Lemon Bundt Cake (sour cream, lemon glaze)
If you're a lemon lover, this is the perfect, simple cake bursting with lemon flavor (thanks to the lemon zest) and a sweet lemon glaze. It's easy to make, keeps well and has an extraordinary, melt-in-your-mouth crumb, similar to a moist pound cake.
Servings 8 slices
Ingredients
For the lemon cake batter:
- 2 tablespoons shortening soft, to grease the pan
- 2 tablespoons flour to coat the pan
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest from about 1 large lemon
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour or cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sour cream at room temperature
- ¼ cup milk or buttermilk, at room temperature
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
For the lemon glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- extra lemon zest for decorating
Instructions
Make the lemon cake:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
- Grease a 10 or 12-cup bundt cake pan (26cm) with 2 tablespoons shortening, covering every angle, nook and cranny. Dust with 2 tablespoons flour, shaking off excess. Reserve.
- Beat 1 cup unsalted butter in a large bowl at medium or high speed, while adding 2 cups sugar gradually until the mixture is creamy, about 3 minutes. You can use a hand-held electric mixer or a stand mixer.
- Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well each time to combine.
- Add ½ teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon lemon zest and mix.
- Sift 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt (I have them measured and sift them directly into the batter) and add them in 3 parts to the egg mixture, alternating with ½ cup sour cream, ¼ cup milk and ¼ cup fresh lemon juice in 2 parts. So you add: ⅓ of the dry ingredients, then the sour cream and half the milk and mix, then ⅓ more of the flour, the rest of the milk and lemon juice, and the final ⅓ of the dry ingredients.
- Mix lightly at low speed every time you add a dry or wet part; there's no need to beat thoroughly after each addition, except the last one. Mix well but don’t over beat. I highly recommend you run a rubber spatula at the end and make sure there are no dry spots before pouring the batter into the pan.
- Pour mixture into the prepared bundt pan.
- Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. This time is estimated according to my oven and pan, but it can take a little less or more for you. So start checking towards the 35-40 minute mark. Cover loosely with a piece of aluminum foil if the top of the cake browns too quickly and continue baking until completely done.
- Let cool 20 minutes on a wire rack and carefully shake the pan to see if the cake loosens by itself. You can use a smooth-bladed knife and insert it between the cake and the edges of the pan and gently loosen the parts that might've stuck during baking. Again shake the pan carefully. You should feel that the edges and the bottom of the cake is loose.
- Remove the cake by putting the wire rack or a plate on top of it and flipping it with both hands with a kitchen towel that allows you to grasp both the wire rack (or plate) and the edges of the cake pan at the same time. Remove the bundt pan and flip the cake with the wire rack so it's on top of it again but without the pan.
- Let the cake cool completely on the wire rack before glazing.
Make the glaze:
- Mix 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth and shiny. Start with the 2 tablespoons of juice and add more by the teaspoon if necessary. It should be like honey for a light glaze. If you want a thicker glaze, add less juice until you have a mixture like very thick honey.
- Drizzle on top of the cooled cake and let drip down the sides.
- Sprinkle with extra lemon zest if you want to. Let dry.
- Eat at room temperature.
- Wrap leftovers and keep them at room temperature for a day or two, or refrigerate them for 4-5 days.
Notes
Lemon flavor: you can add more or less of the lemon zest quantity specified in the recipe to adjust it to your palate. The mix of juice and zest is a lemon flavor powerhouse, and this recipe will give you an intense experience. If you like a mellower flavor, add more vanilla extract, up to a teaspoon, and lower the zest to half a tablespoon.
Serving it: this delicious cake is best eaten at room temperature, in my experience. And if you don't want to use a simple glaze as we did here, a dusting of powdered sugar on top of the cake works just fine. Or use nothing at all, really; this is a fantastic plain cake that can be used to make a quick dessert by serving a slice with a dollop of whipped cream and some berries or lemon curd on the side.
