It cannot truly be spring without a lemon dessert, which is why this Lemon Poppyseed Bundt Cake is the perfect spring dessert! Loaded with the fresh flavors of lemon combined with the subtle snap of the poppyseed, this Bundt cake is has it all!
A Pudding Packet in the Cake?
I know that might seem radical, but it adds so much to this cake! Before I can start listing all the reasons the pudding packet is so crucial to this cake, I have to fill you in on a little backstory.
I love lemon in savory dishes, I like the tang it provides. But sometimes, I have a hard time with lemon in sweets because I feel like there isn't balance of sweet versus tangy. Like I love Lemon Meringue Pie, because you have the tangy lemon curd filling with the light and sweet meringue topping. To me, balance is crucial in any lemon dessert.
Enter in lemon pudding. Perfect lemon flavor that's already balanced with sweetness. All you have to do is add in some fresh lemon zest and juice and you're good to go! It's a good way to make sure your lemon dessert isn't going to end up too acidic. No one wants heartburn after a dessert.
Let's Talk Poppyseed
Do they get stuck in your teeth? One hundred percent, yes (speaking from experience here). Are they sometimes hard to find in a grocery story? Also, yes. My order for poppyseeds got canceled twice (obviously, I'm still not over it). Are they worth it to even add? That's up to you! If you ask my mom, she would say no (she actually asked me to leave them out).
I've always loved lemon poppyseed as a flavor, from muffins, to cakes, to whatever baked goods you can imagine. So to me, they're a packaged deal. I see them more as the salty sprinkle on top, if you will. I like the crunch they add and the classic poppyseed flavor.
If you feel like you would rather leave them out, no problem! It's still going to be a wonderful lemon dessert.
Does it Have to be a Lemon Bundt Cake?
I know, the Bundt cake seems old fashioned, but I love a Bundt cake. Have you seen all the different types of Bundt pans? There are so many out there with cool shapes and intricate designs. I'm obsessed with them!
For this recipe, I don't suggest using another kind of cake pan. Because the bundt pan has a hole in the middle, you don't have to worry about the middle not cooking as fast out the outside. If you were to pour this thick batter into just a regular cake pan, it would take a long longer for the middle to cool, which means the outside edges could burn. Not to mention, it might overflow.
So to avoid all that, just stick with the Bundt pan and make sure you layer up that baking spray!
Lemon Poppyseed Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups Flour
- 1 Packet Instant Lemon Pudding
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Ginger
- 3 tablespoons Poppyseeds
- 2 sticks Butter room temperature
- 2 cups Sugar
- 2 Lemons zested and juiced
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup Milk
- ½ cup Greek Yogurt
- Baking spray
Glaze
- 2 cups Powdered Sugar
- ½ Lemon juiced and zested
- 2-3 tablespoons Milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, pudding packet, ginger, and salt in a large bowl
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.
- Once the butter mixture is a pale yellow, add in the eggs one at a time.
- After all the eggs have been added in, add in the lemon zest, juice, and Greek yogurt.
- Measure out the milk and set aside
- Add ⅓ of the dry mixture into the butter mixture, and mix until just combined.
- Pour in ½ the milk. Mix together
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 until all the dry ingredients have been added in.
- Thoroughly spray down the bundt pan.
- Pour in the batter and smooth out the top
- Bake in preheated oven for about an hour to an hour and ten minutes!
- Allow to cool for about thirty minutes.
- Then use a knife to gently slide around the cake. Place a cooling rack on the top and then flip the pan over!
- While the cake is cooling, you can start the glaze!
- Combine the powdered sugar, lemon zest, juice, and milk into a bowl and stir to combine
- Pour the glaze over the top of the cake
- Stand back to admire this beautiful sunny cake!
The hardest part of this recipe? Waiting the hour long cook time!
Oh and waiting for the cake to come out of the pan! But don't worry because you sprayed the pan down so thoroughly that your cake is going to pop right out!
Cheers!
-Holly Michelle
P.S. Want to know a little bit more about the photographer of this shoot (hint hint, it's me!)? Here's some behind-the-scenes details!
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