One of the things that I look forward to in the winter is meyer lemon season. Meyer lemons are hybrid fruits, a cross between a mandarin orange and a lemon that has all the flavor of the lemon without the acidity. They’re really easy to work with and make for a nice change in recipes. In this Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake, for instance, there is a lot of lemon juice but the finished cake comes out with a smooth and somewhat mellow – as opposed to bright and tangy – lemon flavor.
Apart from the Meyer lemons themselves, this is a fairly standard bundt cake. It is moist, with a tight crumb and is especially good with a little bit of glaze on top. I included a good amount of lemon zest to emphasize the lemon flavor and opted not to include vanilla extract so that the citrus wouldn’t have any competition for the spotlight in this cake. The cake will keep, well-wrapped or stored in an airtight container, for a couple of days, so this is a nice cake to bake on a weekend and nibble at during the week.
Now, if you can’t get Meyer lemons, you can easily substitute regular lemon juice into this recipe and get great results. If fact, if you’re not too familiar with meyer lemons, you might want to try giving both versions a try (or simply compare the lemons side-by-side) to get a feel for the differences between the two.
Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 tbsp Meyer lemon zest
1/2 cup Meyer lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp Meyer lemon juice
1 cup confectioners sugar
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 10 or 12 cup bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by lemon zest. Stir 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, followed by the Meyer lemon juice. Add in additional 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk. Stir in all remaining flour, mixing only until no streaks of flour remain visible. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs attached.
Let cake rest in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the glaze, whisk together lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Drizzle over cooled cake.
Serves 12-14
Stacy
January 1, 2010Funny, I just made a lemon bundt cake last night! The proportions are pretty close, I may have to make this one and compare.
Cheryl
January 1, 2010Looks amazing! I crave lemon sometimes, so I’m glad I can turn to this!
Elyse
January 2, 2010Lemon is on my mind this year – just made a lemon meringue pie and received a gemstone lemon cake at Christmas. Bundt are such a great idea – fun shapes and easy to do. Thanks for a great recipe. I found good bundt pans at http://www.parkerspantry.com
Braxton
January 2, 2010I love good lemon pound cake and this reminds me of it.
kathy
January 6, 2010Thanks for the recipe. I tried it and it’s pretty yummy. A few thoughts/questions: at first I thought the glaze might be optional, but it’s almost not sweet enough without the glaze. Any way to add sugar to the recipe and forgo the glaze? I thought sifting the dry ingredients was helpful. In the end, the mixture comes out a little dense even though I tried not to over mix it. It turned out fine, but I think I would be even more cautious about mixing next time because it was a little doughy looking.
Jeff
January 7, 2010The cake turned out great, but the glaze was pretty thick. 1 cup of confectioners sugar, right?
Abbigail
May 17, 2010like always, very well written.
Eason
May 19, 2010I love this new design,lucy
Meesha
January 15, 2011I used Nordic Ware Heritage Pan and presented to in-laws. Just wonderful! While baking, the entire house had lovely aroma of lemon and baked goods. Thanks so much for sharing.