I am so excited to bring you this Instant Pot Lemon Cake recipe. It is incredibly moist and fluffy and you’ll never know you didn’t bake it in the oven. Add my delicious homemade lemon glaze to it and you’ll be in lemon heaven.
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosure.
Perfect Lemony Goodness
I’ve been wanting to make a cake in the Instant Pot using a boxed cake mix. I knew cakes could be successful in the Instant Pot since my Turtle Lava Cakes are to die for! I love baking, and I really wanted to start using my Instant Pot for a few more “baked goods”.
This lemon cake had to be easy and require minimal ingredients. You know I love easy! In my opinion, using a boxed cake mix was a must to keep it as simple as possible. I have come to find out that even large bakeries use boxed cake mix so why not use something that’s already perfected?
This cake is absolutely perfect for spring and summer because of its fresh summery flavor. But don’t get me wrong, we enjoy it all year long! The moist and fluffy cake covered in my sweet and tangy lemon glaze is absolute perfection when you’re craving something sweet.
What Ingredients Do I Need for Making An Instant Pot Lemon Cake?
My family loves eating this Instant Pot Lemon Cake and I love how easy it is to make. It’s got just the right amount of tangy and sweet. It is moist and fluffy, and you can easily eat the whole cake if you get distracted! True story.
All you need is a boxed cake mix, I prefer Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Cake Mix and it’s the only one I’ve tested this recipe with. It’s easy to find in any supermarket. My boxed cake mix requires a bit of oil, 3 eggs, and some water. For the glaze, you’ll need some powdered sugar, a bit of butter, and 2 large lemons.
Essential Items
Here are some essential prep tools, utensils, and appliances I used to make this recipe.
Prep Tools & Utensils
Here are the prep tools and utensils that you’ll need:
Featured Items
Here is a list of the products featured in this post or products similar to those featured in this post:
- Instant Pot
- Measuring Spoons
- Stackable Measuring Cups
- Lemon Squeezer
- Flexible Cutting Mats
- Chef’s Knife
- Lemon Zester
- Trivet with Handles
- Mini Mitts
- 6-Cup Bundt Pan
28 Must-Have Instant Pot Accessories
Make sure to check out my Ultimate List of Instant Pot Accessories! I’ve included everything you could ever need to help make your pressure cooking quicker, easier, and even more convenient.
What Pan Do I Need?
To make this Instant Pot Lemon Cake you’ll preferably need a bundt pan. I use a 6 cup pan that is about 8.5 inches across. This fits perfectly in my 8-quart and 6-quart pressure cookers. You can use another cake pan, but a 6-cup bundt pan ensures you get perfect results every time.
Now it’s your turn to give this Instant Pot Lemon Cake recipe a try!
If you are an Instant Pot beginner I have included a step-by-step below. There are also some tips and tricks in the recipe card at the bottom of this post to help you make this cake even more delicious.
How to Make Lemon Cake in the Instant Pot
This is a super simple recipe that results in a perfectly fluffy and moist lemon cake that’s topped with a wonderful lemony glaze. Just make a boxed lemon cake according to the instructions on the back of the box, use the Instant Pot to cook it perfectly, and then top it with a homemade glaze. Yum!
Step 1: Gather the Ingredients
For the cake, you will only need a box of your favorite lemon cake mix and just a few ingredients to make the lemon glaze. That’s it! Here’s exactly what I used to make this recipe:
- Boxed Lemon Cake Mix: I used Duncan Hines Signature Lemon Supreme Cake Mix, to make this recipe and I highly recommend it. This cake mix makes a moist and fluffy lemon cake that comes out perfect every time.
- Powdered Sugar: The confectioner’s sugar is the base for the glaze. Make sure to pack it tightly when measuring it to help ensure that the glaze turns out thick enough.
- Lemons: You’ll need 2 large lemons to yield enough lemon juice and lemon zest for this recipe.
- Salted Butter
Step 2: Prepare the Cake Batter
Prepare the lemon cake batter according to the instructions on the back of the cake mix box. For the Duncan Hines Signature Lemon Supreme Cake Mix, I added the cake mix, 1 cup of water, ⅓ cup of vegetable oil, and 3 eggs to a large mixing bowl. I then mixed the ingredients with a hand mixer according to the instructions on the back of the box.
Step 3: Add The Batter To The Cake Pan
Spray a 6 cup bundt cake pan with cooking oil and then pour the batter into the pan.
Step 4: Wrap the Cake Pan With Foil and Cook
Tightly wrap the cake pan with aluminum foil before placing it into the Instant Pot. Then add 1 ½ cups of water to the pot and place the cake pan on the trivet and lower into the pot.
I suggest that you always use a separate sealing ring when cooking cakes and desserts in your Instant Pot. You don’t want your sweet treats smelling and tasting like garlic or curry powder. I have a blue ring that I use specifically for my desserts.
Set the Cooking Time
Close the pot and move the pressure release valve to the ‘Sealing’ position. Then set the Instant Pot to cook on ‘Manual’ or ‘Pressure Cook’, High Pressure for 35 minutes.
Release the Pressure and Remove the Cake
Once the cooking time has completed, perform a Quick Pressure Release by immediately moving the pressure release valve to ‘Venting’ to release all the pressure from the pot. Once all the pressure has been released from the pot and the pin has dropped, open the pot and remove the cake. Set the cake pan on a heat resistant surface, remove the foil and allow it to sit for 5 minutes to cool.
Step 5: Unmold the Cake
Once the cake has cooled for a few minutes, unmold it by placing a large plate over the top of the bundt pan and flipping it onto a large plate. Carefully lift the bundt pan away from the cake and let it sit to cool for another 10 minutes. If you notice that the cake is sitting lopsided, this is a good time to use a long serrated knife to cut away any bulges on the bottom of the cake to allow it to sit flat.
Step 6: Make the Glaze
For the glaze, add the two cups of tightly packed powdered sugar, five tablespoons of lemon juice, half a tablespoon of melted butter, and a teaspoon of lemon zest to a large measuring cup and mix until the sugar has completely dissolved and a smooth glaze has formed.
Step 7: Pour the Glaze Over the Cake
Once the cake is cool, slowly pour the glaze over it until it is fully covered.
Serve and Enjoy
This lemon cake is so delicious! My kids told me that it was their favorite. I hope that it becomes one of your family’s favorites too.
I know you will love this Easy Instant Pot Lemon Bundt Cake. Let me know in the comments when you try it!
QUICK & EASY RECIPES
When you sign up to become a newsletter member, you’ll get access to my latest quick & easy homemade recipes, homemaker tips and tricks, free printables, and more delivered directly to your inbox each week.
Instant Pot Lemon Cake
FLUFFY MOIST LEMON CAKE TOPPED WITH A SWEET LEMONY GLAZE
Essential Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 box lemon cake mix prepared according to box, I prefer Duncan Hines Signature Lemon Supreme Cake Mix
for the Glaze
- 2 cups confectioners powdered sugar tightly packed
- 5 tablespoons lemon juice from 2 large lemons
- ½ tablespoon butter (salted) melted
- zest of one lemon about 1 teaspoon
Instructions
- Prepare Lemon Cake Batter: Make the lemon cake batter according to the instructions on the back of the box of lemon cake mix.
- Add Batter To Bundt Pan: Spray a 6-cup bundt cake pan with cooking spray and pour the cake batter into the pan. Tightly cover the bundt pan with aluminum foil.
- Cook for 35-Minutes: Add 1 ½ cups of water to the Instant Pot and lower the cake pan into the pot using the trivet. Close the Instant Pot, adjust the pressure release valve to ‘Sealing’ and set the pot to cook on ‘Manual’ or ‘Pressure Cook’, ‘High Pressure’ for 35 minutes.
- QPR: Once the cooking time has finished, perform a QPR (quick pressure release) by immediately releasing the pressure from the pot. After the pressure has been fully released and the pin has dropped, open the pot. Carefully remove the hot bundt pan from the pot.
- Let Cake Cool: Set the cake pan on a heat resistant surface and remove the foil from the top of the pan. Allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes. Unmold the cake onto a large plate and allow it to cool for another 10 minutes.
- Make Glaze: Add the powdered sugar, lemon juice, butter, and lemon zest to a large measuring cup and mix until the sugar is fully dissolved.
- Glaze Cake: After the cake has cooled, pour the glaze over the top of the cake to fully cover.
- Serve and enjoy!
My hubby loves all things lemon do I made this today for his Valentine’s gift. It. Was. Great! So easy and sooooo good. Thank you !!
Hi Sharon! So happy you enjoyed it!! Happy Valentine’s Day!
I tried the lemon bundt recipe today, 40 mins cook, 15 npr, wrapped the bundt pan in foil, 2 cups water, trivet and it was an epic fail. The only thing I can figure is possibly the mixing portion did not go well enough or the lemon filling I used wasn’t the right one…lemon creme the label says, but it is pie filling, Duncan Hines… I’ll try it again, maybe different filling and see what happens.
Hi Susan! This recipe has proven to give some people trouble. I’ve never had trouble with it so it makes me crazy not knowing why it gives people trouble. Did you add the baking powder? What exactly did you end up with?
Hi! I tried making this lemon bundt cake. First of all, I went to 5 stores in search of lemon filling and it was nowhere to be found! I did purchase the pan you suggested. I decided to try the recipe using the lemon cake mix(the one in your recipe ) along with a blueberry filling. I followe’d all the instructions but my cake came out only about an inch and half tall! It’s like a think pancake! It doesn’t taste bad but it’s pretty squishy like a moist bread pudding! What happened?
I made a second try with this cake. Actually found the same lemon filling you used at Mariano’s. I bought new baking powder as well. It turned out much better, at least how it looks, haven’t tasted it yet. Still does not look as tall as yours tho. I did have a question, you said 15 min NPR and remove when pin dropped. My pin still hadn’t dropped after about 40 min so I manually released. Cake seems quite moist so I just turned the pan over right into a plate to cook and then I iced.
Hi Denise! Glad it turned out much better. So when a recipe says to NPR for a certain amount of time, that means you let it naturally release up till that amount of time, and at that point, you manually release the rest of the pressure. So in this case, you pressure cook for 40 minutes and then naturally release for 15, and right when it has been 15 minutes, you release the rest of the pressure manually. Hope this helps. Thanks for checking back in and letting me know about your second attempt.
Hi Denise! A few questions to try to see what happened. What type of blueberry filling did you use? Did you add the baking powder? It’s definitely a moist cake but it should be be only an inch and a half tall. Some people have had trouble because they overmixed, and a couple because of the fruit filling. I’ll be waiting to hear from you so we can see if we figure it out. Thanks!!
I made two mini cakes at the same time. Mushy. Should I have added more time?
Hi Annette! Theoretically, you shouldn’t have to add more time, but I couldn’t be sure unless I tried it. Could it be that you overmixed it? That seems to make a huge difference in the cake’s consistency.
I made this today using my own homemade lemon curd and it was delicious! I will definitely be making it again. So nice to have just a wee little cake for me and the hubby. Can’t wait to try the coconut and strawberry. How about a chocolate?
Hi Dorothy!! So happy you loved the cake! It is nice to have a tiny cake and not have a lot of leftovers I end up eating alone! Haha! I am working on the chocolate one! I’ve made it several times with different options of ingredients but I’m not satisfied yet! Thank you so much for stopping by!!
My cake was about 1 1/2” high, tasted like custard. I had to use Duncan Hines Lemon Creme Pie Filing. Not sure if that was it or not. Nothing like your picture. Glad I wasn’t giving it to company.
Hi Connie! I’m trying to get to the bottom of why it failed for a couple of you. Did you use a hand mixer?
I made it exactly as you said .
I made this cake on Saturday, and my family really enjoyed it! We loved how moist the cake was, and the glaze really added the perfect amount of sweetness. I can’t wait for you to post more flavors!
So glad you liked it!! I love the moistness too! I have lots of new flavors coming soon! Thanks for stopping by Alana!
I tried to make this and although the taste was great, the texture was more like custard than cake. Where did I go wrong?
Hi Bonnie! The cake is moist but definitely not like custard. Was your cake mix new? Did you use the same kind of lemon filling I used? (Or similar) Did you measure everything out? What kind of pan did you use? Trying to figure out what could’ve happened. Let me know your thoughts on my questions.
My mix had a best by date of 3/23/19. I used Lucky Leaf brand Premium Lemon Filling and Topping. I measured everything, and cooked as directed in a 6 inch Bundt pan. It was flat and custard like but my daughter can’t wait for me to make it again. lol Could I have mixed it too much? I will definitely give it another try. I’m just not sure what to do differently. BTW, altitude is not an issue either. Thanks for any suggestions.
After lots of tests, and a few friends making it, I’m thinking it is the overmixing. Did you use a hand mixer or do I by hand like I did mine? Please let me know! Thank you!!
No, I mixed by hand and I made a second one where I was very careful not to overmix and the same thing happened. Digging in to the matter I discovered that the filling I was using did not have any fat content where as yours did. I drove to the next town and bought your brand to see if that is the issue. I will make it tomorrow and let you know how it turns out.
Hi Bonnie! I will be editing my recipe slightly to make sure the cake works for everyone. I will be adjusting the recipe to say this: mix the egg and the lemon filling first. Mix well by hand. Then just fold in the cup of cake mix and 1/2 tsp baking powder. This should fix the issue some people were having. Let me know how it goes!
I made this again using the same filling as you and I got cake this time!!! It still didn’t rise quite as much as I would have liked but the texture was definitely cake and not custard. I will try adding the baking powder next time to see how that works. Thanks for all your help!
Yay!! So glad it worked! I edited the recipe and was very clear in the order and way everything should be mixed. It really does make a difference. Thanks so much for hanging in there!!
Same thing happened to me .
Made the coconut one and it was great .
Lemon ended up in the garbage
Hi ! I was so excited for this cake and it came totally underdone . Followed the recipe to the t and the cake never risen . Wha could have gone wrong ?
Hi Dove! So sorry it didn’t rise for you. I’ve made this cake at least 5 times and it’s been perfect every time. 40 min cooking time plus 15 min natural release should be plenty of time for it to rise. Did you remember to add water to the pot? Did the pot even come to pressure? Was the cake mix brand new? Just a few thoughts.
Do you have a mini lemon cake recipe made from scratch? We can’t eat mixes b/c of some ingredients.
Hi Joanna! No, unfortunately, I do not at this time. Thanks for stopping by!