Say hello to springtime in cake form. These soft, fluffy, little lemon bundt cakes are bursting with lemon flavor and topped with a beautiful, delicious blueberry cream cheese icing. The icing gets it’s natural beauty from fresh blueberries. The colors and flavors of these cakes remind me of sunshine and spring blooms. I decorated my cakes with tiny blue violas from my garden. They would also look pretty topped with fresh chamomile flowers.
I used a bundtlette pan with six 1-cup servings. To find the pan I used, click here. This recipe also works as cupcakes using a standard muffin pan. The baking time will be a bit shorter. If you’re not a fan of blueberry icing, you can glaze the cakes with lemon icing instead. To find my lemon icing recipe, click here.
Lemon Bundt Cakes with Blueberry Cream Cheese Icing
Soft, fluffy lemon bundtlette cakes topped with blueberry cream cheese icing
Ingredients
Lemon Simple Syrup
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- Juice of one medium lemon plus enough water to make 1/4 cup (59ml)
Lemon Bundt Cakes
- 1 ¼ cups (142g) cake flour, sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar preferably fine granulated sugar (not powdered sugar)
- Zest of 2 medium lemons
- ½ cup (107 ml) vegetable oil or neutral oil of your choice
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (59 ml) whole milk room temperature
- ¼ cup (57g) sour cream room temperature
Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- â…“ cup (57g) blueberries
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup (113g) cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2-4 tablespoons (30-59 ml) whole milk room temperature
Instructions
Lemon Simple Syrup
- In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, lemon juice, and water over medium-low heat. Cook and stir gently just until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.
Lemon Bundt Cakes
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Grease and flour a bundtlette pan with six 1-cup servings. Make sure to thoroughly grease and flour all of the crevices. (To find the pan I used, see note below.*)
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well blended.
- In a large bowl whisk together the sugar and lemon zest until well combined. Add the oil, eggs, and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth and creamy.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and sour cream. Stir the flour mixture into the batter in 2 additions, followed by half of the milk mixture after each addition. Stir just until combined.
- Fill the cake pan wells half full with the batter. (If using a standard muffin pan, fill the wells 2/3 full.) Bake until the tops are springy and a toothpick inserted in the centers of the cakes comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached, about 14-16 minutes. Check for doneness a couple of minutes early to avoid over baking. (Baking time is shorter for a standard muffin pan.) Cool the cakes in the pan for 8 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack. Brush the warm cakes generously with lemon simple syrup.
Blueberry Cream Cheese Icing
- In a small saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice. Stir occasionally over medium heat, until the blueberries start to soften and the mixture starts to bubble. Smash the blueberries with a potato masher or the back of a spoon. Let the mixture simmer gently until thickened to a jam consistency, about 2-3 minutes. Strain the cooked blueberries through a mesh sieve for a smooth consistency. You can skip this step if you prefer a chunky consistency. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- In a medium-sized bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Don't over beat. Cream cheese tends to curdle if beaten too much.
- Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 tablespoons (30ml) of milk and beat until smooth and well blended. Stir in the cooled blueberries until combined. Stir in more milk as needed to achieve the desired consistency. Spoon or drizzle the icing onto the cooled lemon cakes.
Notes
To find the bundt cake pan I used, click here.