Last Updated on 27/06/2024 by Adina
Make this moist, flavorful limoncello bundt cake drizzled with a limoncello and lemon zest glaze.
This limoncello bundt cake is a beautiful, moist, and delicious treat, perfect for spring or Mother's Day - a boozy delight meant for grown-ups that your mother would adore! 🙂
The idea for this cake came from needing to use up a large bottle of Crema di Limoncello that some friends had on hand. Rather than letting it go to waste, I turned it into this creamy, indulgent dessert.
For the kids, I made an extra alcohol-free Strawberry Rhubarb Bundt Cake so they could enjoy a treat, too.
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Good to know!
With 250 ml (1 cup) of Limoncello in the cake and an additional Limoncello glaze on top, this dessert contains a significant amount of alcohol. Therefore, I don't recommend serving it to children or pregnant women.
The Limoncello bundt cake is incredibly moist and indulgent, as you can see in the photos. It may appear overly moist in the pictures, but rest assured, it's perfectly baked. The cake is deliciously flavorful with a noticeable hint of booze.
Recipe ingredients
Crema di Limoncello is a creamy variation of traditional Limoncello, an Italian lemon liqueur. It has a smoother texture and a sweeter taste, making it more dessert-like compared to the sharper, traditional Limoncello.
Using oil instead of butter in this cake recipe enhances its moisture. While cakes with butter are good, too, I find oil makes them consistently moist without the risk of being too dry, which can sometimes happen with butter-based cakes. See this Orange Bundt Cake, another favorite bundt cake made with oil.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make Limoncello bundt cake?
This limoncello cake recipe comes together in minutes, perfect for beginners in baking. Bundt cakes, especially pound bundt cakes, are typically quick and easy to make, and this limoncello version is no exception.
- Step #1: Beat eggs and powdered sugar until light and creamy. Add vanilla extract.
- Step #2: Alternatively and slowly start adding the oil and the limoncello, beating well after each addition. Sieve mixed flour, cornstarch, and baking powder over the eggs and incorporate them carefully.
- Step #3: Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Step #4: Bake for about 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave in the pan for about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Glaze:
- Step #5: To prepare the glaze, combine powdered sugar, Limoncello, and fresh lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. Adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar if it's too runny or more Limoncello/lemon juice if it's too thick. When poured over the cake, the glaze should be pourable but thick enough to stay in place.
- Step #6: Set the wire rack with the Limoncello cake on top of a baking tray to catch any excess glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and garnish with lemon zest.
How to prepare a bundt pan for baking?
We talked about the way of preparing a bundt pan for baking in several other posts featuring a bundt cake, for instance, this post for the Orange Raisin Bundt Cake. But I will write it again here because I think it is an important matter, something that can make or break your cake.
I usually use a silicone bundt pan (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab) for baking pound cakes. That requires absolutely no preparation at all: pour the batter into the pan, bake the cake, and get it out of the pan, no sticking, no problems.
I often use traditional non-stick bundt pans in various sizes. While they're not difficult to work with, it's important to prepare them carefully; otherwise, the cake will stick, and you'll end up scraping out pieces instead of having a whole, nice-looking cake.
There is a simple method to avoid this kind of mess.
Take a generous amount of soft butter and use your hands to thoroughly grease the bundt pan, including all its nooks and crannies.
Make sure every inch of the pan is well-greased. If the butter is very soft, you could use a brush to grease the bundt pan, but I prefer to use my hands.
After you have greased the pan, you must coat it with flour. Take about ¼ cups or so of flour, tip it into the pan, and start shaking and turning the bundt pan so that the flour coats the insides of the pan, including all the nooks and crannies.
Do that over the kitchen sink; otherwise, you will make a mess. When the pan is properly coated with flour, turn it around and start shaking and patting it gently on the bottom and on the sides to remove the excess flour. Again, do this over the kitchen sink.
Limoncello Bundt Cake
Equipment
- Bundt cake tin
Ingredients
Limoncello cake:
- 5 eggs large
- 2½ cups powdered sugar 250 g/ 9 oz
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup neutral-tasting oil 250 ml
- 1 cup Crema di limoncello 250 ml
- 1 cup all-purpose flour 125 g/ 4.5 oz
- 1 cup cornstarch 125 g/ 4.5 oz
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
Limoncello glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar 100 g/ 3.5 oz, a little more if necessary
- 3 tablespoons Crema di limoncello
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- zest of 1 lemon unwaxed/organic
Instructions
Limoncello bundt cake (Note 1):
- Preheat the oven to 360°F/ 180°C.
- Prepare the bundt cake form. If using a silicone bundt pan, no preparation is necessary. If using a regular non-stick bundt pan, butter it generously, including all the nooks and crannies of the pan. Make sure every inch of the pan is well-greased. Coat the pan with flour. Take about ¼ cup or so of flour, tip it into the pan, and start shaking and turning the bundt pan so that the flour coats the insides of the pan, including all the nooks and crannies as well. Do this over the kitchen sink to avoid a mess.
- Make the batter: Place the eggs and powdered sugar in a bowl. Beat well until light and creamy. Add the vanilla extract and mix in as well. Alternatively and slowly start adding the oil and the limoncello, beating well after each addition.5 eggs + 2½ cups powdered sugar/ 250 g + 1 cup neutral-tasting oil/ 250 ml + 1 cup Crema di limoncello/ 250 ml + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add dry ingredients: Mix the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder in another bowl. Sieve the flour mixture over the eggs and incorporate them carefully. 1 cup all-purpose flour/ 125 g + 1 cup cornstarch/ 125 g + 3 teaspoons baking powder
- Bake limoncello cake: Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool bundt cake: Leave the cake in the pan for about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Limoncello glaze:
- Combine: Place the powdered sugar, limoncello, and fresh lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir well until the mixture is smooth. Adjust the consistency with either more powdered sugar (if too runny) or more limoncello/ lemon juice (if too thick). The glaze should be pourable but still stay mostly put on your cake when you pour it.1 cup powdered sugar/ 100 g + 3 tablespoons Crema di limoncello + 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Glaze cake: Place the wire rack with the limoncello cake onto a baking sheet so that the excess glaze can ooze onto the tray. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and garnish it with lemon zest.zest of 1 lemon
Anne says
Hello,
Would this cake still be good if baked one day in advance of eating it or is it best baked the same day?
Adina says
Hi Anne. It's ok if you make it one day in advance.
maria says
can we substitute limoncello creme for something else?
where can I find the lomoncello?
thanks
Adina says
Hi Maria. I can't say where you can buy limoncello creme; I live in Germany. You can substitute with a creme liqueur of similar thick consistency, something like Egg Liqueur (Advocaat) or even Bailey's. The flavor will change entirely, though.
Shay says
I was wondering if I could use this recipe in mini silicone cupcake sized bunt cake pans and if so, how long should they cook?
Adina says
I think it should work, Shay, but I cannot say for sure how long you should bake them, as I don't really know how large the pans are. If you used those pans before you can try to set the same time and just check if the cakes are cooked by inserting a skewer in the middle.
Lucille says
Is there any way I can use regular limoncello instead of the creme? It sounds delicious, but I already have the regular limoncello.
Thank you for sharing your recipes with us.
Adina says
Hi Lucille. I don't think regular Limoncello will work here, the creme is much thicker, similar to Baileys. Sorry.
Natalie says
Looks delicious! I love the beautiful glaze ♥
Priya @priyascurrynation says
Love that glaze actually. its perfect.