bowl.
Step 6 - Sift half of the flour and all of the baking powder into the same bowl. Fold with a spatula until mostly combined.
Step 7 - Add buttermilk and fold a few times. Sift the rest of the flour into the same bowl and fold just until no more dry streaks remain.
Step 8 - Scoop the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with a few crumbs attached.
Step 9 - Let the lemonade bundt cake cool inside the pan for 10 minutes. Place a serving plate on top of the pan and flip over. Use oven mitts to not burn yourself. Tap the top a few times to release the cake and lift the cake pan off. Let cool completely.
How to fill the bundt cake
Step 1 - Use skewers or chopsticks to poke eight holes through the thickest parts of the bundt cake. Wiggle it around to get good openings. Don’t poke all the way to the bottom.
Step 2 - Fill a piping bag or large zippered bag with cooled lemon curd. Cut the corner off. Insert the piping bag into the poked holes in the cake. Push out as much curd as you can. Repeat with the rest of the holes, filling the bundt cake with as much lemon curd as possible. Scrape excess lemon curd off the top of the cake.
Step by step: glaze
Step 1 - Add powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add lemon juice, a tablespoon at a time. Whisk or stir with a spoon to combine with every addition. Keep adding and stirring until a thick, spreadable glaze forms (or you can make a thinner glaze if you prefer).
Step 2 - Pour the glaze over the cooled, filled lemonade bundt cake. Spread with a spoon if needed. Let the glaze set for 10 minutes. Cut the cake into pieces and serve.
FAQ
The initial step of creaming the butter, oil, and sugar together helps give the bundt cake lift so you don't want to skip this step. Make sure your baking powder isn't expired. Don't overmix the batter once you add flour - stop mixing as soon as you stop seeing ribbons of dry flour. Lastly, you want to stop baking once a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean with a few crumbs attached. Try not to under or overbake.
Flour is one of the only ingredients that's difficult to measure properly. You want to weigh it to get the most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, measure properly by stirring the bag and spooning gently into a measuring cup. Scrape the excess off the top with the flat edge off a knife without packing it into the cup.
First off, start with a non-stick bundt pan. If it’s an older pan that has been used frequently, you may need to replace it because the non-stick coating comes off with time. Use a piece of cold butter to grease the sides and bottom of the pan very well. You can use vegetable oil or shortening instead. Then add a tablespoon of flour into the pan and shake the pan around so it sticks to the butter. Shake out any excess flour.
Sometimes when you add too many eggs to too little butter, the mixture can split and look all lumpy. Don't worry it will come together when you add the flour. Have all your ingredients at room temperature to prevent this from happening.
You can in a pinch but the texture and flavour won't be as good as using store bought buttermilk.
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Happy baking!
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📖 Recipe
Lemonade bundt cake
Ingredients
Bundt cake
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 lemons zested
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 5 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream room temperature
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 3 ¼ cup all purpose flour 390g
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1 cup lemon curd
Glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2-4 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
- lemon slices for garnish optional
Instructions
Bundt Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Rub a cold piece of butter all along the inside of a bundt pan. Make sure it’s completely covered. Add a tablespoon of flour into the pan and tap it to distribute the flour everywhere. Flip the pan over to remove the excess. Set aside for later.
- In a large bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest. Rub the zest and sugar until fragrant with your fingers.1 cup granulated sugar, 2 lemons
- Add oil, softened butter, and salt into the same bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl halfway through.¼ cup vegetable oil, 1 cup unsalted butter, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Add eggs one by one, beating between each egg and scraping down the bowl.5 large eggs
- Add sour cream and lemon juice, beating to combine.½ cup sour cream, 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Sift half of the flour and all of the baking powder into the same bowl. Fold with a spatula until mostly combined.3 ¼ cup all purpose flour, 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- Add buttermilk and fold a few times. Sift the rest of the flour into the same bowl and fold just until no more dry streaks remain.¾ cup buttermilk
- Scoop the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean with a few crumbs attached.
- Let the bundt cake cool inside the pan for 10 minutes. Place a serving plate on top of the pan and flip over. Use oven mitts to not burn yourself. Tap the top a few times to release the cake and lift the cake pan off. Let cool completely.
- Use skewers or chopsticks to poke eight holes through the thickest parts of the bundt cake. Wiggle it around to get good openings. Don’t poke all the way to the bottom.
- Fill a piping bag or large zippered bag with cooled lemon curd. Cut the corner off. Insert the piping bag into the poked holes in the cake. Push out as much curd as you can. Repeat with the rest of the holes, filling the bundt cake with as much lemon curd as possible. Scrape excess lemon curd off the top of the cake.1 cup lemon curd
Glaze
- Add powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add lemon juice, a tablespoon at a time. Whisk or stir with a spoon to combine with every addition. Keep adding and stirring until a thick, spreadable glaze forms (or you can make a thinner glaze if you prefer).2 cups powdered sugar, 2-4 tablespoons lemon juice
- Pour the glaze over the cooled, filled bundt cake. Spread with a spoon if needed. Let the glaze set for 10 minutes. Top with lemons (optional) and cut the cake into pieces and serve.lemon slices for garnish
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!