Raspberry Lemon Bundt Cake

🍯 Why This Recipe Works

1. It's a beginner-friendly recipe! I love that it's so easy to make (especially with a stand mixer). All you really have to do is toss stuff in and let it do the work for you! Of course, even if you have to use a hand mixer, the effort is worth it for such a soft, dense, and moist lemon sour cream bundt cake.
2. It's great any time of day. I feel like this cake is served up for breakfast, mid-afternoon, after dinner, and even Sunday brunch parties or Mother's Day. It's so elegant and classic.
3. It tastes like spring. Or summer.. The bright colors and bursts of fruity flavors are sure to make an impact.

🥘 Ingredients

Ingredient Notes:

Raspberries- Fresh raspberries are great but you can use frozen ones too! Make sure that if you use frozen raspberries, you do NOT thaw them beforehand.

Butter- Unsalted butter works best for this recipe, but you can use salted butter if that's what you have on hand. Just omit the requested salt in the recipe so that your cake doesn't turn out too salty.

Cornstarch- Adding in some cornstarch will help to make this cake fluffy.

Sour Cream- This is a baking "secret." Adding sour cream to recipes like this and my Banana Bread with Sour Cream, makes the batter thicker, but the goods softer, richer, and more velvety in texture once baked (it's like magic!)

Lemon Zest- Adding fresh lemon zest will make the cake taste fresher too. Tip: Zest the lemons BEFORE you juice them.

Lemon glaze- You will need powdered sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter to make an incredible tasting glaze for this cake.

For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.

🧾 Substitutions

Instead of sour cream. If you don't have any sour cream handy, you can switch it out for Greek yogurt. The results should be pretty similar, and the two are often used interchangeably in baking.

Different Berries. You can use any berry! I recommend blueberry or blackberry for a sweet and sour contrast, but even strawberries would taste great! Using a mix of berries could also yield tasty results.

🔪 Instructions

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 2: Grease the bundt cake pan and dust it with flour. Shake to coat, and then tap it upside down to remove as much flour as you can. Set aside.

Step 3: In the bowl of a stand mixer or with your hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on high until fluffy and white. (2-5 minutes)

Step 4: Add in the sour cream and then beat on high for 1 additional minute.

Step 5: Next, add in the lemon zest and mix.

Step 6: Add in the eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each addition.

Step 7: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and cornstarch. Set aside.

Step 8: Whisk together the milk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract in another bowl.

Step 9: Add the flour and the milk mixture alternatively to the mixer, beating well after each addition. Begin and end with the flour.

Step 10: Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Step 11: In a small bowl or a plastic bag, toss the raspberries with a little bit of flour to coat them well. This helps prevent them from sinking into the cake batter while cooking.

Step 12: Gently fold the berries into the cake batter.

Step 13: Pour your cake batter into the bundt pan. (It's more like scooping it). Then spread it flat, so it's even. Next, take the bundt pan and smack it against the table or countertop to shake out the air bubbles and get the top just a little more evenly distributed.

Step 14: Bake for about 50 minutes in the oven or until a toothpick can come out mostly clean. It's okay if there are a few crumbs on it!

Step 15: Allow the cake to cool in the bundt pan for 10 minutes, then flip it onto a plate or wire rack to finish cooling.

Step 16: After the cake is flipped to a wire rack, begin making the frosting by combining all ingredients (minus the water). Mix until well blended.

Step 17: Slowly add in the water (a few drops at a time) as you mix to get to the desired consistency.

Step 18: Top your slightly warm cake with frosting, and serve warm or let it cool before eating.

🍴 Recipe Tips

Coat the berries in flour

Make sure you coat your raspberries in flour before adding them to the batter. This helps to keep them from falling during baking and gives you a much prettier outcome.

The batter will be THICK

The cake batter will seem a bit thick, especially compared to a box cake mix where everything is pourable. Don't worry- it's supposed to be this way!

Don't cool the cake in the pan

Don't let your bundt cake completely cool in the pan! If you do, you'll notice it's dried out. The hot pan will continue to cook the cake as it cools, so only give it the recommended time, to prevent dry cake.