Lemon Poppy Seed Cake (Moist, Zingy!)

Recipe: Lemon Poppy Seed Cake Recipe »

This Lemon Poppy seed Cake recipe is all about zingy, lemony flavours enveloped in a deliciously moist cake. This simple cake is decorated with a simple powdered or icing sugar frosting and edible flowers. When you're looking for a simple, single layer cake that looks a bit special but doesn't take a lot of time, this lemon poppy seed cake is it!

About This Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake is one of the most delicious cake flavour combinations. Citrus often gets paired with the light nuttiness and crunch of poppy seeds (BTW orange and poppy seed cake is also delicious!). Poppy seeds have been used in baking for thousands of years, ever since ancient times and you often see them used in Central and Eastern Europe and Jewish cuisines.

Interestingly, poppy seeds are banned in countries like Taiwan and Saudi Arabia because of trace amounts of opiate alkaloids. Don't go overboard with the poppy seeds - experts recommend that people do not consume more than 1 tablespoon per 3kg/7lb of body weight. I mean you would have to eat an obscene amount of them but good to know right?

Do I need to soak poppy seeds before using them? You definitely can but it isn't necessary when you are baking cakes because they soften during the baking process.

What do poppy seeds add to a recipe? Apart from a light crunch and an ever so slight nuttiness they also look great in cakes!

Ingredients for a Lemon Poppy Seed Cake:

• Butter - I always use salted butter and for this cake you want to make sure that it is softened. By softened, I mean that a butter knife can easily pass through the butter.
• Caster or superfine sugar - to sweeten the cake
• Eggs - use large eggs, at room temperature. Eggs, along with baking powder help the cake rise.
• Sour cream - this adds a nice acidity and helps to break down the gluten in the flour to produce a soft, moist cake.
• Lemon zest - I love using lots of lemon zest for a floral, lemony aroma.
• Cake flour - Cake flour is always best for cakes as it is low in protein/gluten and that means that when you stir it, it doesn't form strong bonds easily (the strong bonds make for a tough cake). I'll show you below how to make cake flour at home. I recommend keeping a canister of this in the fridge ready to make cakes. BTW always keep flour in the fridge to avoid pantry moths!
• Baking powder - to help the cake rise. Make sure that your baking powder is still in date.
• Salt - I always add fine salt to cakes to balance the sweetness.
• Lemon juice - use fresh or bottled lemon juice to both flavour the cake and the icing

• Poppy seeds - the star of the show! You don't need many, just 3 tablespoons of poppy seeds.

• Pure icing or powdered sugar - for the simple sugar icing to mix with a combination of lemon juice and water. I don't recommend making the icing with just lemon juice as it can be quite strong.

Tips For Making Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

1 - A simple sugar icing can often be the most elusive because you need a lot of icing sugar and a very sparing amount of liquid. So I've given you the exact amount of liquid and powdered sugar you need to get a wonderful white, drippable but opaque icing. Keep this ratio handy because it is hard to eyball of guess for the right icing consistency (and this came from much trial and error!).

2 - With most cakes, it's important not to overmix the cake or it can get tough. But to compensate we're also using lemon juice and sour cream whose acids will help break down the protein/gluten in the flour.

3 - If you use flowers to decorate, make sure that they are not toxic. I used Geraldton Wax flowers which are a native Australian flower that is edible.

4 - If you prefer a creamier style of frosting, try a cream cheese frosting like the one used on my best banana cake. Or try a whipped cream cheese frosting as seen on this pumpkin spice cake. Cakes with cream cheese frostings do need to be kept in the fridge.

5 - This cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. This cake also freezes very well for up to 3 months.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake Recipe

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Recipe Overview

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 0 minutes

Serves 8-10 people

Ingredients Needed

• 160g/5.6ozs butter, softened
• 235g/8.3ozs caster or superfine sugar
• 3 eggs
• 130g/4.6ozs sour cream
• 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
• 185g/6.5ozs plain cake flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 90-120ml/3-4flozs lemon juice (depending on how lemony you want it)
• 3 tablespoons/27g/1oz poppy seeds

For Icing

• 140g/4.9ozs pure icing or powdered sugar
• 10ml/0.4flozs water
• 9ml/0.3flozs lemon juice

Step-By-Step Instructions

*Cake flour can be bought at the supermarket. You can also make it at home. To make 1 cup/150g/5.2ozs of cake flour replace 2 tablespoons of plain all purpose flour with cornflour/fine cornstarch and whisk well. I usually mix up a big batch of this and keep it in a container ready for baking cakes as it produces a softer texture.

Step 1 - Line the base and sides of a 20cm/8inch round tin. Preheat oven to 160C/320F fan forced or 180/350F conventional. Place the butter and sugar in a mixer fitted with a beater attachment and beat for 5 minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time (I beat them in a small bowl before adding). Then add in the sour cream and lemon zest and beat until the mixture if fluffy and there are no sour cream lumps.

Step 2 - In a bowl whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Then sift this into the bowl. Add the lemon juice and poppy seeds and stir but do not over stir, make around 6-8 swirls until it just comes together making sure to get all the way to the bottom of the bowl. Scoop into the prepared tin and bake for 48-50 minutes turning halfway. Cool in the tin and run a knife around the edge and remove the cake carefully. Place on a cake board.

Step 3 - Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the liquid slowly. Mix until it forms a smooth icing and then spoon it over the cake encouraging some of it to drip down the sides. Add flowers and serve.

Personal Note

I made this cake for Mr NQN to bring to a barbecue. Whenever we go out, it's always with my friends and never his because he doesn't really socialise much. I don't mean to suggest that he has no friends, he definitely has people that like him and like hanging out with him but he never makes plans to see anyone. Ever. I think in the entire time I've known him we've only seen his family and his friends at our wedding and that's it.

One day he said to me, "Hey there's a barbecue on in a couple of weeks, want to go?". I was excited because they're all part of a running group and I wanted to meet them. It was a bring a plate barbecue so as always I volunteered to bring dessert and if they needed another course to let us know because sometimes there are gaps that need filling.

But then a couple of days later I was invited to go away on a trip so I told Mr NQN that I wasn't able to go. "I hope I'll have the time to make the cake..." I mused out loud. I saw a look of concern cross his face briefly and I could tell that it was related to bringing a plate of something. I could have strung him along telling him that he would have to cook something for himself but he looked so stricken so I told him that I'm sure it would be fine and he wouldn't have to go to a shop to buy something and he brought this cake along!

So tell me Dear Reader, when asked to bring a plate, do you usually bring a sweet or savoury dish? Are most of your friends equally split?