Limoncello Bundt Cake with Meyer Lemon Sherbet and Candied Lemons

This was another fun-filled Canasta birthday; this time we celebrated Francine and Bonnie’s birthdays with Limoncello Bundt Cake.

Happy birthday my good friend Francine!

Bonnie is in the middle flanked by Carmen and Marina…all great friends!

Francine does not like super sweet desserts and Bonnie loves any cake with booze in it so I decided to make a Limoncello Bundt cake and to take it to the next level added a Meyer Lemon Sherbet with Meyer lemon candied lemon slices.

Next week I will post the Meyer Lemon Sherbet as it was pretty special and did take this dessert to the next level! This cake is very much like a rum cake, but instead of rum uses limoncello. You start with a cake mix and a pudding mix, just like with rum cake.

It is not difficult to make, but did involve quite a few steps. I made it the day before our birthday/Canasta cards day event, which helped the cake to get even more moist and absorb the limoncello glaze, and also took all the pressure off myself.

I love that my husband, Jerry enjoys watching me cook! Our kitty, Lily is usually in on things, too.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 to 12 cup Bundt pan. Mine is 10 inches. To learn more about the origins of Bundt cake, go to: https://cookwithcindy.com/2023/04/10/figgy-bundt-cake/

Butter the Bundt pan generously and then drop in about 1/4 cup flour. Shake it around to cover all sides and spill out the excess flour leaving just a thin coating of flour. This ensures a smooth cake removal (always a breath-holder!), which is so important as you do not want pieces of your cake to be left in the pan.

Zest the skin of one lemon. I had some wonderful Meyer Lemon Juice in the freezer so used 1/4 cup of that and then and set aside.

Sift the cake mix into your mixing bowl.  Add the flour (1/2 cup), lemon pudding mix, and sugar and combine well by whisking together.

These are Kristin Gallardo’s beautiful fresh eggs and hand-churned butter from her beloved cow, Buttercup.

Add all the other ingredients to the bowl:

Zest and 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, vegetable oil, sour cream, eggs, Limoncello, lemon extract and milk. Mix at low speed for about 10 seconds to incorporate before increasing the speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer or toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean or just with a couple of crumbs attached. Do not overbake.

During the last 15 minutes of baking, make the glaze. In a saucepan, stir the glaze ingredients (sugar, butter, water, limoncello) over low heat until butter has melted. Raise the heat, stirring constantly until it begins to boil. Be careful as it may boil over if you are not stirring. Boil for 3 minutes until slightly thickened and remove from the heat.

When the cake is baked, let the cake rest about 10 minutes in the pan and then very carefully poke holes into the cake from top to bottom with a skewer. Be careful not to tear the cake as it is very tender. Pour the glaze slowly over the cake while still in the pan and let rest another 15 minutes to allow the cake to absorb the glaze.

After 15 minutes, invert the Bundt pan (moment of truth!) and tip the cake onto a cake plate. Phew!!

I was thrilled it came out and looked like this! You don’t have to use candied lemon slices, but it was a sexy garnish and is easy to do. Go to: https://cookwithcindy.com/2021/04/23/dinner-is-served/ The only difference is this time, instead of 1 cup of water, I used 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup limoncello.

Truly, what I think took this cake over the top was the Limoncello Sherbet…next week, I promise! It’s a very different recipe. No ice cream maker necessary and very creamy and delicious!

A few more scenes from our wonderful day together. So blessed and happy to have such good friends!

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5 from 1 vote

Limoncello Bundt Cake with Limoncello Sorbet and Candied Lemon slices

Lemony, very moist, tasty cake. Quite perfect for any occasion.

Ingredients

• 1 box Lemon cake mix, I used Duncan Hines
• 1 3.4 oz. Instant lemon pudding
• 1/2 cup Flour
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 4 Lge. Eggs
• 1/2 cup Vegetable oil (or canola oil)
• 1/2 cup Limoncello
• 1 cup Sour cream, full fat
• 1/2 cup Milk
• 1/4 cup Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed
• Zest From one lemon
• 1 Tbsp. Lemon extract

Limoncello Glaze

• 1 cup White Sugar
• 1 stick Unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp. Water (give or take)
• 1/2 cup Limoncello

Instructions

For the cake

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Grease and flour the Bundt pan.
• Zest and squeeze the juice from one lemon.
• Sift cake mix into a mixing bowl. Add the flour, lemon pudding mix, and sugar and whisk to combine.
• Add all other ingredients: zest, lemon juice, vegetable oil, sour cream, eggs, Limoncello, lemon extract and milk.
• Mix at low speed for about 10m seconds to incorporate before increasing speed to medium and mix for another 2 minutes.
• Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer or toothpick comes our clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let the cake sit in the pan for 15 minutes to cool slightly.

To make the Glaze

• During the last 15 minutes of baking, make the glaze.
• In a saucepan, stir the glaze ingredients (sugar, butter, water, limoncello) over low heat until the butter has melted. Raise the temp to medium/high, stirring constantly until it begins to boil. Be careful, as if you do not stir constantly it may boil over.
• Gently poke the cake with a long skewer. The cake is very tender so be careful not to tear. Pour the warm glaze over the cake (still in the pan) and let it sit for another 15 minutes to absorb.
• After 15 minutes, when the glaze has absorbed, flip the cake onto your cake plate for serving.