Lemon Bundt Cake with Ginger Lemon Glaze

Homemade lemon Bundt cake with ginger lemon glaze is a perfect dessert for almost any occasion. It has the great balance of sweet, tart, and little bit of spice to make your dessert course fabulous.

Making this lemon cake from scratch is easy to do. Pick a pretty bundt cake pan and it will be a showstopper with very little effort.

It is topped off perfectly with a simple glaze flavored with more lemon and candied ginger. That pop of flavor really takes it to the next level.

You will find this cake will be right at home with a warm mug of tea. It would also be a spectacular finishing touch to a summer bbq

There really aren’t many events that wouldn’t be made better with a slice of bright lemon cake though. So don’t let my suggestions limit you.

Whipping up the batter

The batter for this lemon bundt cake comes together pretty easily. The biggest key is making sure your ingredients are at room temperature before you start.

Of course softened butter is easier to whip smooth. If you start with cold butter, there may be chunks of butter in the batter.

Room temperature eggs and buttermilk also incorporate more easily. Plus the batter will bake more evenly if it is starting at room temperature.

Adding freshly squeezed lemon and grated zest adds the best lemon flavor. In a pinch, feel free to use the bottled lemon juice and a few drops of lemon extract.

A 12 cup bundt pan is the best size pan to use for the best results. Then bake it until a toothpake inserted in several spots come out mostly clean.

Once baked, cool your cake in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

What if I don’t have buttermilk?

No problem! I seldomly have actual buttermilk on hand.

There are several great options for getting the effects of buttermilk though, so don’t let that stop you.

One easy option is to keep buttermilk powder on hand. Then you can hydrate it for use in pancakes, waffles and lemon Bundt cakes!

Otherwise you can fake buttermilk by adding a about a Tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to about a cup of regular milk. Let it sit for about ten minutes and then use it in place of buttermilk in recipes.

Preparing your Bundt pan

There are several great ways to prepare your bundt pan for baking. My favorite way is to use the baking spray with the flour in it.

Some people make their own baker’s goop with oil, shortening and flour in it. You just brush it on the pan and fill it up.

You can also go old school and spread butter in the pan and coat it with flour. Similarly you can use cocoa powder for a chocolate bundt cake.

I have also read that you can use butter and sugar in your pan. Supposedly the sugar gives the cake a great crust.

I haven’t given it a try, but it sounds interesting and I can see it working. I would totally do it if the spray wasn’t so easy.

If you have a favorite way of prepping your bundt pans, let me know about it. I’d love to get all of your tips and tricks in the comments below.

Making the glaze

This lemony glaze has candied ginger mixed in to add a really nice extra layer of flavor. In order to prevent large chunks, you will want to grind it down before you use it.

Just grind some bits of ginger with a mortar and pestle or use a small food processor. You could even put the milk and ginger in a small blender and grind them up that way.

Then whisk in the remaining ingredients and drizzle it over the cake. Feel free to do this right on the serving platter or drizzle while the cake is still on the wire rack for a cleaner finish.