This Copycat Nothing Bundt Cake Lemon Bundt Cake recipe is so good, you won’t know the difference from the real thing!
When life gives you lemons, make a lemon bundt cake. Lemon cakes are so delicious and refreshing, they’re perfect for warmer weather and pair so well with tea and coffee on your breaks. If you love lemon cakes also check out my Lemon Cupcakes with Lavender Buttercream for something a bit different!
Lemon Bundt Cake
This is the best lemon bundt cake recipe. It can be topped with a thick cream cheese frosting as shown, or you can experiment with an icing glaze like on my lemon cookies.
This recipe is so moist and fresh, and the lemon flavor pairs so beautifully with thick and creamy buttercream frosting. The shape of the bundt cake pan not only allows for even baking of the cake but it also gives the cake a unique shape with a dipped middle and ridged edges. It’s such an easy recipe, and makes a delicious lemon cake, it’s a great recipe for so many occasions.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- lemon cake mix
- 3.4 oz box instant pudding mix, lemon flavor
- sour cream
- eggs
- canola oil
- fresh squeezed lemon juice
For the frosting:
- cream cheese – room temperature
- unsalted butter, softened
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
Instructions
Step One: Mix the Cake Batter
Mix the cake batter ingredients together in a bowl until smooth.
Pour the batter into a sprayed bundt cake pan.
Step 2: Bake
Bake in the oven for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Step 3: Frost
Allow the cake to cool completely, either on a plate or on a cooling rack before decorating.
Make the Frosting:
Nothing Bundt The Cake is known for its thick frosting that is piped over the edges of the cakes, leaving space in between the drizzles.
In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and mix until creamy. Gradually add the powdered sugar until smooth.
Put the frosting in a piping bag with a round tip, or use a zip top bag and cut a hole in it. Pipe thick frosting lines starting at the inside of the hole of the bundt cake, going to the bottom edge of the cake. Repeat the strokes around the cake.
Place into the fridge overnight.
I love bundt cakes because they are so easy and simple to make, you don’t have to worry about stacking cake layers, or spreading frosting perfectly. It’s also a real crowd pleaser so it’s perfect for birthday parties and other celebrations, and is the best way to enjoy your afternoon coffee.
As well as this, they’re a great way to make a fancy cake for any special occasion with minimal fuss, and as this easy lemon bundt cake recipe uses two shop bought mixes so it really couldn’t be simpler for a busy Mom like me!
Why is Bundt Cake So Moist?
A bundt pan requires a moist cake mix because the shape of a bundt pan exposes more of the cake mix to high temperatures than in a normal cake tin. This recipe makes a perfectly moist lemon bundt cake due to the added wet ingredients to the cake mix to ensure an even cooking of the cake.
What is the Difference Between Bundt Cake and Regular Cake?
A bundt cake is baked in a bundt cake tin which is a unique shape, rounded with ridges around it and a hole in the middle, like a donut or a bagel. This shape allows more of the cake surface to be exposed, so the batter for bundt cakes needs to be more moist to compensate for the heat. When baked, the tin is then flipped upside down and the cake comes out in the donut shape with a hole in the middle.
What Brings Out Lemon Flavor?
In this recipe, the various lemon cake and pudding mixes as well as the lemon juice provides the lemon flavor. If you want to boost the lemon flavor of the cake you can add lemon zest or curls to the batter or to the decorative topping!
How Do I Store this Bundt Cake?
You can store this lemon bundt cake in an airtight container or wrapped with plastic wrap for 3-5 days.
Do Nothing Bundt Cakes have Different Frosting?
Nothing Bundt Cake are famous for their thick velvety cream cheese frosting decorating their cakes in thick petals. The amazing cream cheese frosting in this recipe tastes even better, and you can have as much of it as you want! If you prefer a lighter topping or experimenting with different decoration, you could try a glaze icing instead.
Alternatives and Tips
- Try a lemon cream cheese frosting by adding lemon zest, lemon extract, lemon syrup, or lemon juice into my cream cheese frosting recipe.
- Make the glaze icing into a sweet lemon glaze by adding lemon flavors as suggested above.
- Decorate this cake with edible embellishments, lemon zest or curls, or even white chocolate chips on top of the cake!
- Canola Oil can be substituted with grapeseed oil, vegetable oil, or sunflower oil in a 1:1 ratio in this recipe.
Other Bundt Cake Recipes
Other Lemon Dessert Recipes
- Lemon Bars
- Lemon and Strawberry Lasagna Trifle
- Simple Lemon Pie
- Lemon Lush
- Lemon Cookies with Cake Mix
- Lemon Cupcakes with Lavender Buttercream Frosting
Copycat Nothing Bundt Cake Lemon Bundt Cake
Equipment
- bundt pan
- piping bag
Ingredients
- 1 lemon cake mix
- 3.4 oz instant lemon pudding mix 1 box
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 large eggs
- ½ C canola oil
- ¼ C fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ¼ C water
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Copycat Nothing Bundt Cake Lemon Bundt Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9-inch round bundt pan with baking spray.
- Using a standing mixer, beat the cake mix, pudding, sour cream, eggs, oil, lemon juice and water until combined
- Pour the batter into the bundt pan
- Bake in the oven for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
- Allow to cool completely
- Place into the fridge overnight
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Using a standing mixer, beat all ingredients until combined and smooth
- Scoop into the piping bag
- Cut the tip off the piping bag
- Pipe onto the frosting onto the bundt cake
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
Don’t forget to share it with me on @thebalancingmom and follow on Tiktok @balancingmotherhood and Pinterest @thebalancingmom for more!
What’s For Dinner?
Find a recipe for dinner tonight! Get our Top 10 Most Popular recipes ebook sent right to your email.
Comments & Reviews
Maria says
This cake is fantastic! Thanks!
Alicia at BalancingMotherhood.com says
thanks for sharing!
Gammy says
Do you have Gluten-free bundt cake? I know that I have bought some. But I don’t know if you still have that.
Nancy Slisko says
Amazing. Thank you
Shannon says
When should I take the cake out of the fridge after sitting in the fridge over night before I put the icing on the cake?
Rose says
I will be making this cake on Friday for the gym staff that I attend. My question which will come off petty. As a former culinary student, my head chef taught me never to garnish with something that the food does not contain. I have never forgotten that. I would have placed beautiful lemon with the stem and leaf or leaves attached. Just an observation. I have had a particular recipe in mind for months however after reading your ratings and the look of your cake I decided to go with your recipe.Thank you so much.
Gloria Gina Chun says
I must admit the cake looked great!! Sadly I was absolutely disappointed with the taste and texture. The cake was heavy and tasteless inspite of fresh lemon juice. I followed the recipe to a T but I will not make again. I ended up throwing away 3/4 of it.
Devon says
Really yummy and easy to make – I love nothing bundt cakes but can’t get them where we live in Canada so this was a great alternative!