Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe With Pudding

Name: Lemon Bundt Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Ingredients: 15.25 ounce box lemon cake mix; 3.4 ounce box instant lemon pudding; 1 teaspoon lemon oil or extract; 4 large eggs (room temperature); 1 cup water; ½ cup vegetable oil; 2 cups powdered sugar; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 2 tablespoons milk

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This Lemon Bundt Cake recipe has bright lemon flavor in every bite! We make this lemon bundt cake from cake mix and a few other ingredients to keep it simple and delicious!

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I was never a huge lemon fan until recently and now you’ll find me adding a squeeze of lemon juice to just about everything. Pretty sure the squeeze of lemon is my favorite part of our crockpot chicken and rice soup!

We always have a bowl of fresh lemons on the counter, because they really do add the perfect pop to so many foods. I squeeze lemon juice into marinades, over fish, in rice, and in soup. Just a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice packs in a bright, fresh flavor and just makes your recipe pop.

We went all out in the lemon department with this lemon bundt cake, though. There’s nothing subtle about this…if you’re a lemon lover, go preheat your oven now. You don’t want to wait on this one. 😉

Sweet, slightly tart, loaded with citrus flavor, this moist lemon bundt cake is what dreams are made of. And since we started our lemon bundt cake with cake mix, it couldn’t be easier!

Table of Contents

Lemon Bundt Cake Ingredients:

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ingredients for lemon bundt cake on white background.

For the cake:

Lemon Cake Mix – You can use any brand of lemon cake mix that you prefer. The more popular brands are usually available in 15.25 ounce boxes, which is what you’ll need here!

Lemon Pudding – Pudding mix makes the cake extra soft and moist. As with the cake mix you can use any brand of instant lemon pudding mix you prefer. Vanilla pudding works here too.

Lemon Extract or Oil – We’re not skimping on flavor today! See more on these below.

Other – You’ll also need a few standard cake ingredients including eggs, vegetable oil, and water.

For the glaze:

Milk & Powdered Sugar – This simple mixture makes for a simple sweet glaze for topping the lemon bundt cake. You can use this quick and easy homemade glaze in just about any other dessert recipe too!

Lemon Juice – That’s right, there is lemon in the glaze too! Why not? It’s a simple way to add more lemon flavor. If you’re thinking there is already enough of that, you can leave it out but we love the lemon flavor in this cake!

What We Love About This Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe!

This lemon cake is bursting with lemon flavor, ultra moist, and not too heavy.

We start with a cake mix, which makes it easy, but we doctor it up to make it special.

How To Make Lemon Bundt Cake:

Mix: This lemon cake recipe is not short on the lemon! We’ll be using lemon cake mix, lemon oil, lemon pudding, and even lemon juice for making the glaze. If this cake doesn’t taste lemon-y, you did something very wrong. 😉

In a large mixing bowl, start by beating together all of the cake ingredients for a few minutes until it forms a nice batter. While mixing, start pre-heating the oven.

Helpful Tip!

Lemon Oil vs. Extract

Lemon oil will provide a more potent flavor than lemon extract, but feel free to use whichever you can easily find or have on hand.

If using lemon oil, be sure that it is food grade and safe to consume. If you’re not certain, just go for the lemon extract, which is easy to find in the baking aisle at most grocery stores.

Bake: When the lemon cake batter is ready, butter and flour your bundt pan. Make sure you get in every nook and cranny. Bundt cakes tend to stick to the pan if it’s not greased well, so don’t skip this step!

Pour the batter into the pan and spread it out evenly. It’ll take about 45 minutes to bake, or until a tooth pick comes out clean.

Good Quality Bundt Pan

We love baking bundt cakes and one of the tricks to getting them to release properly is to use a good quality, nonstick bundt pan. This one is a favorite.

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Glaze: Let the finished cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes and then carefully flip the cake onto a cooling rack. When it has cooled, you can start preparing the sweet lemon glaze!

Whisk together the glaze ingredients and start spooning or pouring it over the top of the cake. It would be a good idea to have something under the cake to catch any mess for easy cleanup.

The glaze will set quickly so don’t wait long after making it. Allow the glaze to set on the cake before serving.

Helpful Tip!

Lemon Glaze for Bundt Cake:

Want a thicker glaze? Use cream instead of milk.

Want a thinner glaze? Add more liquid, one tablespoon at a time.

How to Store Bundt Cake:

This cake will last for several days on the countertop in an airtight container or with plastic wrap. It should last about a week in the refrigerator and up to three months in the freezer!

To store with plastic wrap, insert a few toothpicks into the top of the cake so that the plastic wrap doesn’t get stuck to the glaze.

FAQ’s:

Why add lemon pudding?

Aside from the obvious lemon flavor that it adds to the cake the pudding does an excellent job of keeping the bundt cake moist and preventing it from drying out while improving the textures.

Is this very lemony?

Yeah, there is definitely some lemon flavor here. You’ve got lemon cake mix, lemon pudding, lemon extract/oil, and a sweet lemon glaze. It’s safe to say this bundt cake recipe is pretty lemony.

If that’s too much, don’t use the extract or swap out the lemon pudding for vanilla pudding, or leave the lemon juice out of the glaze.

If you don’t think that’s enough lemon flavor you could always top the cake with some grated lemon zest. Also, you might have a lemon problem.