Lemon Yogurt Bundt Cake is one of my favorite spring desserts! It's bright and tart, sweet and super moist and I'm sharing the secret to bakery style (moist) cakes at home. Everyone will love the flavors of this beautiful bundt cake.
Lemon Yogurt Cake
If you are looking for the ultimate in lemony flavored cake, this is your recipe. Even days after baking this cakes stays moist, fragrant, tart and delicious. And if you are a lemon lover like I am, this might just be your new favorite cake. I've even used the leftovers of this cake to make Lemon Cake Ice Cream!
This recipe is a classic Barefoot Contessa Recipe and I've made it for years now. The original recipe calls for a loaf pan but I like to bake it in a small bundt pan because it's so pretty.
Ingredients In Lemon Cake
- Flour - all-purpose flour is all you need for this recipe.
- Baking Powder & Salt - necessary for any cake!
- Yogurt - yogurt really is the secret ingredient that makes this cake super moist! I use whole-milk (full fat) yogurt.
- Sugar - this is dessert after all!
- Eggs - extra large eggs make all the difference when baking cake.
- Lemon - juice, and zest are both needed to bring all of the lemon flavor.
- Vanilla Extract - even though this is a lemon cake, vanilla adds so much delicious flavor.
- Vegetable Oil - for moisture.
- Lemon Glaze - made with confectioners' sugar and more freshly squeezed lemon juice
How To Make Lemon Yogurt Cake
- Preheat & Prep - preheat the oven and grease either a loaf pan or small bundt pan. Grease and flour the pan.
- Dry Ingredients- Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl.
- Wet Ingredients - In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.
- Combine- Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated.
- Bake - Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Simple Syrup - Cook a lemon syrup using lemon juice and sugar in a small pan until the mixture is clear. While the cake is still warm, pour the simple syrup over the cake and allow it to soak in.
- Glaze- when the cake is completely cool, glaze with a combination of confectioners' sugar and lemon juice.
The Best Bakery Secret for Moist Cake
If you aren't drizzling your warm cakes with simple syrup, nows the time to start! This is a bakery trick to achieve super moist and delicious cakes and it's also a way to add extra flavor. This cake gets an extra lemony boost with a drizzle of lemon simple syrup but you can really infuse your simple syrups with anything from vanilla to rum.
How to Make Easy Lemon Glaze
One of the many reasons I love this lemon cake is that all of the lemon flavor comes from fresh lemons! There is absolutely no lemon extract in this cake. To finish this lovely bundt, glaze it with a fresh and tart lemon glaze.
To make the easiest lemon glaze, whisk together 1 cup of confectioners' sugar with 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice until you have a consistency that can be drizzled. If it's too thick, add more lemon juice. Too thin, add more confectioners sugar! Simple.
I hope you and your family will love this lemon cake as much as I do. This is the perfect cake for any spring time celebration from Easter to Mother's Day. Have a lemon lover in your family? This would make a delicious birthday cake! If you do make it, please leave a comment and review in the box below. Happy Baking!
More Recipes for Lemon Lovers:
- Lemon Cake Ice Cream
- Greek Lemon Chicken with Feta
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Lemon Curd
- Lemon Chia Yogurt Pancakes
- Raspberry Lemon Sweet Rolls
- Meyer Lemon Margaritas
Lemon Yogurt Bundt Cake
The most delicious moist and flavorful Lemon Yogurt Bundt Cake with a fresh lemon glaze.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- 1 ⅓ cups sugar, divided (⅓ cup reserved for simple syrup)
- 3 extra-large eggs
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (for simple syrup)
- For the glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour either an 8x4x2 inch loaf pan or a small bundt pan. If you are using a loaf pan you can additionally line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.
- Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
- Make a simple syrup by combining ⅓ cup lemon juice and remaining ⅓ cup sugar in a small pan and cook over low stirring until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
- When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon simple syrup over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool completely.
- For the glaze, combine 1 cup confectioners' sugar + 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice and wisk to combine. Drizzle over the cooled cake.
Notes
- Make sure to add the simple syrup once the cake is still warm, this will help it absorb into the cake. Let cake cool completely before adding the glaze.
- If your glaze is too thick to drizzle, add more lemon juice. If it's too thin, you can add more confectioners sugar.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 583Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 98mgSodium: 399mgCarbohydrates: 90gFiber: 1gSugar: 65gProtein: 8g
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Eden says
Looks amazing Leah!!
Leah Bergman says
Thank you so much Eden! It's so moist and flavorful.
Poppy Elia says
I need to make a 3 layer cake, do you think this recipe is suitable for that
Leah Bergman says
I've never used this recipe for a layer cake so I haven't tested that. You will definitely need to use small round cake pans however since there wouldn't be enough batter for a traditional 8 or 9" layer cake.