Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake was originally published in 2012, long before I really had a clue how to shoot food photography or videos. I kept the original pictures at the bottom because I love the step by step pictures and they are a part of Desserts Required’s journey.
We all have our favorite ‘easy’ cakes; you know, the ones that we need to have for the times when we do not have all day to bake. My Lemon Poppy Seed Cake is one of these.
Other than having to juice two lemons and zest one, the ingredients get added to the mixing bowl, transferred to the bundt pan and then glazed. No separating eggs, no layering and no frosting because the glaze is applied with a pastry brush when the cake is still hot out of the oven.
In addition to its simplicity, I do have one other requirement for my ‘easy’ cake; in fact, it is a requirement for all my desserts; they have to be delicious. Fortunately, this cake is moist and bursting with flavors. First, there are the poppy seeds. These very tiny seeds are steeped in history, having been around for thousands of years. Poppy seeds have a nutty taste and add a great crunch to everything they are in.
I was slightly amazed to read that people who eat poppy seeds may test positive for opiates; and some people have even lost their jobs over a false positive drug test. I guess the lesson here is, ‘don’t eat anything with poppy seeds within a 48 hour window of taking a drug screening test.
My other favorite ingredient for this cake will not cause any problems with a drug test….lemons. The zest in the cake will both intensify the flavor as well as add lovely little flecks of bright yellow to the final product.
The end result of making a Lemon Poppy Seed Cake is a moist, slightly nutty, lemony cake that will make all who eat it smile brightly. One last word to the wise: those fabulous teeny tiny poppy seeds have a knack for finding their way in between your front teeth, so perhaps a little peek into the mirror will be in order after savoring your delectable piece.
| Lemon Poppy Seed Cake | Print |
- Cake:
- 14 tablespoons (190 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 2½ cups (527 grams) sugar
- 5 eggs
- 2¾ cups (381 grams) all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (3 grams) baking soda
- ½ cup poppy seeds (2.6 ounce/74 grams) jar does the trick)
- 1 cup (242 grams) sour cream
- ½ teaspoon (2 grams) vanilla extract
- zest of 1 lemon (2 grams)
- ¼ cup (59 grams) lemon juice (1 to 1½ lemons)
- Glaze:
- ¼ cup (59 grams) lemon juice (1 to 1½ lemons)
- ¼ cup (53 grams) sugar
- For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 325˚. Set aside a 14 cup bundt pan.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda and poppy seeds together in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl down as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, until combined. On low speed, mix in one-half of the dry ingredients and then add the sour cream followed by the vanilla and lemon juice. Add the remaining dry ingredients, scraping the bowl down in between additions.
- Spray the bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray (i.e. Bakers Joy® or Pan Grease). Pour the batter into the pan. Bake at 325˚ for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack.
- For the glaze:
- While the cake is cooling in the pan, prepare the glaze. Combine the lemon juice with sugar. Microwave to warm the juice, which will allow the sugar to melt. Immediately after the cake has been turned onto the cooling rack, brush the entire surface of the cake with the glaze. Continue brushing until all of the glaze is used.
- Betsy's Tidbit:
- Place the cooling rack over a piece of wax paper prior to glazing the cake. No messy counters to clean up afterwards.
Betsy, I’m about to try your lemon poppy seed cake, BUT, I only have a 9 cup bundt pan. Can I fill it and put the rest into something else ( like maybe a cupcake tin?) Will it affect the cooking time in either the bundt pan or the cupcake tin? Any other ideas? Should I bake on convection or regular? Thanks,
Your student
P.S. I looked at a new 15 cup pan. $$33.00. No chance
Definitely use the 9 cup pan. I would suggest looking at the picture on the site to get an idea of how high to fill the pan. You do not want to go to the top or else it will spill over while baking, somewhere between 2/3’s and 3/4’s of the way up.
In terms of the baking time, bake the cake for 65 minutes instead of 75. That should do the trick.
I have a convection setting on my oven, but actually bake everything using the regular oven setting. Quite frankly, I am just too lazy to test all of my recipes so that I get the timing right when using the convection setting. Once I know a recipe works, I am very content to leave it at that. 🙂
Good luck and let me know how your cake turns out.
Betsy,it was absolutely delicious! My company and even Richard (my most severe critic)liked it a lot. I froze half of it and served it tonight and it was still delicious. By the way, I made little muffins from the left over batter, and they turned out fine. Your directions were great. Thanks loads,
Barbara
Barbara,
I am so thrilled to read this, yet, not surprised in the least!
I love how you improvised with the remaining batter. Yum.
Betsy
This cake looks absolutely delish and I’m so jealous of your gorgeous pictures.
Karen,
Thanks so very much. You made my night!