Go Back
–+ servings
slice of lemon butter cake on blue plate
Print Recipe
3.73 from 194 votes

Easy Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe

Easy Lemon Pound Cake starts with a cake mix and has the perfect lemon flavor. The warm cake is soaked with a lemon butter sauce!!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 10 servings
Calories: 227kcal
Author: Dorothy Kern
Cost: 8

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 1 (approx 15 ounce) box lemon cake mix
  • ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter , melted
  • 1 cup milk
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon butter extract optional; it pumps up the butter flavor of the cake
  • 1 3.4 ounce box instant vanilla pudding mix (or lemon)

Sauce:

  • ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice from 1-2 lemons
  • Zest of one lemon
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray (the kind with flour) or butter and flour it.
  • Use a hand or a stand mixer to beat the cake mix, butter, eggs, milk, extract, and pudding mix until a thick batter forms. Pour into prepared pan.
  • Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs. Remove the cake from the oven and cool for 10 minutes but keep it in the pan.
  • While the cake is baking, make the sauce. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Stir in the sugar, lemon juice, zest and salt and cook until it just simmers (bubbles around the edges). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
  • Poke several holes in the cake using a long skewer and pour the butter sauce over the cake. Cool in pan completely, then remove to serving plate. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Video

Notes

  • Be sure to grease and flour a bundt pan really well. That’s the secret to easy release and a pretty cake.
  • If you can’t find lemon pudding mix, you can use vanilla or even cheesecake flavor.
  • Be sure to let it cool completely before removing from the pan so the flavor soaks into every single bite.
  • The cake is sweet enough because of the sauce so it doesn’t need frosting; just a dusting of powdered sugar will do! 
  • To achieve a thicker textured cake, replace the milk with a cup sour cream.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 227kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 114mg | Sodium: 41mg | Potassium: 74mg | Fiber: 0.02g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 573IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 0.4mg