We’re celebrating a birthday today! Our cookbook, Bountiful, is finally released and we can give a big exhale to the last year and a half of writing, photographing, recipe developing and eating-till-we-drop.
In the cookbook, we actually don’t have any cake recipes, however for this occasion, we made cake. A lemon bundt cake for Bountiful, our 3.7 pounds and 10.6 x 8.5 x 1.3 inch baby. 
We learned so much over this process of cookbook-making. First off: don’t try to eat everything you make because you’ll quickly feel how tight your pants will get. Find some neighbors to pass the goodies to. Make friends with your mail man. What ever you do, find good-eaters. They are as important as your recipe testers. Secondly, regardless of what topic you’re writing about, try to incorporate a cocktail recipe in there, some how. Trust us, after hours editing the manuscript, recipe details, conversations and photo editing, you’ll NEED that evening inebriation.
So do we have cocktail recipes in Bountiful too? Of course we do. Seven, to be exact.
Now the next stage starts: meeting all of you who we kinda-know-but-really-don’t. How odd it is to tell our parents that we’ll be traveling the country to meet our friends that we’ve never met before. This is the internet life, no doubt. It’ll be fun to finally meet up with all of you who have supported us through the years on the blog.
If you’re free, stop by one of our signings and give us a hug. We want to see your purty faces.
Every single one of you have a special place in our lives. This blog wouldn’t be as rewarding without you. And the book? Bountiful? We’ll we wouldn’t have had the inspiration to make it without your support and encouragement.
Thank you a million times for making our lives so incredibly inspired and fulfilling.
You all mean so much to us. And in the meantime, here’s a slice of a wonderful and tender bundt cake for you all.
Happy Day!
Todd, Diane, Sierra and Lexi
Here’s the latest date and cities we’ll be visiting. Come hug and eat together.
Where to buy the book online? Here’s also a list of some great independent bookstores in areas we’ve visited. Please support them!
Amazon
Indiebound
Book Larder, Seattle
Book Soup and Vromans, Los Angeles
Kings English, Salt Lake City, Utah
Powells Books, Portland, Oregon
Barnes and Nobles
Make sure to serve the cake at room temperature. A cold cake will seem stale or drier than it actually is.
- 2 3/4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
- 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
- 3 cups sugar
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- zest from 4 large lemons
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
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Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and flour a 12-cup bundt pan.
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In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt for at least 20 seconds. Set aside.
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In a mixer on medium speed, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes (if the bowl does not feel cool while creaming, place it in the freezer for 5 minutes, then continue creaming).
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Beat in the oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. On the lowest speed, beat in the eggs, one at a time, until just incorporated.
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Mix in the flour mixture in three stages, until just combined. Fold the whipped cream into the batter.
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Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Drop the pan from about 4" above the counter to knock out any bubbles.
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Bake on the middle oven rack for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean near the center. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then loosen the cake by knocking it against the counter. Invert the cake onto a serving platter.
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Stir together lemon glaze ingredients (lemon juice & sugar - if needed, heat them briefly to help dissolve the sugar). Brush on the hot cake until all of the glaze is absorbed. After it has cooled, if serving within a day or two continue to final step, or if serving later in the week, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve (keeps 4-5 days wrapped in the fridge).
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On the day you are ready to serve (or the night before), take the bundt out of the fridge to come up to room temperature. In a bowl, whisk together the icing ingredients, adjusting the cream or confectioners sugar amount to make the icing fairly thick but pourable, not too runny. If the icing is close to the thickness you want, but still a touch too thick to pour, warm it slightly and it will become more fluid until it cools off (perfect for icing the bundt cake). Drizzle the icing over the top of the bundt cake and serve.
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Loved this cake just as it is! But I was wondering, though, if I wanted to make this an orange bundt cake would I need to make any changes to the recipe?
Hi Alayna,
We haven’t tried it with orange yet. We can’t think of any necessary changes. Any changes should be mostly personal preference. Love to hear if you make it with oranges.
This recipe was easy and wonderful. My cake turned out moist and delicious. I didn’t have any problem with it sinking like I read other reviewers did. I think I may have used more lemon juice but I love the tartness so it was all good. I just couldn’t wait for it to cool completely so my icing kind of melted a bit but it still tasted and looked great ???? Thanks for the recipe!
I’ve made this cake twice, once it came out exactly like your picture, and both times were delicious. Currently trying a half size version for easter, in a 1l bundt (turban) form, fingers crossed I’ll manage to get the baking time right (should you read this in the next 30mins: any tips are appreciated)!
Planning on decorating the vanilla cream icing with cadbury’s mini eggs for a festive feel.
I made this cake yesterday…hands down, it is the best lemon bundt cake had and one that I will be making over and over again. Buttery, lemony, moist and has a light crumb texture. I didn’t run into any of the problems that a few people mentioned—my cake rose nicely and didn’t collapse when cooled. I did follow the instructions word for word; weighed my ingredients with a kitchen scale, didn’t over beat the eggs and also used an oven thermometer and adjusted as needed to make sure the baking temp stayed constant. I was too lazy to pull out the hand mixer to whip the 1/4 cup cream so I did it by hand (big mistake, I forgot how long it takes to do it that way! The hand mixer is coming out next time). Fabulous recipe, thank you for sharing it with your readers. I posted a picture on my Instagram account @ellewref
I’ve made this cake no less than 8 times — just this past year. It’s been my go-to cake when going to or hosting a big party. It’s always been PERFECT! I found after my first go-round that my oven needed to be HOT. Sometimes ovens do not pre-heat to the temp they say they are at… Plus, once you open the door to put in the cake, 15 or so degrees runs right out! So, OVER preheat by at least 15 or 25 degrees… Use an oven thermometer to make sure the temp is where you need it to be… And take the full 60 minutes baking time. With the glaze, there is no danger of over-baking or drying out this cake. YUM. The best!
Hello! I’ve adapted your wonderful recipe and made this bundt for my blog. I’ve linked back to your original recipe in my post. Thanks for the inspiration!
I made this cake last night and it fell in the middle sometime after I removed it from the oven. I followed the directions exactly. I think it was over mixed with the one egg at a time incorporation using a stand mixer. It still looks good though and a had a tiny piece that fell off and it tasted great.
I’ve made this cake several times and it’s now my family’s go-to. I recently upped the ante a bit for my aunt’s birthday. I sliced the cake into two layers and added lemon curd in the middle, then changed the frosting to be powdered sugar and lemon juice, rather than cream. The result is outrageously delicious. Add some mini pompoms and bunting for the ultimate birthday cake.
I made this for Easter and it turned out wonderful! It was my first bundt cake and it was so easy and tasted perfectly sweet and tart!
I am making it again for my mother’s birthday and I was curious about the icing- when I made it before the icing was kind of blah and I could not get it turn out pretty enough! Do you have any techniques with put the frosting on?
Icing seems to vary each day in response to the weather. Some days thick, others runny. If it is too thick, we’ll warm it gently before icing, and if it is too thin then we’ll chill it a touch first.
Do you think this recipe would work in ANY bundt pan? I’m going to see this recipe to make my first-ever (!!!) bundt cake. But, I have the swirl bundt pan:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/swirl-bundt-pan
I’m a little nervous, just since you said the cake is so moist. Think it will un-mold from this pan easily enough? 🙂
This lovely cake is just baking in the oven now and is destined for my sister’s birthday party tomorrow night. Thanks for a great recipe!
Your cake looks amazing, did it twice already although the taste is wonderful and everyone ate it I have a problem, it rises in the oven and then it flops…all the way down…it could be the sugar on the recipe you have 600gm sugar…that is a lot of sugar! Am I doing something wrong?
Patrizia,
I ran into the same problem you did. I followed the recipe exactly as written, used a kitchen scale for precise measurements, cooked on the baking stone, gave the oven plenty of time to pre-heat, used fresh baking powder, and baked it in a bundt pan, yet the cake rose and fell 4 inches. I’d love to troubleshoot this because the cake was delicious (although overly sweet due to the collapse).
Julie
Are you baking it in a bundt mold? This recipe isn’t make for a regular cake. The ratios are off for anything other than in a bundt mold.
Similar problem for me. Followed directions exactly and the cake rose, overflowed, fell, and now appears to be overbaked on top and not done in the middle. I don’t know that it’s even salvageable. I’ve never had any problems with a bundt cake before so I’m not sure what went wrong. Any ideas?
When it comes to food, I like changing the recipes, some ingredients I like more, some less. When it comes to desserts I am out of my depth…so it was a challenge making your cake, but I love lemons, lemon bars is another favourite treat. I made the cake two days ago and I also made the syrup and stopped there so I could see the result, next time I will also make the glaze because your cake was amazing! The best way to describe it is like “wet velvet”, the texture was amazing, it was not soggy, the smell of the lemon got to my nose as I was bringing a piece to my mouth and you should have seen the look on the face of my nephew, he is 10 and I make lemon syrup in the summer for him, so he can make his own lemonade, big eyes and an exclamation with a question mark…can this cake be so good? thank you
Congratulations! Your work is inspirational for me. Best of luck.
I made this cake last weekend and absolutely loved its lemon-scented texture. The book looks fantastic too – congratulations and thank you being a source of inspiration.
Absolutely gorgeous Diane and Todd – can’t wait to get my copy, congratulations! xx
The cake sounds fabulous! Guess what? I just ordered Bountiful — so excited to see it!
This cake looks amazing, I mean I wish I was there! Its such a lovely peaceful feeling I feel whenever I come to this site. Your photography is breathtaking and the recipes are even better. Thank you.
Love the cake, love the video. . congrats!! Please let me know if you guys make it out to Chicago for your booktour!! Nothing in the Midwest, huh?
Congratulations! & the cake looks awesome – I love lemony baked goods 🙂
Congratulations! The book sounds great and that cake looks gorgeous 🙂
Um. I need a slice…and I don’t even like lemon all that much.
Congratulations! May this book bring many new friends into your life!
Happy Birthday is right~!! What a wonderful way to celebrate such a stunning creation.
Congratulations for all of your effort, and thank you for sharing so generously of yourselves with all of us 🙂
Have fun on your tour~!! xoxox
So much to be excited about! Love this cake – annnnnd I can’t wait to get your book!
Congratulations on the book and the cake looks fabulous!
Gorgeous bundt, congratulations on your book!
Very awesome! Can’t wait to check it out 🙂
The cake looks gorgeous and delicious! I wish I could attend your talk in NYC, but I have to work late that night. I can’t wait to fully enjoy your beautiful cookbook on my own.
Thank you for another delicious-looking recipe! I will be ure to print and tuck it into the cover of your cookbook when it arrives on my doorstep Thursday 🙂 and to think, I found your blog after googling photography tips! now, i can’t get enough of your recipes.
Happy birthday! I feel kinda silly proud of you kids – almost like another mother watching you shine bright! 😉 I have the cookbook on my birthday wishlist. Can’t wait to see it.
What a beautiful baby… ¡Felicidades!!!
I can´t wait to hold it.
All the best…
Happy Birthday! And so glad to see San Francisco squeaking in!!
Tanti Auguri !! Un abbraccio forte e un GRAZIE di cuore per tutto il vostro lavoro!
And that cake it’s beautiful… =)
Congratulations on your release date. I can’t imagine the excitement. I pre-order mine ages ago, but it could take weeks for it to ship. Can’t wait to see it. Good luck on your adventures.
Congrats on your new “baby”! Looking forward to trying this cake recipe with lemons from our Meyer lemon tree. Sounds heavenly!
congratulations! and i’ll definitely have a piece of that cake, it looks delicious!
xo, cheyenne
I pre-ordered your cookbook and it is on its way. Like everyone who reads your wonderful writing and looks at your amazing photography I can’t wait to get it and lose myself in reading it – every word – in one sitting!
did I say thank you?
I can’t wait to get my copy!! Kudos to you both X0
Congratulations!
I am one of those fans that you don’t know, but I follow you guys as often as I can, given my own ‘bountiful’ life! Thank you for putting such a beautiful collection together. I can’t wait to get it and share with family and friends!
Congratulations! We are head over heels in love with Bountiful! Cheers to you both! xo
Just received notification that the book is sitting on my porch, *right now*. 🙂 How exciting, and congrats!
Congrats!
Looking forward to your beautiful book!
WOW!! Loving the cake and simplistic styling.
Your good nature with your time and the importance you place in good food and food sustainability is inspiring. I can not wait for the book.
Congratulations! The cake is beautiful as well!
Cake looks fabulous! Congratulations on your creation!
Insanely moist. That’s the only kind of cake I want to eat. What a beautiful cake for a beautiful book!
Everything you said – about finding good eaters being as important as good recipe testers, donating food, saving room for cocktails, yes I whole-heartedly agree!
Congrats you two!