The zesty lemon flavor in both the tender cake and the drippy glaze of this Lemon Bundt Cake balance out the natural sweetness in every slice, and the sour cream keeps it extra moist!
Preheat and prep: preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan, brushing the melted butter thoroughly throughout the inside of the pan, then knocking the flour around the pan over a sink or trashcan to fully cover the butter (see notes). Knock all excess flour out of the pan.
Cream butter, sugar, zest, and extract: in a large bowl cream together butter, sugar, lemon zest (see notes) and vanilla extract using a hand or stand mixer for 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs: add eggs one at a time, mixing briefly between each, and once all are in the batter, beat for another minute on medium until batter is smooth and well-combined. (Butter and eggs don't love each other's texture, so adding the eggs one-by-one helps them to warm up to each other and prevents your batter from breaking).
Alternate dry and sour cream additions: combine the remaining dry ingredients and blend together in a small bowl. Add half of the dry blend to your batter, mix it until about 75% combined. Then, add in all of the sour cream, mix again until about 75% combined, and then add the remaining dry ingredients. (Be sure to scrape the bowl well between each addition!) Mix on low for 30 seconds, just until everything is fully combined.
Transfer and bake: transfer batter to prepared pan and spread evenly to all edges. Bake for 70-75 minutes until deep golden brown, with the top fully set, springing back when gently pressed. (Another good trick is to listen for a quiet little crackle and pop which is the air bubbles in your batter popping near when the cake is finished baking.)
Cool fully in pan: cool cake for at least one hour (or ideally until it's at room temp) while upright, then flip over on to a wire rack and un-pan to finish cooling completely. If cake is sticking to the pan, gently use a small offset spatula or dinner knife to loosen the edges where possible, then knock the pan on the wire rack a couple of times until it releases onto the rack.
TO MAKE THE GLAZE:
Combine all ingredients: whisk together all ingredients until smooth in a small bowl.
Drip, slice and enjoy! Slowly pour glaze over the top of the cool cake. Allow it to set for 10-15 minutes, then cut off a slice (and maybe one for a buddy too!) and enjoy!
Notes
Make sure you take the time to grease and flour your pan well as it's the most important step in a Bundt recipe! I prefer to use melted butter, brushed on thoroughly to cover the whole inside of the pan, and then knock flour around in the pan to fully coat the butter. Check out this recipe's blog page for a full detailed tutorial!
For a little extra lemon kick, zest your lemon directly over your mixer bowl so the oils that are released during the zesting process (which you often can't really see) make it into your batter too!
It’d mean so much to me if you could please give the recipe card a ⭐ rating on the site and leave a comment to help others find this sweet recipe! Xo, Jocelyn @ Mint+Mallow