Throughout our childhood, my brother and I celebrated nearly every one of our birthdays with a pool party since we were both born during the summer. Back then, we belonged to a small pool club in a quiet neighborhood, which was the perfect place for a children’s birthday party.
We kept those parties small, only inviting a handful of our closest friends, but we still loved every minute of the celebrations. For hours, we practiced cannonball jumps in the deep end and underwater somersaults in the shallow side, and we usually pulled out a set of neon plastic diving rings to play with, too.
Eventually, Mom called us all out of the water, and we eagerly obliged… Because that meant it was time for cake!
Two weeks earlier, Mom had taken us to the grocery store, and she let us slowly pore through the bakery’s big binder of birthday cake options. A beautiful color photograph of each confection filled every page, but after an eternity of flipping through the binder, I often picked out a chocolate cake with a Disney theme, while my brother generally chose a vanilla cake with race cars instead.
At our parties, Mom carefully opened the big bakery box to reveal the gorgeous cake we had ordered, which came with “Happy birthday!” scripted across in icing letters. After blowing out the candles, I always wanted the piece with my name on it… Or at least the slice with the most frosting!
Although I still love chocolate cake, my brother eventually gravitated towards lemon instead of vanilla, so I had him in mind when I baked this healthy lemon bundt cake! It’s really moist and full of bright citrus flavor, just the way my brother likes his lemon cakes, but unlike the multi-layered bakery birthday cakes of our childhood… This one is really easy to make. No need for frosting, decorating, or any assembly!
I can’t wait to bake it again for his birthday in August! ♡
KEY INGREDIENTS TO MAKE A HEALTHY LEMON BUNDT CAKE
Let’s go over the key ingredients that you need to make this healthy lemon bundt cake — entirely from scratch! You’ll also need a few baking staples (like vanilla, salt, and milk!), but I have a sneaky suspicion that you’re familiar with those and already have them on hand… So we’ll focus on the more interesting ingredients instead!
Flour. You’ll start with white whole wheat flour. Yes, such a thing actually exists… And it’s not just a combination of white (aka all-purpose) flour and whole wheat flour!
Instead, white whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of soft white wheat (hence the name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. This gives white whole wheat flour the same health benefits (like extra fiber!) as regular whole wheat flour, but it also has a lighter taste and texture — which lets the moist texture and lemon flavor truly shine in this healthy bundt cake!
Hint: The difference between white whole wheat flour and regular whole wheat flour is similar to the difference between red and green grapes. They both have the same nutrition benefits — just a different color and slightly different flavor!
Tip: If you’d like to make your healthy lemon bundt cake gluten-free, then see the Notes section of the recipe. I’ve shared how to do so there!
Lemon zest. You’ll mix lots of freshly grated lemon zest into the flour. (The lemon juice comes later!) The zest actually has a much stronger citrus taste than the juice, so it provides the majority of the lemon flavor. I’ve tested this healthy lemon bundt cake multiple times, and you need 4 full tablespoons of zest to get the best and brightest flavor. Don’t skimp!
Tip: Use pure yellow lemons without any green spots. They yield the best lemon taste!
Leavening agents. You also need both baking powder and baking soda for this healthy lemon bundt cake. Although some recipes just use baking powder, the baking soda helps this cake rise just as much — if not more! That’s because the baking soda is a strong base, so it reacts with the lemon juice (an acid!) to create air bubbles (carbon dioxide, to be exact!) that make your lemon cake rise… And that reaction also helps yield a more tender texture.
As an ex-chemist, I love nerdy baking science like this! 😉
Greek yogurt. With just 1 tablespoon of butter (or coconut oil!), as compared to traditional bundt cake recipes with ½ to 1 full cup… This low-calorie lemon bundt cake gets the rest of its tender texture from one of my favorite healthy baking ingredients: Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt adds the same moisture to your lemon cake batter as extra butter or oil but for a fraction of the calories. It also gives your cake a big protein boost!
Egg whites. The whites contain the majority of eggs’ protein, and that comes in handy with cake recipes. The protein provides structure and helps your cake stay nice and tall while cooling, instead of collapsing or sinking!
Sweetener. Instead of refined granulated sugar, you’ll sweeten your healthy lemon cake with another one of my favorite ingredients: liquid stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that contains nothing refined or artificial (aka it’s clean-eating friendly!). It’s also highly concentrated. You just need 5 ½ teaspoons to sweeten the entire cake… Instead of 2 ¼ cups of granulated sugar! (That also helps keep this lemon cake low calorie!)
This is the liquid stevia that I use because I love its flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertaste like with some other stevia products. Although you can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, I buy mine online here because that’s the best price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Tip: Many stevia brands and products have different sweetness levels, so they’re not necessarily 1-for-1 substitutes for each other. For the best flavor and results, I highly recommend using the same one that I do!
Lemon juice. Now it’s time for the lemon juice — and another nerdy baking science lesson! Ready?
I specifically designed this recipe for Meyer lemons.
Meyer lemons are a special variety of lemons. They’re a hybrid of citron, mandarin, and pomelo. This blend gives them a fuller and sweeter flavor, and it also raises their pH level compared to regular lemons — meaning they’re less acidic. (Remember from basic chemistry? Higher pH = more basic and less acidic!)
That acidity, or pH level, plays a huge role in the texture of your cake.
If you use Meyer lemon juice, your cake turns out perfectly moist and tender inside. It rises nicely in the oven, maintains its height and structure while cooling, and looks like a normal lemon cake when you slice into it.
If you use regular lemon juice, that adds WAY too much acid. It substantially lowers the pH level of the batter and results in a cake that barely rises, looks raw inside (even though it’s fully baked all the way through — I promise!), and turns out with an incredibly dense and almost brick-like structure.
So if you can find Meyer lemons, please use them! However, if you can only find regular lemons, that’s okay too. I know many grocery stores don’t stock Meyer lemons, so it’s not always the easiest thing to locate them.
If you can only find regular lemons, you’ll use less lemon juice — just enough to add the same amount of acid and create the correct pH level in the cake batter! — and substitute milk for the rest. This yields a cake with the exact same moist and tender texture, and because the zest provides the majority of the citrus flavor, your bundt cake will still taste bright, sunshiny, and perfectly lemony… Just like if you had used Meyer lemons!
Whew! You made it through! That wasn’t too hard, was it? The rest of this is as easy as pie — or, well, cake!
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY LEMON BUNDT CAKE
Time to pull out your mixing bowls and start making the batter! Here are my tips about how to make the best lemon bundt cake…
Measure correctly. Yes, I probably sound like a broken record — but it’s incredibly important to measure the ingredients correctly! This is especially true for the flour, lemon zest, and lemon juice in this particular recipe.
For the flour, use this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Do not dip your measuring cups directly into the flour container. This often results in adding up to 1 ½ times as much flour… Which dries out the batter, makes it more like stiff cookie dough, and can result in a crumbly cake. Take the time to measure properly, and you’ll end up with a beautifully moist and tender cake!
For the lemon zest and juice, measure by tablespoons or grams for the zest and tablespoons or mL for the juice. Do not measure by number of lemons! That will throw off the flavor of your cake, resulting in something that’s either bland (aka not enough zest) or sour (too much!). It can also ruin the texture by either adding too much acid from the lemon juice… Or not enough. (See the “Lemon juice” header in the “Key Ingredients to Make a Healthy Lemon Bundt Cake” section above for a detailed explanation of this last bit!)
Alternating additions. This is a popular technique for making cake batter. In a nutshell (or would that be a lemon wedge?), you’ll alternate between folding in part of the flour mixture, then switching to a splash of milk, and going back and forth between the two until you run out of each. This approach helps guard against overmixing (which makes a cake tough, gummy, or rubbery!). Just remember to gently stir in each one by hand, and you’ll end up with a perfectly moist and tender cake!
Prepare the bundt pan. Before you spread your healthy lemon cake batter into your bundt pan, remember to generously coat your bundt cake pan with cooking spray. If you have cooking spray with flour, that’s even better! Bundt cake pans have lots more nooks and crannies than traditional round cake pans, so it’s much easier for the batter to get stuck… Which means your cake won’t want to slide out of the pan when you invert it. As long as you’re generous with the cooking spray, your healthy lemon bundt cake should pop right out of the pan!
Bake. Pop your batter-filled bundt pan in the oven, and set a timer! The cake will be done when the top feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean or with some crumbs attached.
Cool completely. Yes, completely. Not mostly, not partially, and definitely not just a bit. Your cake must fully reach room temperature before you do anything else with it! The inside structure doesn’t finish setting until the cake is completely cool, so you’ll disrupt that process if you try to slice and serve it while it’s still warm. Also…
Glaze (optional!). One last thing! Once your healthy lemon cake has fully cooled, you can drizzle a little glaze on top. Following the theme from above, it must completely reach room temperature before you do this. If your cake is warm, it’ll melt the glaze… So the glaze would dissolve right into the cake!
This optional glaze is super simple to make! Just stir together confectioners’ style erythritol and a bit of lemon juice in a small bowl, transfer that to a zip-topped bag, and snip off a tiny piece of one corner to drizzle it all over your bundt cake.
Lemon bundt cake perfection! It’s truly the best lemon cake I’ve ever had! ♡ And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy lemon bundt cake!
Healthy Lemon Bundt Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 3 ¾ cups (450g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 2 ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 tbsp (20g) lemon zest (about 3 extra-large — see Notes!)
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 4 large egg whites, room temperature
- 4 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 ½ tsp liquid stevia (see Notes!)
- ¾ cup (180g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ¾ cup (180mL) freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice (about 3 extra-large — see Notes before beginning!)
- 1 ¼ cups (300mL) nonfat milk, divided
FOR THE DRIZZLE (OPTIONAL)
- 3 tbsp (45g) confectioners’ style erythritol
- 2 ½ - 2 ¾ tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and generously coat a 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray or nonstick cooking spray with flour.
- To prepare the cake, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Once thoroughly combined, whisk in the lemon zest. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter or coconut oil, egg whites, vanilla extract, and stevia. Stir in the Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Stir in the lemon juice and ¼ cup of milk. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and remaining milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts.)
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F for 55-65 minutes or until the top feels firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cake has completely cooled to room temperature and just before serving, prepare the drizzle. Stir together the erythritol and lemon juice in a small bowl. Transfer the mixture to a zip-topped plastic bag, cut off a tiny piece of one corner, and drizzle over the cooled cake.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Orange Bundt Cake
♡ Healthy Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
♡ Healthy Strawberry Lemon Cake
♡ Healthy Raspberry Lemon Cake
♡ Healthy Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy bundt cake recipes and healthy cake recipes!
Hi,
I tried the recipe this weekend and it was a complete disaster. After going over the ingredients again and again, I believe I’ve spotted why: being European, I measure in grams, which is what I looked at here when making the cake (thanks for adding these). However, 3 3/4 cups of flour is NOT 330g, but 450g. My guess is that’s why the cake turned out a completely wet and clumpy mess – not enough flour 😉
Oh my goodness Carole — I’m SO sorry!! You’re absolutely correct about the grams. I just updated the recipe; thanks for catching that!! If you use a full 450g of flour, the cake should turn out much better! 😉 And thank you for being so sweet about pointing this out. I truly appreciate it! 🙂
Hi, I love this recipe and wait to try it. Can I use nut milk yogurt instead of Greek yougurt? I’m trying to avoid dairy.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Carmen! Yes, I believe nut milk based yogurt should work. I can’t wait to hear what you think of this bundt cake! 🙂
I am considering using Swerve in the cake rather than the stevia. How much would I need? I think I want to do this because of the super sweetness of stevia and its aftertaste. Your thoughts?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Julie! If you’d like to substitute that sweetener, then follow the substitution for granulated sugar in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions) and substitute your sweetener in place of granulated sugar. However, erythritol absorbs liquid differently than granulated sugar, so you may need to add more than 2 tablespoons of milk. I’d love to hear what you think if you try making this cake! 🙂
Hi Amy! Well, I tried the recipe as written, using liquid stevia. following directions exactly for measuring flour, made no changes to ingredients … and it was not good. I have to tell you I was really disappointed. Not much lemon flavor even though I used Meyer lemons, it was so dense and heavy, not moist at all, and the stevia aftertaste was too much for me. I’m so sorry to be such a downer, but I just didn’t like this at all. I was making it for a dinner party and had to do a last minute substitute with a mix from a box, just to have something to serve. My husband and my neighbor have said they can eat the cake (I actually made cupcakes) but I can not stomach them. 🙁
That sounds disappointing Julie! I’d love to help you sort through those issues because that doesn’t sound like how this cake should turn out at all. How did you measure the lemon zest, with measuring spoons or a kitchen scale? And the same thing for the flour — did you use measuring cups or a kitchen scale? What did you use to mix up the batter? Was it an electric or stand mixer, by any chance? Finally, did you use the same brand of vanilla stevia that I did? Once I know all of that information, we should have a better idea of what happened to cause those issues with the flavor and texture!
Hi Amy, Sorry to be so long answering … crazy stuff going on in my life! LOL I measured zest with spoons (don’t have a scale) and made sure to do the cups for flour as you suggested (not packing, not scooping, leveling with a knife, etc.) I did not use a mixer, I used a whisk until it got too thick and switched to a spoon. And, I did use the same brand of stevia. I used an “orange” flavored by Sweetleaf (did not have the vanilla, but thought the orange would give me even more citrus taste.) Let me know what you think. 🙂
Thanks for the information Julie! Based on all of that, the biggest issue with the texture is probably due to how you mixed up the batter. If you look at the Notes section, I actually say to use a whisk where instructed and a fork (not a spoon!) for everything else. If you use a whisk for too long (like when the batter starts to get thick), then you can overmix. The same thing happens with a spoon. The spoon is basically a flat object moving through the batter, whereas the tines of a fork allow the flour mixture and milk to be fully incorporated much faster than with a spoon, which therefore helps prevent overmixing. Overmixed batter leads to a dense, heavy, sometimes gummy texture. I know it can be easy to skip right past the Notes sections of my recipes, but I promise they’re worth reading! 🙂
Another potential texture issue could be due to not using Meyer lemons. When made with any other variety of lemons, this cake (or cupcakes!) end up sinking while cooling, turning incredibly dense and almost gummy, and look as if they’re underdone. I’m still not entirely sure of the science of why, but I do know that’s another cause of dense and heavy texture in my lemon recipes made with stevia!
If you don’t own a kitchen scale, here’s what I recommend doing for measuring flour (and cocoa powder, oats, etc!): use a fork to “scoop” up flour from the container, and lightly shake the fork back and forth over the top of your measuring cup to transfer the flour into it. Once there’s a small mound of flour extending past the rim of the measuring cup, then place the flat back of a knife against the top of the measuring cup, and gently scrape it across the top to get rid of the excess flour. Never “pat” the flour down with the knife or fork. This fork method acts like a sifter (without dirtying another dish!) and guarantees you’ll add less flour to the batter, so you should end up with a moist and tender cake. Does that make sense? 🙂
Finally… Just to confirm, you used a full 4 tablespoons of lemon zest (not 4 teaspoons), correct? That’s the equivalent of ¼ cup of lemon zest. Did you pack the zest into your tablespoon measuring spoon? Or just lightly drop it in? Were your Meyer lemons bright yellow, not green or pale yellow?
Hi Amy! Silly question, but does the half recipe turn out just as well or have you tried it? Also, are all the ingredients halved exactly or do any other modifications have to be made? I’m concerned on how exact it must be since I don’t have 1/8 cup measuring cups for example.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Adriana! I’ve actually covered the half-recipe alternative in the bottom of the Notes section (located directly underneath the Instructions). I know it can be easy to miss that bit! Also, 2 tablespoons is the same thing as 1/8 cup, so if you use tablespoons instead, you’ll have better luck being more precise! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this bundt cake if you try it!
Hi Amy, I love your website! I don’t eat eggs. Can I substitute ground flax meal for the egg whites? Also, I would like to use coconut flour. Should I just use 1 cup?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Tamara! I don’t recommend using just coconut flour, as it will have a negative impact on the taste and texture, even if you just use 1 cup. If using gluten-free flour is your main concern, I highly recommend using the option that I included in the Notes section instead!
As for the eggs, my brother is actually allergic to eggs, and Ener-G is my favorite substitute. Ener-G is a shelf-stable powder that keeps for ages. It works perfectly as an egg replacer in nearly all of my recipes, including this one! For my recipes, use 1 ½ teaspoons Ener-G + 2 tablespoons warm water for each egg white (and you’ll need an additional ½ tablespoon of butter or coconut oil {or Earth Balance, if you’re vegan!} for each egg yolk, although that doesn’t apply to this particular recipe!). I can’t wait to hear what you think of this bundt cake if you try it!
Hi Amy, thanks for your note and feedback. I appreciate it! I tried the recipe with the coconut flour and flax and you are right, it did not hold it’s shape with those substitutes! (I am new to baking – live and learn!) So I want to try again and I am committed to following your recipe more closely this time. But I have one question which is: I really don’t like Stevia. But I also would like a lower sugar option than two cups. Is there anything else I can replace the Stevia with besides so much sugar? Like, can I reduce the amount of sugar? Is coconut sugar healthier than regular sugar? Ideally I would like as little sugar as possible bc I am trying to eliminate refined sugar from my diet but I can’t stomach Stevia either. Grrrrrrrr. Help! 🙂
It’s my pleasure Tamara — I’m always happy to help! 🙂 That means a lot to me that you’d like to retry this recipe! If you reduce the amount of sugar, your bundt cake won’t turn out as sweet. It’ll have a sweetness level more like muffins, rather than a dessert cake! Do you have a preferred no-calorie sweetener? If you do, we may be able to modify this recipe so you can use the ingredient(s) you prefer!
Ahhh, that is interesting about the sugar. I don’t mind if it has the sweetness of muffins. It is the texture / shape that I am really going for. If it is less sweet (but still edible) that is good. THe only sweetener I really like to use us honey or maple syrup. But I saw your notes said to avoid those. Ideally, if there is an amount of maple syrup or honey that could work for less sweetness but still keep the shape that would be perfect. If not, I could also use sugar but just as little as possible to have the muffin (or a bit less) level of sweetness. What do you think?
I’m the same way when I buy new baking pans — I’m always so excited to start using them too! 🙂
What’s more important to you, using an unrefined sweetener OR minimizing the calories/grams of sugar? Maple syrup and honey are both considered “unrefined” sweeteners, but they actually add about the same amount of sugar calories/grams as granulated sugar. If you’re just trying to avoid granulated sugar, rather than minimize the calories or grams of sugar, then I’d recommend using coconut sugar for the best alternative. It’s consider an “unrefined” sweetener, just like maple syrup and honey, and I’ve already included how to modify the recipe to use that in the Notes section! If you truly don’t mind about this cake having a lot less sweetness (and a lot more calories and grams of sugar!), then just replace the milk with honey. 🙂
If you’d rather minimize the calories/grams of sugar, then I’d recommend using a no-calorie sweetener instead to ensure the taste and texture remains as similar as possible to the original recipe. Stevia isn’t the only no-calorie sweetener option out there, thank goodness! 😉 If this is what you’d prefer (to keep the nutrition information about the same, rather than greatly increasing the total calories and grams of sugar by using coconut sugar, maple syrup, honey, etc), then just let me know your preferred no-calorie sweetener so we can try to modify the recipe for you!
I just bought a new Bundt pan that is why I’m excited to use it! 🙂
Is it possible to add bliueberries to this for a cross of your lemon blueberry pound cake? I like that recipe but want to use a bundt pan!
I’m so glad you like that pound cake recipe of mine, Emma! That means a lot to me! I think that should work. I’d recommend 2 cups of fresh blueberries, and try using 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of milk to start. (I’m a little concerned that the batter will be slightly thin as written, and I don’t want all of your blueberries to sink to the bottom of the bundt pan as a result!) If the batter seems to thick, then go ahead and add those last 2 tablespoons of milk before folding in the blueberries. 🙂 I’d love to hear how that turns out if you try it!
I can’t figure out when to add the additional 1 cup of milk in this recipe! I added the 1/4 cup when directed–but when do I add the rest of the milk?
At the end of Step 2! “Alternate between adding the flour mixture and remaining milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated.” I know it can be easy to miss that little detail in this part of the Instructions! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this bundt cake Dee!
Made this cake for my husband’s birthday yesterday. Followed the recipe to the letter. It is quite an involved and expensive recipe but my husband loves anything with lemon and is trying to eliminate sugar from his diet. I have been using whole grains for years and have often baked with white whole wheat so I expected this to become one of our favorites. Unfortunately, we found it inedible which is really saying something since my husband will consume just about anything I make (even some strange experiments). Maybe it was the amount of stevia used. I don’t know. The texture was fine. It rose well. But the taste was nothing like we anticipated. I’m sharing this since making this is quite an investment in time and money, and definitely NOT worth it.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Lynda! I’m so honored that you’d want to make it for your husband’s birthday. That sounds incredibly disappointing and not like how this cake should turn out at all, so I’d love to help figure out what happened! Did you make any modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section? Did you use the same exact stevia that I did? Can you describe the flavor?
Thanks for responding, Amy. I followed the recipe exactly. However I did use a different liquid stevia. I guess that must be the problem. I have used SweetLeaf stevia for years without a problem, but I guess that must be it. Maybe you should note in the recipe itself what brand of stevia should be used. I am surprised that there could be such differences in these products.
It’s my pleasure Lynda! What’s the exact SweetLeaf stevia product that you used? Was it their original, the vanilla creme, or something else?