Lemon Olive oil Bundt Cake with Citrus glaze
Are you ready to channel your inner Italian donna, who knows that a Lemon Olive oil bundt cake and a hot coffee is the best way to spend an easy spring afternoon?
Fresh lemons and a few staple ingredients are all you need to pamper your tastebuds with this incredibly moist and tender Lemon Olive oil Bundt Cake with a zesty Citrus glaze.
Easy bundt cake recipe for afternoon coffee break
A generous slice of this moist citrus bundt cake with Lemon glaze and a juicy chat with your fave neighbor is all we need to feel that magical ‘Dolce far niente’.
Italians are masters of creating something that I like to call ‘perfected simplicity’. Just a few best quality ingredients are combined with Italian temperament, and smart cooking techniques into irresistible cuisine.
This Lemon Olive oil bundt cake recipe is just that: simplicity transformed into sweet perfection.
The best Olive oil for baking a cake
This bundt cake recipe calls for two different types of fat: butter and olive oil.
I used Carapelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil which is a synonym for best quality, passion for creating masterpieces, and Italian olives.
You could use any mild-tasting vegetable oil, but I suggest you use good-quality oil since it makes your cake sponge incredibly delicate, moist, and spongy. With the use of olive oil, you also avoid the chance of the sponge being heavy or too dense.
Where to buy perfect bundt cake pans?
I tried many bundt cakes: from store-bought to silicone ones and artfully shaped pans. Until this day I’ve never set my eyes, hands (and money 😉) on a better bundt cake pan than the ones from the iconic brand Nordic Ware .
Their quality is unbeatable and I starting to believe their designers are reading my mind!
But no matter which pan you’re about to use to bake this Lemon bundt cake, keep this crucial tip in your mind: the most important this with any bundt pan is taking good care of it.
Avoid soaking the pan in the water or washing it in a dishwasher with aggressive detergents. Washing it by hand with gentle soap, without using a metal scrub brush, prevents damaging the non-stick coating.
Ingredients for lemon bundt cake recipe
Fresh lemons: this yellow citrus is a queen of Italian cuisine and it’s also in the star of this fragrant cake. We’re using the entire lemon here: aromatic lemon zest and freshly squeezed juice.
Extra virgin olive oil: in this recipe, I wanted to accompany fresh lemon with the best quality olive oil. Oil is the main ingredient that keeps this cake so moist, and soft and gives it a velvety texture.
On my recent trip to Trieste (Italy), I decided to take a beautiful bottle of Carapelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil with me and present it in one of my recipes. Ah, lemons and olive oil, what a great start to a sweet cake story!
Softened butter: the recipe starts with creaming the softened butter.
Make sure you get an unsalted one and bring it to room temperature before baking.
The aroma and nuttiness of the butter make every cake batter so much better, doesn’t it?
White granulated sugar: or should I say the ‘regular’ sugar?
This simple ingredient isn’t here just to make our cake sweet,
it’s also responsible for keeping it moist and fluffy.
All-purpose flour: will keep this cake light like a cloud.
A small addition of the cornstarch will give it a little spin in texture
and make this dessert a little bit chewy and cakey.
Large eggs: if you have a chance, try to get free-range eggs.
Their large and orange yolks will color your cake with charming yellow hues.
Make sure you bring the eggs to room temperature before baking.
Full-fat Greek yogurt: will keep your cake even more moist and fluffy.
Little secrets like this make a huge difference in the end and bring your bundt cake from ‘okay’ to ‘one more slice, please.’
Vanilla extract: enhances the taste of any cake, just like salt in savory dishes.
You can use vanilla extract or vanilla paste, whatever you have in your pantry.
Powdered sugar: is your best friend that saves your cake from sticking to the pan and saves you a mini baker’s freak-out. After you grease the cake pan with soft butter, sprinkle it abundantly with powdered sugar. I learned this trick from my friend, who is the owner of a local cake shop, and it works every single time.
How to bake a perfect bundt cake
- Preheat oven to 180°C/355°F.
- With a standing mixer or a hand mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the granulated sugar and fresh lemon zest to the creamed butter and mix until it is well combined.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a medium separate bowl combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and cornstarch. Set aside.
- Mix lemon juice, milk, and vanilla extract.
- Alternately, add the flour mixture and milk mixture to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.
- Mix until everything is just combined.
- Add Greek yogurt and olive oil and mix until just combined.
- Coat your bundt cake pan with softened butter and sprinkle powdered sugar well and pour the batter evenly into the pan. This is an old baker’s secret that works perfectly every time and it works like a charm!
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean (if there are a few moist crumbs stuck to it, that’s fine).
- If your cake isn’t cooked through yet, you can bake it for additional 15 -30 minutes, but make sure to cover the bundt with aluminum foil, to prevent burning on the top.
- Allow to cool for about 10-15 minutes, then remove the cake from the bundt pan to finish cooling on a wire rack or plate.
How to release a Cake From a Bundt pan
There is nothing worse than using the best quality ingredients, waiting for an hour to finally take a bite of a warm, citrusy bundt cake, and realizing you can’t get it out of the pan.
Bundt cakes can turn into stressful flops until you know a few tricks so you know exactly how to get them out of the cake pan every single time.
Tips for removing bundt cake from the pan:
• Never skip the part of the recipe that calls for a pan preparation. Good quality pans have a great non-stick coating and all you need to do is to sprinkle it abundantly with powdered sugar right before you pour the cake batter in the pan.
• Once the cake is baked, allow it to cool down for 10-15 minutes. After that gently flip your bundt pan over on a plate or a cooling rack.
• Wet a dish towel and place the wet dish towel over the bundt pan. Gently shake the bundt pan and slowly remove
How to style and serve Lemon bundt cake
By now you must know how much I love styling food with flowers. I mean just a few scrolls down my Instagram feed (link) will take you into my flowery world of food photography 😉.
But even if you’re now a food blogger or a photographer, decorating a simple cake like this will add so much joy to your moments if eating a slice of bundt cake and surprise your guests as well.
Bundt cakes are like an empty canvas: simple and almost boring, until we make them look inviting and droll-worthy with a little help of lemon glaze, romantic flowers, and other decorations.
I decided to combine three elements:
– lemon glaze
– thin lemon slices
– pink and white flowers
Simple bundt cakes are like a crown, waiting to get into the spotlight.
Don’t be afraid to be a little more playful with decorating it and send a message of luscious lemon flavors and chic Olive oil fragrances.
You can read more tips about styling food with flowers HERE.
Storing tips for homemade bundt cake
On a countertop
A homemade bundt cake is a perfect dessert that can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days. That means 3 days of sweet, moist, and citrusy cake with your afternoon coffee! Keep it covered with a cake keeper or an airtight bowl to protect it from drying out or getting covered with dust. Avoid keeping it on a countertop in the hot summer months.
In the fridge
Once the cake is completely cooled, you can refrigerate it, stored in an airtight container. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days. Make sure to bring it to room temperature again a few hours before serving.
More Lemon desserts you might love
Upside down Caramel Orange cake
Lemon Olive oil Bundt Cake with Citrus glaze
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 electric hand mixer
- 1 bundt cake pan
- 1 small mixing bowl fro dry ingredients
- 1 jug for mixing the wet ingredients
- 1 Citrus zester
- 1 lemon squeezer
- 1 cooling rack
- 1 lemon glaze jug
Ingredients
For the bundt cake
- 100 g soft butter
- 400 g sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
- 4 pcs large eggs
- 400 g all purpose flour
- 15 g baking powder
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 50 ml fresh lemon juice
- 125 ml oat milk
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 50 g Greek yogurt
- 100 ml Carapelli Olie oil
For bundt cake pan
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar for dusting the bundt pan
- 1 tbsp soft butter for greasing the bundt pan
For the lemon glaze
- 50 ml fresh lemon juice
- 200 g powdered sugar
Decoration
- 8 pcs lemon slices
- 1 handful flowers for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/355°F.
Cream the butter
- With a standing mixer or a hand mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the granulated sugar and fresh lemon zest to the creamed butter and mix until it is well combined.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Mix the dry ingredients
- In a medium separate bowl combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and cornstarch. Set aside.
Mix the wet ingredients
- Mix lemon juice, milk, and vanilla extract.
Combine all together
- Alternately, add the flour mixture and milk mixture to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.Mix until everything is just combined.
- Add Greek yogurt and Olive oil and mix until just combined.
Prepare the bundt cake pan
- Coat your bundt cake pan with softened butter and sprinkle powdered sugar well and pour the batter evenly into the pan. This is an old baker's secret that works perfectly everytime and it works like a charm!
Bake the cake
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean (if there are a few moist crumbs stuck to it, that’s fine).If your cake isn't cooked through yet, you can bake it for additional 15 -30 minutes, but make sure to cover the bundt with aluminum foil, to prevent burning on the top.
- Allow to cool for about10-15 minutes, then remove the cake from the bundt pan to finish cooling on a wire rack or plate.
Prepare the lemon glaze
- Mix all the ingredients and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and the glaze gets pale white. Pour the glaze over the top of the cake or drizzle it individually, over each slice.Decorate each slice with a thin lemon slice and edible flowers of your choice.