What’s better than a bundt cake? A bundt cake you can make in one bowl, made richer with cream cheese.

This recipe from Betty Crocker starts with a boxed cake mix. While our mother would turn up her nose at the idea of a boxed mix, there’s nothing wrong with a plain boxed mix. It saves time by mixing the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder.

While the recipes re tweaked to add antimicrobial agents like alpha tocopherol for longer shelf life; distilled monoglycerides as emulsifiers; maltodextrin, sodium stearoyl lactylate, xanthan gum and cellulose gum for batter viscosity; dicalcium sulfate as a calcium supplement. While you can read plenty on smaller websites about why you should avoid additives, they’re derived from natural ingredients and FDA-approved. The choice is yours.

Where we draw the line is with artificial flavors. They simply don’t taste as good as the real deal. That’s why this yellow cake mix, to which fresh-squeezed lemon juice is added, will taste so much better than a lemon cake mix with artificial flavors.

The recipe requires 10 minutes of prep time 2 hr 20 min Total Time 12

RECIPE: Lemon Cream Cheese Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze
 
RECIPE: LEMON CREAM CHEESE BUNDT CAKE

Ingredients For The Cake (12 Servings)

 
Ingredients For The Glaze

Top: A rich Lemon Bundt Cake made in the elegant Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Heritage Bundt Pan. Photo and recipe courtesy Betty Crocker. Bottom: It’s easy to zest citrus with a Microplane (it also grates Parmesan cheese in a snap).

1. PREHEAT the oven to 325°F. Generously spray a 10- or 12-cup Bundt or fluted tube cake pan.

2. BEAT the cake ingredients in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed for about 1 minute, scraping the bowl constantly. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 more minutes. Pour the batter into the pan.

3. BAKE for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan; then turn the cake out upside down onto a cooling rack or heatproof plate, removing the pan. Cool completely for 1 hour. Place the cake on a serving plate.

4. MAKE the glaze: In medium bowl, beat the powdered sugar and lemon juice with a whisk, a little at a time, until a thick glaze forms. (You may not need all the juice.) Pour the glaze evenly over cake. Store the cake loosely covered until ready to serve.
 
 
FOOD FUN: The History Of The Bundt Cake.