This rich lemon honey bundt cake is loaded with the honey flavor and the perfect amount of lemon. Top it with the caramelized honey glaze for an extra special treat.
Honey and lemon are a perfect match. They come together beautifully in this Italian Bundt cake. It is the perfect mix of sweet and tart and the texture of the cake itself is great thanks to buttermilk and sour cream.
The glaze melts in to take it to the next level of amazing. It is perfect for any special occasion.
I know it is hard to believe, but at one point MiMi was the dessert committee for our family. I seem to have taken that over in the last few years.
My cousins would rave over her sweets. My siblings and I didn’t know how good we had it.
This was one of the cakes she made in 2016. It thought it was time to freshen it up with some new pictures. I am glad I did, as this cake is delicious!
Carlee’s Tips For Making This Bundt Cake Recipe
Start with softened butter and room temperature eggs, sour cream and buttermilk to make incorporating everything easier. From there the batter is super simple.
This cake is absolutely loaded with honey, it is the predominant flavor. So you may want to use a mild to moderate flavored honey unless you are a HUGE honey fan.
A fun fruity orange blossom style honey would be lovely. It might even be fun to use a little lavender honey or something if you like a bit of floral.
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For a bolder lemon flavor, feel free to add a bit of lemon extract. It is easy to alter the recipe a bit to get it just the way you want it!
Making the Lemon Honey Glaze
The glaze is also super simple to make. Start by stirring together a little lemon juice, sugar and honey.
Melt it over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Then let it continue cooking until it is bubbly and golden brown, a few minutes should do it.
Stir in a pinch of salt, cream and butter to round out the caramelly goodness. Let it cool while the cake finishes baking.
Pouring the mostly cool glaze over the still warm cake allows some of it to sink into the cake. For a cleaner finish, glaze the cake over a wire rack and allow the excess to drip onto a sheet pan.
If you don’t mind a little pool of glaze around your cake, go ahead and do it with the cake on the cake plate. Either way, it will taste amazing!
This cake does not need additional frosting. However, if you want a little something extra some honey whipped cream goes fabulously with it.
Italian Lemon Honey Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1½ cups honey
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup sour cream
- 4 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup buttermilk
Glaze
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 300°F
- Combine 3 cups all purpose flour, 1½ teaspoon baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt with a whisk and set aside.
- Cream 1 cup unsalted butter and 1½ cups honey until light and fluffy.
- Beat in 3 large eggs, one at a time. Mix in ½ cup sour cream, 4 Tablespoons lemon juice, 1 Tablespoon lemon zest, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon almond extract.
- Mix ⅓ of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Mix in half of the ½ cup buttermilk and then add in another ⅓ of the flour mixture. Then mix in the rest of the buttermilk and finish by adding in the last ⅓ of the flour mixture. Mix just until combined.
- Pour cake batter into a greased Bundt pan.
- Bake for 60-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Turn the cake over on a wire rack or cake plate and remove the pan. Let cool before glazing.
Glaze
- While the cake is cooling, prepare the glaze. Combine the 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, ½ cup granulated sugar and ¼ cup honey in a medium pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves into a liquid. Continue to cook without stirring, swirling the pan occasionally. Mixture will bubble and start to darken in color.
- Once mixture is a medium brown remove from heat. Carefully stir in the 2 Tablespoons butter. Add ¼ cup heavy cream and stir until smooth. Add 1 pinch salt and stir until combined.
- Let sauce cool until just warm before pouring over the cake.
Notes
- This recipe works well in a 10 cup Bundt pan.
- You can use milk soured with a tablespoon of lemon juice in place of the buttermilk.
Video
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This recipe was originally published in May of 2016. It was republished with new photos and an updated glaze recipe in 2021.
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Carlee, this looks fantastic! I would imagine the addition of honey really gives it some depth. Pinning for future baking!
Thanks…Lynn
Thank you, we have really been loving baking with honey lately and I think lemon and honey are a match made in heaven! I hope you enjoy it!
i love lemon everything! — ok well not everything… but lemon desserts for sure! Thanks for sharing this delicious sounding recipe at #WayWow
Me too! Lemon desserts, lemon on seafood, lemonade… give it all to me!
Oh, you had me at LEMON! This looks amazing!
Thank you (it really was!)
I love lemon cake – and this looks so pretty in the bundt shape – pinning and will give it a go 🙂
Thank you! I hope you love it!
This looks absolutely delicious! I love anything lemon flavoured, especially with freshly whipped cream! #WAYWOW
Mmmm! Now I want a big old pile of fresh whipped cream too. Thanks!
It looks so delicious!
Thank you!
Hello Carlee, I hope you had a nice Mother's Day! 🙂
Wow that is a beautiful bundt cake and I'm sure it probably tastes so yummy. Thanks for the recipe.
Enjoy the week.
Julie xo
Thanks Julie, I hope yours was lovely as well! The cake was so good, I just love honey and lemon together.
This bundt cake looks delicious. Pinning. Have a wonderful week
Thank you, I hope you have a great one too!
Beautiful bundt!!! With lemon in the list of ingredients, I'm sold, I love a refreshing tasting cake after a satisfying meal!! I'm gonna make this to have after lasagne I'm making this Sunday!!!
Oooh, yum! I love lasagna and haven't made one in a while. I was thinking LD and I need to try using fresh pasta sheets in a lasagna soon. Or we could just invite ourselves to your house and save ourselves the trouble 😉
I need to get a bundt pan! This cake sounds delicious, I want some with my coffee right now 🙂
I'm shocked you don't have one already! My mom and grandma went through a phase where they collected them. So I have a few myself, but I have quick access to almost any shape you can think of!
Im going to try this cake as the base of a Bourbon fruitcake.
That sounds like a wonderful idea. I can’t wait to hear how it turns out!