Lemon Bundt Cake - Chez CateyLou (2024)

FAQs

Why did my lemon bundt cake fall? ›

You used too much leavening. It seems counterintuitive, but too much leavening can actually cause your cake to fall.

Bundt cakes are a round, one layer cake with a hole in the middle. The cake's name comes from the name of the cake pan with fluted sides that they are baked in. This special, aluminum non-stick cake pan is called a Bundt pan. These cakes are doughnut-shaped, and often drenched in icing or glaze.

Drizzle with a Glaze or Sauce

Save the buttercream for another day because the very best, and easiest, way to decorate a Bundt cake (beyond powdered sugar, of course) is drizzling a glaze or simple sauce over the top. You see, Bundt cakes are simply stunning the way they are.

Because Bundt pans are so deep and hold so much cake, Mark says you will have to lengthen the baking time. The oven temperature does not have to change. Most Bundt cake recipes are baked for 60 minutes or more. Check for doneness at the 45-minute mark.

Allow the Cake to Cool

Once you've cooked your bundt cake and removed it from the oven, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then place a wire cooling rack over the base of the cake and invert the pan to release.

After removing from the oven, place the pan on a wire rack and let cool; your recipe will specify the required time, usually from 10-20 minutes. This allows the cake to become firm enough to remove from the pan without breaking apart. Cooling too long in the pan will cause the cake to be damp and stick to the pan.

Cool Before Flipping

When you remove your cake from the oven, don't flip it out of the pan right away! Instead, let the cake cool for ten minutes in the pan. Then, placing the wire rack over the base of the cake, invert the pan. Peek under the wire rack and see if the cake has dropped out.

And, well, I grease my Bundt pans with Pam Original. I find it fast and effective, and have never experienced any sort of residue or buildup over time,* but I'm also (like many pastry chefs) rather meticulous when it comes to cleaning my gear.

Mayonnaise: The Hidden Gem in Cake Recipes

Made up of eggs and oil, mayonnaise acts as an emulsifier, adding creaminess and moisture to your cake. This unexpected addition can take your cake recipes to a whole new level. To incorporate mayonnaise into your cake batter, simply add a couple of tablespoons to the mix.

In the 1970s Pillsbury licensed the name Bundt from Nordic Ware and for a while sold a range of Bundt cake mixes. To date more than 60 million Bundt pans have been sold by Nordic Ware across North America. November 15 has been named "National Bundt Day".

Is oil or butter better for Bundt cake? ›

Butter is 18% water, so when the batter is baked, some of its liquid evaporates. Replacing the water from the butter with oil means there's more fat left in the cakes to ensure tenderness.

Make sure you are using fresh, high-quality baking powder. Baking powder is what helps cakes rise, and using old or stale baking powder can result in cakes that do not rise as much. Sift the dry ingredients together to ensure that the baking powder is evenly distributed throughout the batter.

A dry cake is usually the result of one of the following pitfalls: using the wrong ingredients, making mistakes while measuring or mixing the batter, or baking the cake too long or at too high a temperature. Once you understand which common cake-baking blunders to avoid, you'll know how to bake a moist cake every time.

Correct oven temperature is necessary to allow the cake to rise before the structure sets. If the oven is too hot, the cake will set too fast before the air bubbles have formed. If the oven is not hot enough, the cake will rise too much, then fall in the center before it is set.

Prevent a Domed Bottom

Sometimes Bundt pans can cause your cake to have a domed bottom, which means the cake won't lay flat. To avoid this, Dalquist says to turn the oven temperature down 25 degrees from what the recipe calls for.