How To Make Moist & Delicious Lemon Bundt Cake with Claire Saffitz | Dessert Person
One of my favorite sources for dessert inspiration is the work of several renowned pastry chefs and cookbook authors from the 1980s and ’90s. One such author is Flo Braker, whose impeccable (and impeccably written) recipes are models of the craft. One of Flo’s famous recipes is her Crystal Almond Pound Cake, so-called because the sugary glaze crystallizes into a crunchy shell around the cake. Here I apply Flo’s glazing technique to my olive oil-based Meyer lemon Bundt cake. Because incorporating too much lemon juice into the batter can weaken the structure and throw off the leavening, I add it to the glaze for extra fresh lemon flavor. The olive
oil in the glaze helps to preserve the cake and keeps it moist and delicious for an entire week.
#dessert #clairesaffitz #lemoncake
Butter and flour for the pan
3 cups all-purpose flour (14.2 oz / 405g)
21⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or 1⁄2 teaspoon Morton kosher salt
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup whole milk (8.5 oz / 240g), at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3⁄4 cup Meyer lemon juice (6 oz / 170g), divided
1 tablespoon finely grated Meyer lemon zest, from about 2 lemons
1 3⁄4 cups plus 2⁄3 cup sugar (17 oz / 483g)
4 large eggs (7 oz / 200g), at room temperature
1 1⁄3 cups plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (11.5 oz / 327g)
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I just tried this recipe yesterday…. I really loved the lemon flavor and the moistness from the glaze. However, my family wasn't huge fans of the distinct "Olive Oil" flavor. Can I sub in butter in a direct 1:1 ratio, or would I be more successful subbing a different oil that's more neutral in flavor?
Ok, but sleeping spudsie?? Lord help us the editors cat cam is the best ❤
There might be a typo in the ingredient list in the description. 3 cups of flour is closer to 450g, not 405g
i ❤ u claire, but there’s nothing spicy about meyer lemons… maybe you meant to say floral 😉
I made this tonight, following the recipe very closely except that I cut it in half, as I live alone and meyer lemons are very pricey.. I used a six cup bundt, and it baked in about 40ish minutes to golden brown on top and passing the skewer test. I did mix it by hand with a whisk, as it didn't seem worth bringing out the KitchenAid. It's a good cake, but not exceptional. The crumb is extremely tender. I didn't get the crunchy glaze effect, but I might have made it too far in advance and it dissolved. I personally would increase the lemon zest, and maybe substitute neutral oil for some of the olive oil. I expect it will taste better tomorrow after it rests for a day..
The chocolate chip cookies continue their reign as the best Claire Saffitz dessert I have made so far., with the molasses crinkles in second place.
I literally realized i needed a bigger bowl for this while following along right as Claire said she did too 😂
Claire, you’re just the best.
Halved this and baked in a loaf pan. OMG, so good. The scent in the kitchen while this was baking and cooling was so lovely, lemony, but the taste is even better. This is my new go-to for lemon cake. I'll bake two loaves next time and freeze one. Moist, so flavorful, and that bright lemony sugar crackle on the outside puts this over the top. 💛💛💛
Made this recipe and thought it was good to very good. Wonderful moist texture. Was light on the lemon flavor though, which was with using the meyer lemons. My tasters gave it 8/10, 5 people tried it.
Lovely
Is there a regular lemon glaze substitute?
I just did this cake with regular lemons, split the batter into two smaller pans and have therefore two cakes! One is disappearing quickly and the other will be shared with coworkers… maybe…
Please never stop the cat cams ☺️
American recipies are always sooo large! My bundt pan is only 1/3 of the size of hers 😂
This came out neither as sweet nor as lemony as I expected. It's still delicious, and very sturdy, enough to support a schmear of jam or compote. That would make for a good filling in a layered version of this. I suspect the glaze is doing a lot of the heavy lifting for the flavor. Next time I'm going to up the sugar, use the zest from ALL the lemons, and I'll probably try subbing in rose water for the vanilla extract.
The glaze shots are incredible 🔥
I LOVE lemon in savory food for dinner and desserts. I need to give meyer lemons another try. I cannot remember what it was that I used them for but I remember not liking them because they seemed floral to me and I really dislike floral flavors. Rosewater anything is a huge no for me and it reminded me of that. Maybe I got a bad batch of lemons?
This cake looks amazing. I was wondering about making it a Lemon poppy seed cake. I need to look up some ratios for poppy seeds to flour.
What kind of olive oil did you use?
Love the Jaws note at 9:28 XD
Made it today and it came out amazing! Very lemon-y but truly tasty 😋 Thanks Claire! Love from Ireland! 🇮🇪
Is there a reason why you don’t use a baking spray with flour like Baker’s Joy or Sprease to prep the Bundt pan?
Would you be interested in doing an episode on recipe development for home cooks? I'd love to know some of the steps and techniques for creating a treasured family recipe.
Hi hi Claire can i use an unscented oil instead of the oilve oil wld it work just d same thanks from Trinidad in d Caribbean
Saw Claire's IG post about this Meyer Lemon bundt cake. I hunted her down here. I just finished glazing. Wonderful teaching and clear instructions that made "chemical" sense." Thank you.
Lemons don't come from nature. All citrus fruits are man made. We bred them over the last 500 years from the other few original citrus fruits we did find in nature.
The original citrus fruits were pomelo, citron, mandarin and papeda. Through human trade and shipping moved these around the world and cross bred them with other species. That's the only way we have all the citrus we have now.
This recipe was soo good. Used really good olive oil and the flavor was so zesty and fresh and the olive oil gives a great after taste 😌
What great timing. Just got a load of homegrown lemons – time to make this cake!
Can i substitute olive oil with vegetable oil????
I just made this cake with a cake pan that was slightly too small, so I ended up with extra batter for some amazingly fluffy cupcakes!
Your passion for this cake really came through. It's a relatively simple cake, but sometimes simple is best. It has a simple elegance, we might say. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Question: if I wanted to replace the olive oil with butter, how much butter would I need?
Get Spudsie on the show!
I made this yesterday and gave a third to a neighbor, a third to a coworker and a third to a friend and all said this was one of the best cakes they had ever enjoyed. Good on you Claire!
I have those same sandals! they are pillowy heaven for your feet and I have no shame about wearing them indoors with socks 😂
Current big fan; love the show . .
Just stumbled upon a compo video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOwdLOeqTMY
. . . and I found something truly great! At the 3:18 mark, it is revealed that there is, in the world, a Claire Saffitz LOOK-ALIKE! Goodness gracious! . .
We made lemons so they're not entirely "from nature" and I find it funny cuz we gave life lemons, not the other way around
The texture of that crumb had me click so fast 😍🤤
Claire Saffitz and the Curse of Never Getting an Appropriately Sized Bowl
Claire can I make this in to cupcakes ?