It’s funny. We’re not big chocolate fans around here. Maybe it’s because I have a house full of guys, but even I can take it or leave it. When I ask the boys what kind of cake they want for their birthday, they never say chocolate. I know. It’s hard to believe when most of the world loves chocolate. Most often they request carrot cake or banana cake. My husband has always been a fan of lemon desserts, and the rest of us enjoy them too. That’s why I decided to try making a bundt cake that was nice and lemony.
I’m partial to bundt cakes. They look nice, and don’t require frosting. You can dust them with powdered sugar or add a simple glaze. I usually go with a glaze, and if I’m not making it for a special occasion, I go light on the glaze. The glaze I put on this cake has a strong lemon flavor which was exactly what I wanted. If you like lemon, I bet you’ll enjoy this cake.
I made the cake dairy free which resulted in a slightly odd texture. We didn’t notice it when eating, but it had a stringy look to it which you can see in the photo below. My family didn’t know when I served it to them that I had made it dairy free. They thought it was great. In fact, it was gone in 24 hours and my youngest was almost begging me to make another one. If you are not dairy free, I’m sure this recipe would work great with dairy ingredients.
Lemon Bundt Cake (Gluten & Dairy Free)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- 3/4 c. millet flour
- 3/4 c. potato starch
- 1/2 c. tapioca starch
- 1 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/4 c. sugar
- 1/3 c. vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp. lemon extract
- zest from one lemon (~2tsp.)
- juice of one lemon (~1/4 c.)
- almond milk, milk substitute, or regular milk (~3/4 c.)
Glaze:
- 1 c. powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 Tb. lemon juice
Wash a nice size lemon, then roll it on the counter a bit to soften it. Use a zester or microplane to zest the entire lemon, Set the zest aside. Cut the lemon, and juice it. In a liquid measuring cup, put the juice of the lemon plus enough milk substitute to equal one cup.
Combine the first seven ingredients in a small bowl. In the bowl of your mixer, beat the sugar, oil and eggs on medium-high for about one minute. Add the lemon extract and mix. Add the flour mix and liquid alternately beginning and ending with the flour mix. Add about 1/4 at a time and mix on medium speed in between each addition. Stir in the lemon zest.
Pour the batter into a well greased or sprayed bundt pan. Bake at 325 degrees for about 50 minutes or until it tests done. Cool in the pan for 5 – 10 minutes. Make sure the edges of the cake are loose, then turn it onto a rack to finish cooling.
In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice, adding 1 Tb. of the juice to start with, then more until it reaches the right consistency. Spoon over the cooled cake. Serve and enjoy.
For more fabulous food made a little bit healthier, check out Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.
For more lemon recipes, visit The Happy Housewife.
It looks beautiful! Sometimes my dairy free baking comes out looking a little funny, but you hardly notice.
One of my lifesavers has been to use either hemp milk (in a carton, like rice or soy milk) or coconut milk for a richer taste. They both have more protein, which helps the structure of the cake.
We might try this this week. Yum!
Looks like another delicious cake!
I've started baking with almond milk a lot more often, too. I haven't gone dairy-free yet, though I try to keep it to a minimum.
Oh this looks absolutely delicious!! What a great summer type cake!!
Looks fabulous to me, Linda, and I can just imagine how wonderful it tastes, too! Will plan on making this some time in the near future to share with mom and dad. They love Bundt cakes and lemon.
Shirley
I have a weakness for lemon baked goods! This looks and sounds delightful. I'd need a house full of other people to help me eat this – otherwise, I'd be grabbing slices every time I walked into the kitchen!
this looks great!!
Linda, when I looked at your beautiful cake I believe I could actually taste this cake! It makes my mouth water!
This is such a beautiful cake! You would never know its gluten free by looking at it
~Aubree Cherie
Thank you very much for this recipe! It turned out beautifully and it was delicious. I cannot eat gluten or dairy(casein) due to allergies, so this recipe was a great find. I did not have millet flour, so I used Brown Rice Flour (Bob’s Red Mill brand). I did not have lemons, so I did not add the zest and my lemon juice was from a bottle (Pompeii brand).
I can’t wait to try the Banana Cake recipe.
Lenette, I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake. Thanks for letting me know.
i’ve tried making the lemon bundt cake twice using whole milk. both times it tested done and it came so very fully and falls apart. is there something i’m doing wrong. thanks for the great recipes.
What do you mean when you say “…it ca so very fully…?” Are you including xanthan gum?
sorry i meant to say fluffy and i did include the xanthan gum. thanks again for your help
I’m not sure what to say. I used almond milk in this recipe, but I have made a very similar cake (using sorghum flour instead of millet) with regular milk and it did not fall apart. You could try adding more xanthan gum. Sorry I can’t be more help.
Yummy! I really enjoyed this today as did the people I shared it with! I made some substitutions. I had only a bit of millet flour left so I used it plus mostly sorghum for the lack of millet. I used arrowroot starch for 1/4 cup of the potato due to allergy issues. I also used a homemade, single acting baking powder using arrowroot starch. I cut out 1/4 c. sugar. I also used 2Tb coconut oil and the rest as canola. For the “milk” I used unsweetened coconut “beverage” not to be confused with the coconut milk from the can. It did not have a noticeable coconut flavor. The texture was great! Moist and springy and a fine crumb just like a cake should be-gluten-free aside. I did not get any of the stringy looking texture as seen in the photo. I made it a day ahead of eating it and it was still so fresh, you’d never know. This is a keeper and I will confidently serve it to non-GF guests.
Kate, thanks for letting me know about your substitutes and how it turned out. I need to try making that cake again. I’m wondering if the almond milk I used caused the stringy texture, though I have used it in a lot of other baking without that effect.
I’m going to make this today for a mother’s day dessert. I don’t have lemon extract, will it be lemony enough with the juice and zest, or should I substitute another extract (vanilla, almond)?
I would use vanilla extract, but it will have noticeably less lemon flavor. Enjoy your Mother’s Day!
It was amazing, thank you again for a fantastic recipe!! I used vanilla extract but still found it to have good lemon flavour. Also, I upped the lemon int he glaze to give it some punch since the cake had less lemon. I used coconut dream for the liquid. The texture was wonderful, light, airy, but not crumbly. No one would ever know this was gluten and dairy free. Yum!!