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This Gluten-Free Lemon Bundt Cake is a gorgeously tangy moist and tender lemon cake made with an easy homemade blend of gluten-free flours and no xanthan gum. Then the secret weapon is lashings and lashings of intoxicating golden lemon caramel drizzled over the beautifully baked cake. An absolute crowd pleaser.
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If you adore a great lemon cake and you are obsessed with salted caramel then this Lemon Cake is guaranteed to become your new favourite bake as it celebrates a classic lemon cake enriched with a luxurious caramel topping.
The Gluten-Free Lemon Cake is delicious in its own right, bursting with sharp tangy flavour and a moist and tender crumb. Then a smothering of this rich luscious salty Lemon Caramel transcends it into utter cake heaven.
Why You’ll Love This Gluten-Free Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe
- The lemon flavour is deep and rich using fresh lemon zest.
- For extra tang which really enhances the citrus notes we use yoghurt which also makes the sponge beautifully bouncy.
- Homemade Lemon Caramel is drizzled all over the cake which is sweet, salty and with a sharp tang for layers of flavour.
- We use a homemade blend of gluten-free flours in this recipe which adds lovely background flavour and also means we don’t need any xanthan gum as the blend is balanced enough without it.
Ingredients Needed
Homemade gluten-free flour blend
Three carefully chosen gluten-free flours are needed here to create a perfectly balanced blend so the lemon cake has the perfect texture and delicious flavour.
Sweet Rice Flour (glutinous rice flour). A delicate flavour which balances beautifully with the lemon. The flour gives the cake a great bouncy texture and helps bind the other flours together. Not to be confused with regular white rice flour.
Sorghum Flour. This wholegrain flour adds a subtle caramel note to the cake with its sweet earthy flavour. Â
Tapioca Flour. We need this starchy flour for lightening the load of the sweet rice flour which can get a little dense if used in abundance. Plus it binds well and gives the cake a lovely golden bake. Â
The rest of the ingredients
Double cream. This is needed to make our caramel sauce. You can substitute for heavy cream.
Unsalted Butter. We need unsalted so we can control the salt content of the recipe. Make sure it is at room temperature.
Caster sugar. It’s a fine white baking sugar available in the UK. Regular white granulated sugar can be substituted.
Fresh Lemons. Make sure they are unwaxed and organic otherwise you need to scrub off the wax.
Eggs. This recipe uses medium size, about 60g each with shell (50g each without shell). These are often classified as large eggs in the US. I recommend weighing your eggs to ensure the correct amount.
Baking powder. A leaving agent which causes the cake to rise and become light and fluffy. Do check your baking powder is gluten-free before use.
Salt. I like to use kosher salt in my baking as it has a round gentle flavour. Using salt in your baked goods lifts and sharpens all the other flavours.
Yoghurt. This recipe was made with a full fat plain natural yoghurt. It is used to ensure a tender moist crumb and a subtle tangy flavour while contributing to the overall richness of the batter.
Variations and Substitutions
Gluten-Free Flours. I do not recommend using a branded all-purpose gluten-free flour instead of the homemade blend as the results will turn out differently. However, you can make some key flour swaps:
- Sweet rice flour can be substituted for cassava flour.
- Sorghum flour can be substituted for oat flour.
- Tapioca flour can be substituted for potato starch.
Lemon Caramel. If you don’t want to drizzle the cake with this homemade caramel sauce then you can swap for an easy lemon glaze icing. Stir together 200g icing sugar (powdered sugar) and fresh lemon juice (½-1 lemon needed) until thick but still just pourable.
How To Make A Gluten-Free Lemon Bundt Cake
For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Beat the butter and sugar with the lemon zest for a few minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time.
- Whisk the flours in a large mixing bowl with the baking powder and salt.
- Add the flours in 3 additions, alternatively with the yoghurt until everything is well combined.
- Pour the batter into the bundt tin, smoothing the surface.
- Bake for 60 minutes until golden brown then remove from the oven, turn out of the tin and leave to cool completely.
Expert Tips
- Butter and Sugar. You can use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer. Set either to a medium speed and beat for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Lemons. Use unwaxed lemons to achieve a pure lemon flavour without any bits of wax in the sponge.
- Eggs. Break the eggs into a separate bowl before adding them to your cake mixture. It helps to pick out any shell you’ve broken by accident. Also, you never know when you’re going to get a bad egg and you don’t want it ruining your cake.
- Flour & Yoghurt. You add these alternately as it ensures the cake mixture is really well mixed. Make sure you scrape down the sides well after each addition.
- Mixing. Even if you are using a food mixer always remember to manually turn the cake mixture after each addition so you can really make sure it is evenly mixed.
- Greasing the bundt tin. The trick to ensuring that your cake can always be released quickly and cleanly from your bundt tin after baking is to use Cake Release Spray. Make sure to spray a light dusting from a distance so every crevice is covered but doesn’t gather in the corners.
- Bundt in the oven. When you place your bundt tin in to bake make sure it rests evenly on the wire rack of your oven. Depending on the design of your tin it may take a bit of tweaking to make sure it is sitting level.
- Removing from the tin. If you have a good bundt tin and have used the cake release spray then your cake will require no loosening. Just place your cooking rack upside down on your bundt tin and use it to turn the tin upside down so it’s sitting on top of the rack. You should be able to slide the tin right up and off.
- For all the best tips and advice on how to make the lemon caramel visit this separate post for a detailed description >>> Homemade Lemon Caramel.
How To Drizzle The Caramel
- You need the lemon caramel sauce to be just about pourable. If it's been chilled then it will be firm. So re-heat gently for about 10 seconds in a saucepan until the caramel begins to loosen to a pouring consistency.
- Place the cooled bundt cake on a cooling rack over a baking sheet to catch drips.
- Using a spoon or small ladle, drizzle the caramel over the top of the cake, letting it cascade down the sides and into the rivulets of the cake.
- Allow the caramel to set for 30 minutes - 1 hour before serving.
FAQs
Use a 10 cup / 2.4 litre bundt tin of your choosing. this Fleur de Lis Bundt Tin works so well as the caramel can drip through the beautiful rivulets of the design making for a real showstopper of a cake.
This lemon cake is at its best if eaten within 3 days. You can store the cake in an airtight container kept in a cool dark place (not the fridge).
Yes, it is advised to freeze the Lemon Cake prior to adding the caramel drizzle as it’s easier to store. Wrap up well in cling film and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost thoroughly on a counter-top before unwrapping and covering in caramel.
This cake has only been tested with eggs and dairy ingredients. You can substitute the butter if you have a favourite vegan butter which works well as a 1:1 swap. You can also switch out the dairy yoghurt for coconut yoghurt or a dairy-free sour cream. However, since this recipe uses so many eggs I don’t advise you swapping for any egg alternatives leading to a vegan recipe as this might alter the recipe significantly.
The caramel can be made dairy-free and the advice for this is featured in the full post for Homemade Lemon Caramel Sauce.
More Gluten-Free Bundt Cakes You'll Love
✨Have you tried this Gluten-Free Lemon Bundt Cake? If you liked it, please leave a 5-star ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ rating on the recipe card and consider leaving a comment as well! I would love to hear about how your recipe turned out and your feedback also helps other readers✨
Gluten-Free Lemon Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 225 g unsalted butter
- 340 g caster sugar
- 2 lemons - zest only
- 3 eggs - medium*
- 165 g sweet rice flour - glutinous rice flour
- 145 g sorghum flour
- 45 g tapioca flour - tapioca starch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 175 g natural plain yoghurt
Lemon Caramel
- 300 g double cream
- 1 lemon
- 250 g caster sugar
- 40 g butter
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan assisted / gas mark 4 / 350°F and lightly grease a 10 cup / 2.4 litre bundt tin.
- Beat the butter and sugar with the lemon zest for about 2-3 minutes on the medium setting of a food mixer. Scrape down every so often until they are light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs in one at a time and mix in until thoroughly incorporated.
- Whisk the flours together in a separate bowl along with the baking powder and salt.
- Add the flours and yoghurt alternately into the rest of the cake batter. Start with the flour, then the yoghurt. The flour should be added in three additions, the yoghurt in two and mix well, scraping down the sides every so often.
- Pour the batter into the bundt tin, smoothing the surface.
- Bake for around 60 minutes or until an inserted cocktail stick comes out of the cake clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven, leave to settle for five minutes then turn the tin upside down onto a cooling rack and remove.
- Leave the cake to cool completely on the cooling rack before pouring the caramel over.
Lemon Caramel
- Peel the zest off the lemon in long strips, making sure not to get too much pith.
- Pour the double cream into a medium sized saucepan and add the lemon peel.
- Bring up to a gentle heat and then remove from the heat just before it reaches a boil.
- Pour the cream and peel into a jug and leave to infuse at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Strain out the lemon peel once infused and weigh out 300ml of the cream to use in this recipe.
- Tip the caster sugar into a medium sized saucepan and heat on a gentle temperature as the sugar begins to melt.
- Avoid moving the sugar around too much but you can encourage an even melting by gently shaking the actual saucepan around occasionally if you need to. Keep a careful eye on the sugar and do not leave at all.
- As the sugar has melted it will turn a dark golden tan colour. Watch to make sure it doesn’t get too browned as this means it’s burning.
- As soon as the sugar has melted and has turned that dark golden tan colour then pour in the strained cream and the butter. It will rise dramatically up the saucepan so stand back at first for safety.
- Stir the cream and butter into the melted sugar and it will quickly form a thick silky caramel sauce.
- Stir for a minute or two once the caramel has formed then you can turn off the heat and add the salt.
- Pour the caramel into a jug and leave for 20 minutes for it to thicken to a pourable consistency. Stir briefly before using.
Video
Notes
Flour substitutions
I don't recommend swapping for an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend. But you can substitute the individual flours as follows if you need to:- Sweet Rice Flour - This flour can be swapped for cassava flour.
- Sorghum Flour – It can be swapped for oat flour
- Tapioca Flour - can be swapped for potato starch.
Baking tips
- Bundt Tin. The best way to grease a bundt tin is to use Cake Release Spray. Make sure to spray a light dusting from a distance so every crevice is covered but doesn’t gather in the corners.
- Butter and Sugar. If you are using a food mixer set it to medium speed and beat
- for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy.
Lemons. Use unwaxed lemons to achieve a pure lemon flavour without any bits of wax in the sponge. - Eggs. Break the eggs into a separate bowl before adding them to your cake mixture. It helps to pick out any shell you’ve broken by accident. Also, you never know when you’re going to get a bad egg and you don’t want it ruining your cake.
- Flour & Yoghurt. You add these alternately as it ensures the cake mixture is really well mixed. Make sure you scrape down the sides well after each addition.
- Mixing. Even if you are using a food mixer always remember to manually turn the cake mixture after each addition so you can really make sure it is evenly mixed.
Michele says
Sorry - I meant to ask: for a North American oven, would you bake the cake at 325F or 350F?
Thanks!
Michele says
Hello Georgina! I love your blog and recipes! I’ve been searching for a gluten free lemon Bundt cake recipe, and this is perfect for a friends get together picnic next week!
A question: can I add 1 or 1 1/2 cups blueberries to the batter?
Thanks!
Georgina Hartley says
Absolutely - that sounds delicious!!
Michele says
Great, thanks for your quick and enthusiastic reply! I will let you know next week how the cake turns out