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Strawberry Lemonade Bundt Cake

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: strawberry lemonade cake
Prep Time: 50 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Servings: 14 servings
Calories: 590kcal
Author: Kara @I Scream for Buttercream
This moist strawberry lemonade bundt cake is a scratch cake that uses fresh strawberries and fresh lemon juice and zest. It's the perfect combination of strawberry and lemon flavor and really does taste like strawberry lemonade.
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Ingredients

For the strawberry reduction (make this first):

  • 16 oz. defrosted frozen strawberries (sliced)
  • ¼ cup sugar

For the cake batter:

  • 2 ⅔ cup all purpose flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (slightly cooler than room temp-do not microwave it, let it come to room temp on its own)
  • 1 cup sour cream (you can substitute with full fat yogurt if needed)
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon lemon extract
  • 4 eggs (close to room temp)
  • Juice and zest from one lemon (about 1 tablespoon of zest and 2 tablespoon lemon juice)
  • 1 cup strawberry reduction (see instructions for the reduction below)
  • 1 3 oz box instant strawberry gelatin mix

For the lemon glaze:

  • 3 cups confectioner's sugar
  • 2 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoon milk

Instructions

For the strawberry reduction

  • Defrost the strawberries.
  • Add the strawberries and the sugar into a saucepan and heat over medium/high heat and bring to a low boil.
  • Reduce heat to medium and let the mixture simmer and cook down until most of the liquid is gone. As the strawberries soften up, mash them up with a spoon, potato masher or meat tenderizer. Stir periodically. It will take about 20 minutes for it to thicken up. It will look like the consistency of tomato sauce.
  • You'll have about 1 cup of strawberry reduction.
  • Once thickened, add to a bowl and let it cool to at least room temperature before using in cake batter. (The strawberry reduction can be made a day ahead of time if wanted, but make sure to store it in the fridge and let it come closer to room temp before using in the cake batter.)

For the cake batter:

  • Make sure you've made the strawberry reduction before you get started mixing the cake batter. You'll want your strawberry reduction to have been made and cooled at this point. You'll also want your butter at room temperature (not warm though).
  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Grease and flour a large bundt pan very well.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  • In another bowl, mix together the sour cream, milk, oil, extracts, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, strawberry reduction and strawberry gelatin. Whisk well and set aside.
  • Make sure your butter is slightly cooler than room temperature. Add the butter (in chunks) slowly to your dry ingredients. (You can turn your stand mixer on low and leave it on while you add the butter chunks at a time, or you can use a hand mixer.)
  • Once all the butter has been added, turn the mixer up to medium or medium/high and mix until all the flour is coated with the butter and the mixture is crumbly. It will have a sand-like texture.
  • Pour in about half of the liquid mixture. Mix on medium only until just combined. About 15-20 seconds.
  • Pour the last of the liquid mixture and mix again until combined. Don't over-mix the batter. Mixing it for several minutes is too long. Once all the ingredients are incorporated, stop mixing.
  • Use a rubber spatula and scrape the sides of the bowl. Mix again for only about 10 to 15 seconds.
  • Pour into prepared bundt pan and bake at 325 degrees for approximately 60-65 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the cake will come out with a few moist crumbs on it, but no uncooked batter.
  • Set on a wire rack to cool for about 20 minutes, then turn out the cake onto the rack and let cool out of the pan completely before adding the glaze.

For the lemon glaze:

  • In a mixing bowl, add the confectioner's sugar, lemon juice and milk. Mix well.
  • Check the consistency. If it’s too thick for drizzling, add more milk by tablespoon until desired consistency. If it’s too thin, add in a bit of confectioner’s sugar until you reach the desired consistency.
  • Drizzle or spoon over cooled cake.

Video

Notes

Keep this cake stored in the refrigerator.
Nutritional values are an estimate.
I have not tried this as a layer cake, but it should be just fine if baked in two, 8 inch round cake pans. You may have a bit of extra batter though. You’ll bake it at the same temperature, but not as long. Since I have not tried it as a layer cake yet, I can’t give an exact baking time, but you should start checking it for doneness at about 30 minutes, although it may take a bit longer than that.
Make sure to check out the TIPS & FAQs for this recipe in the blog post, which may answer questions about substitutions.
*This recipe card may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition

Calories: 590kcal | Carbohydrates: 102g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 196mg | Potassium: 205mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 72g | Vitamin A: 603IU | Vitamin C: 23mg | Calcium: 77mg | Iron: 2mg