Mini Lemon Bundt Cakes
These from scratch mini lemon bundt cakes are a perfect Spring or Summer dessert! They’re super light and zingy and topped with lemon cream cheese buttercream for an extra luxurious touch. This recipe uses both fresh lemon juice and lemon zest in the cake and the topping for an extra citrusy flavour! These mini lemon cakes are quick and easy to make using a bundt tin but you can use muffin tins, or make them as a loaf cake instead.
Mini Lemon Bundt Cakes
To make these easy mini lemon bundt cakes, you’ll need:
- Plain flour – a great base for a lot of bakes.
- Baking powder – this is a raising agent added to plain flour to create the sponge-like texture of the cake
- Unsalted butter – use butter at room temperature so it’s easy to incorporate into the cake mix. Trying to get cold butter to mix into a cake isn’t fun at all.
- Caster sugar – caster sugar has a finer texture which means it’s easier to mix into the cake batter.
- Lemons – you’ll need the zest from 3 lemons and 6 tablespoons of lemon juice from this recipe. Choose unwaxed lemons, free from blemishes for the zest. Roll the lemons on the worktop before juicing to get the maximum juice from them.
- Sour cream – adds moisture to the cake, resulting in a softer and more tender texture.
- Eggs – use large eggs at room temperature.
- Buttermilk – this helps the cake to rise and also helps create a soft, moist cake. It has a mild tangy flavour that can complement the citrusy zest of lemon. If you don’t have any buttermilk to hand, you can use whole milk with some lemon juice added.
To make the Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream:
Cream cheese – this adds a richness to the buttercream and stops it being too sweet. It’s important to use cream cheese straight from the fridge or it will split and the buttercream will be runny.
- Unsalted butter – make sure this is at room temperature or it will be really hard to mix into the buttercream.
- Icing sugar – has a fine grain and is perfect for making icings. Make sure your icing sugar is sifted into the buttercream so there are no lumps.
- Lemon juice – squeezed fresh, this adds a wonderful lemony zing to the buttercream.
How to Make Mini Lemon Bundt Cakes:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C (non fan). Using non-stick spray, thoroughly coat the mini bundt tray.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high until fluffy.
- Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and sour cream and mix until smooth. One-at-a-time, add in the eggs, Slowly, add in half of the dry mixture and half of the buttermilk.
- Once combined, add in the remaining dry mixture and buttermilk. Be sure to scrape the sides as needed and mix until combined. You can use a stand mixer for this if you don’t have a hand mixer.
- Pour the batter into the bundt cake cavities until ¾ filled. Place in the oven for approximately 15-18 minutes or until the tops are slightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool.
- To make the lemon buttercream, using a stand mixer or hand mixer, combine the cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, and powdered sugar. Mix until smooth.
- Pipe or spread the buttercream on top of the cooled bundt cakes. If desired garnish with lemon zest and a lemon slice and enjoy!
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Mini Lemon Bundt Cakes
Equipment
- Stand Mixer or use a hand mixer
- Mixing Bowl
- Piping Bag optional
- 2D Piping Nozzle optional
Ingredients
For the Mini Lemon Cakes
- 390 grams plain flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 240 grams unsalted butter
- 350 grams caster sugar
- Zest from 3 lemons
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- 120 millilitres sour cream
- 4 large eggs
- 240 millilitres buttermilk
Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 225 grams cream cheese
- 120 grams salted butter
- 450 grams icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Using non-stick spray, thoroughly coat the mini bundt tray.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high until fluffy.
- Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and sour cream and mix until smooth. One-at-a-time, add in the eggs,
- Slowly, add in half of the dry mixture and half of the buttermilk. Once combined, add in the remaining dry mixture and buttermilk. Be sure to scrape the sides as needed and mix until combined.
- Pour the batter into the bundt cake cavities until three-quarters (3/4) filled. Place in the oven for approximately 15-18 minutes or until the tops are slightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool.
- To make the buttercream, using a mixer (either stand or hand mixer), combine the cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, and powdered sugar. Mix until smooth.
- Pipe or spread the buttercream on top of the cooled bundt cakes. If desired garnish with lemon zest and a lemon slice and enjoy!
If you don’t have buttermilk, you can add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
You might also like these lemon recipes:
Step by Step Guide: The Perfect Lemon Curd Cupcake Recipe