This moist lemon poppy seed cake is incredible for the whole family! It becomes wonderfully moist, fluffy & refreshing.
Hello all. A short story of how I came to make this recipe: Initially, I had planned to bake a cake according to another recipe for a long time. For example, Yotam Ottolenghi's lemon cake with poppy seeds from the book "Sweet" or Cynthia Barcomi's lemon tea bread. But as it is usually the case, there was something wrong with the recipes. Way too much sugar anyway, double cream in the dough and so on. So it became an utterly own alternative. So enjoy my version!
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Taste and Occasion
There are many good reasons for such a moist lemon poppy seed cake. In winter, it results in summer feelings, in summer in refreshment, and the taste - well, that always guaranteed for small enthusiasm storms 😉. Because my lemon cake with poppy seeds contains the citrus fruit several times!
Ingredients
So, you need lemon zest (necessarily freshly grated) and freshly squeezed lemon juice for the dough. The cake is drizzled with lemon syrup while still warm. And as a topping, there's powdered sugar icing with lemon. Wonderful! Because the lemon poppy seed cake recipe contains three times as much sugar, the dough itself is relatively low in sugar. If you want to make the cake without syrup and icing - which I wouldn't do … - definitely take more sugar.
The lemon poppy seed cake is moist for several reasons: on the one hand, of course, the already mentioned soaking with syrup. Also, in addition to flour, I packed ground almonds into the recipe. And it is a rather heavy sponge cake with plenty of (😉) butter and eggs. The result: delicious! The cake also stays fresh for about 2 days. Just right to bring it to summer parties, garden parties, birthday parties and Co.
How to make the Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
This recipe is super delicious AND super easy - trust me. First of all, grease a small springform pan or loaf pan and dust with flour. Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Now, beat the soft butter with the sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until well blended.
Then, mix flour with almonds and baking powder. Wash the lemon in hot water, grate and squeeze. Add about 60 ml of juice to the dough and add lemon juice, lemon zest, flour mix as well as poppy seeds to butter-egg-mixture. Stir vigorously but briefly.
Pour the dough into the pan, smooth it out and bake for about 32-35 minutes. In the meantime, squeeze another lemon for the syrup and measure out about 50 ml of juice. Place in a small saucepan with sugar and bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves.
While the cake is still warm, pierce the surface several times with a toothpick and Spread syrup over the warm cake. Then, it's important to allow your cake to cool. If desired, dust with powdered sugar only or decorate with lemon icing. Mix sifted powdered sugar with a bit of lemon juice and spread over the cake. Enjoy!
Top Tip
The following applies to all lemon cakes: Freshly squeezed lemon juice and fresh lemon zest are definitely preferable to the store-bought convenience alternatives. You'll notice the difference in taste - and in the future, you'll only want to bake with lemon bake or lemon juice from a bottle in absolute emergencies.
Recipe Card
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Equipment
- 1 small springform pan 8 in/ 20 cm
Ingredients
For the dough
- 100 grams (½ cup) sugar
- 4 eggs, medium
- 150 grams (1 ⅕ cups) wheat flour
- 100 grams (1 cup) ground almonds
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 40 grams (⅖ cup) poppy seeds
- 1 piece lemon, of which 60 ml juice and zest
- 130 grams (⅔ cup) butter, soft
For the syrup
- 1 piece lemon, of which about 50 ml juice
- 3 tablespoons sugar
For the glaze
- 170 grams (1 ⅖ cups) powdered sugar
- 1 piece lemon, approx. 2 tablespoons juice
Instructions
- Grease a small springform pan or loaf pan and dust with flour. Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Beat the soft butter with the sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until well blended.
- Mix flour with almonds and baking powder. Wash the lemon in hot water, grate and squeeze. Add about 60 ml of juice to the dough. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, flour mix and poppy seeds to butter-egg-mixture and stir vigorously but briefly. Pour the dough into the pan, smooth it out and bake for about 32-35 minutes.
- Meanwhile, squeeze another lemon for the syrup and measure out about 50 ml of juice. Place in a small saucepan with sugar, and bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves.
- While the cake is still warm, pierce the surface several times with a toothpick. Spread syrup over warm cake.
- Allow cake to cool. If desired, dust with powdered sugar only or decorate with lemon icing. Mix sifted powdered sugar with a bit of lemon juice and spread over the cake.
Notes
Ingredient substitutions
Variations
Now such a cake is no witchcraft. But I wanted to make it especially moist and super lemony. You can refine any lemon cake with poppy seeds. For a lemon poppy seed sheet cake, this popular lemon cake recipe is suitable. And if you want something healthier, you can also use my fructose-free lemon cake with rice syrup or the low-fat lemon cake without sugar.
Nutrition
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About Kathrin & Jan
It's like a little miracle to me every time. Seemingly simple ingredients are made into something that can brighten up your life. Butter, sugar, eggs, and flour melt into an airy biscuit, a fine tart, a juicy cake, or a crispy biscuit. Baking simply makes you happy. Welcome and enjoy our blog!
Kathrin & Jan
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Lemon cake with rice syrup -
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German Poppy Seed Cake with Streusel
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