Lemon poppy seed cake is a super easy lemon loaf cake recipe. This moist lemon cake is filled with poppy seeds and finished with a simple lemon icing.
Table of contents
- Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake
- Easy Lemon Loaf Cake Recipe
- What is a pullman pan?
- What is the purpose of baking at a lower temperature?
- How to glaze a loaf cake
- How to zest a lemon
- Tips for lining a loaf pan
- How to get a crack down the middle of a loaf cake
- FAQ for lemon poppy seed loaf cake
- For more loaf cake recipes, check out:
- Recipe For Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake
Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake
Hi hi! Just popping in to share the recipe for this super simple but crazy delicious Lemon poppy seed loaf cake. I love making loaf cakes - they are super easy, and you can dress them up or keep them simple. This is a basic lemon poppy seed loaf cake, full of lemon flavour and perfectly moist. It is finished with a punchy lemon icing which is brushed on once the cake has cooled, giving it that perfect crackly outer crust that is just so delicious.
I have a bunch of loaf cakes and quick breads on my site - generally quick breads such as banana bread have a higher ratio of leavening to dry ingredients, while loaf cakes are more cake based batter, such as a pound cake or a carrot cake, but either name goes here.
This easy lemon loaf cake can be made in advance - it actually tastes better the next day once it has had time to sit, and is the perfect any time cake.
Easy Lemon Loaf Cake Recipe
This lemon poppy seed cake is super simple to make, and comes together quickly. I used a neutral oil and sour cream to provide the fat in this recipe - the sour cream provides moisture and flavour. Lemon poppy seed cake is super simple to make:
- Combine sugar and lemon zest. Rubbing the lemon zest into the sugar for any lemon based recipe helps to release the lemon oil from the zest, and gives you a super fragrant lemon cake.
- Add the dry ingredients. Add the remainder of the dry ingredients - flour, almond meal, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Combine wet ingredients. In a separate bowl stir together the wet ingredients.
- Incorporate wet into dry. This is a super easy stir together cake. I like to whisk for a little then switch to a rubber spatula to make sure I haven't missed anything.
- Transfer to the pan. Pop your batter into the pan and smooth down, then add a little line of butter if desired to help the cake crack evenly. Bake until done, then leave to cool and turn out.
- Glaze. Once the cake is fully cooled, brush with the lemon glaze. Leave to sit to cool for a little, then you are good to go!
What is a pullman pan?
I baked this lemon poppy seed cake in a pullman pan, which is basically just a loaf pan with square sides. The one I have comes with a lid, which makes it great for making square loaves. I love how square loaf cakes look - the pullman pan makes them stand up nice and tall.
If you don't have a pullman pan then no worries at all - a regular loaf pan will work just fine. I would use one that measures approximately 9"x5" (23cmx13cm).
What is the purpose of baking at a lower temperature?
When I was testing this lemon poppy seed loaf cake, I noticed that when I baked at a higher temperature, the centre got super domed and there was a super sharp edge to the cake with a pronounced middle. I tried two ways around this - decreasing the leavening, and decreasing the baking time.
Reducing the leavening (baking soda and powder) gave a cake that was too dense, but reducing the baking temperature did the trick. Baking at a slightly lower temperature means that the cake bakes more slowly, giving it less of a chance for the middle of the cake to rise aggressively. I use this method in my chocolate loaf cake too, as I found baking it at 350°f / 180°c gave a large dome in the middle of the cake.
This reinforces how important it is to make sure that your oven is at an accurate temperature. If your oven is running at a different temperature to what it says (either hotter or cooler), this can make a huge difference to the outcome of your baking. I recommend getting an oven thermometer to pop in there just to check!
How to glaze a loaf cake
This lemon poppyseed cake is finished with a super simple lemon glaze, made from powdered sugar and lemon juice. Instead of being added to the top, I brushed it all over the cake, including the sides and ends. Adding the glaze to the cooled cake like this means you get a super delicious crunchy layer all over the cake.
How to zest a lemon
This seems like a strange thing to write about, but the way that you zest a lemon can make a big difference. Firstly, it is important to only remove the outer layer of the lemon, the yellow part. Underneath the zest is the pith, which can be slightly bitter. I like to use a microplane or a zester. Press the zester lightly against the surface of the lemon. I prefer to hold the lemon still and move the zester to ensure I don't go over the same spot twice.
If your recipe uses both zest and juice, make sure that you zest the lemon before you juice it. Trying to get zest off of an already juiced lemon sucks.
Tips for lining a loaf pan
When I make a loaf cake, I prefer to use the 'sling' method, which is where you line the pan with parchment extending over the sides of the pan. This means that it is super easy to pull the cake out once you are done. You don't have to tip it upside down to get it out the way you would if you didn't line the pan.
If you trust the non stick of your pan feel free to leave the lining off, but I much prefer it for insurance purposes. I like to clip the paper down with binder clips - I leave them on for the first part of the bake until the cake starts to rise up the sides, then remove so they don't get accidentally baked in. Clipping them down stops the paper from flapping down and getting stuck to the surface of the cake.
How to get a crack down the middle of a loaf cake
This is a sneaky little optional trick for how to control where your loaf cake cracks. If you take a little softened butter and pipe a line down the middle of the cake, the cake will crack evenly down the middle. This works most of the time - you can see mine cracked down the middle then has a little subsidiary fracture next to it too.
I do this with softened butter, but you can also dip either a knife or a bench scraper into some melted butter and mark a line down the middle.
If you aren't worried about your cake cracking down the middle (I feel so ridiculous writing this haha), then feel free to leave this step off, I just thought it was a super interesting trick and wanted to share!
FAQ for lemon poppy seed loaf cake
- What tools and equipment do you use?
You can see a full list of all the tools I use here
- Which pan did you use?
I used a pullman pan, but you can use a regular loaf pan too if you like, a 9"x5" (23cm x 13cm) works best. - Can I leave out the almond meal?
Yes, you can replace it with the same weight of all-purpose flour. If you can find almond meal, it is super delicious in there and gives the cake a great texture. - What is neutral oil?
Neutral oil is anything that is neutral tasting - light olive oil, canola, vegetable oil etc. - Can I leave out the poppy seeds?
Yes - if you don't want to add the poppy seeds then you can leave them out and just have a simple lemon loaf cake. - How to store lemon poppy seed loaf cake
Store lemon poppy seed loaf cake lightly wrapped at room temperature, or in an airtight container at room temperature. It will keep for 3-4 days. - Can I substitute sour cream?
If you don't have sour cream, you can substitute with greek yogurt.
For more loaf cake recipes, check out:
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Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
Recipe For Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake
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Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: One loaf cake
- Category: Loaf Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Lemon poppy seed cake is a super easy lemon loaf cake recipe. This moist lemon cake is filled with poppy seeds and finished with a simple lemon icing. Note that this loaf cake needs to be cooled completely before glazing, and that it bakes at a lower temperature so be aware when setting your oven!
Ingredients
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- 225g granulated sugar
- Zest of 3 lemons
- 290g all-purpose flour
- 80g almond meal
- 12g (1 tbsp plus 1 tsp) poppy seeds
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 2g (½ tsp) kosher salt
- 135g freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 130g neutral oil
- 150g full fat sour cream, at room temperature
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- A wee bit of softened butter for piping down the middle of the loaf (optional)
Lemon Glaze
- 60g powdered sugar
- 20g freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°f / 160°c. Grease and line a (9”x4”x4” / 23x10x10cm) pullman pan or a 9”x5” loaf pan, extending the parchment paper over the sides to form a sling.
- In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Rub the zest into the sugar with your hands to help release the oils and flavour the sugar. Add the flour, almond meal, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and whisk to combine.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, oil, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Add to the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk to combine, then switch to a spatula and give a few folds to ensure there are no dry spots in the batter.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan, and if desired, pipe a thin line of softened butter directly down the middle of the cake to encourage it to crack evenly. Alternatively you can dip a knife in melted butter and run it down the middle too. I use the piped butter method.
- Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the cake is golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
- Combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and mix well to combine. Brush onto the cooled loaf cake using a pastry brush, leaving it to dry slightly then adding more glaze if you like.
- Cut using a sharp knife. Store leftovers lightly wrapped at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
Store lemon poppy seed loaf cake lightly wrapped at room temperature, or in an airtight container at room temperature. It will keep for 3-4 days.
Keywords: Loaf cake, lemon poppy seed, lemon loaf cake, easy loaf cake, lemon glaze
Comments
So so good!!!
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Delish!
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I'd love to try baking this loaf as muffins/cupcakes in order to be able to control portions as I'm only baking for myself these days. That would allow me to freeze some rather than have a loaf sitting for days taunting me. I anticipate I'd need to adjust baking time. Do you think I'd need to make any other adjustments?
Hi! I haven't tried sorry, I would maybe try bumping the oven temp up to 350f?
This loaf turned out so delicious! I doubled the recipe and it made one large and 4 small loafs. This was my first time making a lemon loaf with almond meat and was excited to see the crumb turned out perfect. Thank you for creating and sharing!
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this is a beautiful recipe, Erin! delicious and just the right amount of poppy seeds a and zing 🙂 I also think a lovely tip to brush the glaze all over rather than pour. xx
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I love lemon poppyseed cake and this is going to be my new go-to recipe! Super easy for it to come together and the taste is just delicious.
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Yayyy it's a fave of ours too! x
This was delicious and super easy to whip up! I wanted a little smaller loaf so made 2/3 recipe in an 8x4" small loaf tin - perfect! The crumb is so plush and moist, and I got a perfect split down the middle from your piped butter trick 🙂
★★★★★
So easy and soooo delicious! Even better on the next day (but so hard to stop eating piece after piece!)
Thank you for the recipe!)
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Came here from Instagram story, so happy I did! Was absolutely delicious!
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Looks great! If I wanted to use egg whites instead of whole eggs? If so, how many egg whites would I need to replace the whole eggs? Thank you!
Hi! You can't replace whole eggs with whites in this recipe sorry!
Made today, exactly as written, and I wouldn't change a thing! I don't usually even like loaf cakes/breads, but I think the almond meal and sour cream takes this to another level. I want to make all the things with this base recipe. Trying tangerine next! Also appreciate measurements by weight.
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Ah yay I am so happy you love!
This loaf was delicious, moist and super easy to prep.
I also tried baking an orange version since I love it and it was amazing. (I just replaced the lemon zest and juice for orange)
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Hi Erin!
I have the same size Pullman Loaf Pan and like to bake it with the lid on (I like all straight edges). Do I need to scale up the ingredients?
Hi! I wouldn't recommend baking it with the lid on as the cake will end up really dense and won't bake properly
So perfect!! Made this yesterday and it was a HIT! So lemony. I was skeptical of the almond meal but I trusted Erin (as always) and it made the loaf! The glaze is amazing and the butter tip is life changing
★★★★★
So good! I always try to follow baking recipes exactly, but this time, I was thwarted because I was out of sour cream... I did a quick google search on sour cream substitutes and used a combination of the bit of yogurt I could find in the fridge and some heavy cream... It turned out well (thank goodness!!) and I can't wait to make this recipe again (with the sour cream, like it calls for!). It was a perfect combination of lemon flavour and not overly sweet!
Hi Erin,
Thanks so much for the recipe. I baked in a slightly larger, shallower tin for 1hr at 170 and it was perfect!
Quick question: Do you think this will freeze well?
Thanks again for the recipe!!
★★★★★
Yay! Yes I think so - just make sure to wrap it tightly!
Made this the other week to try and use up some of my many lemons from our neighbours and it was delicious. Really easy to whip up, no creaming of butter/sugar required and tasted amazing. I sub’d Greek yogurt for sour cream and left out the poppy seeds. I couldn’t stop myself eating a thin slice each time I went into the kitchen, it’s that good.
★★★★★
This is a perfect cake! Usually, Lemon Poppyseed cakes leave me disappointed. Not this one from Erin! This is a super lemony, lovely textured, moist lemon cake. I made it all by hand (no mixer needed) and it used lots of lemon zest and fresh lemon juice. I made it exactly the way Erin wrote it.
We're only halfway through it and I want to make another one--so we don't have to go without it for a moment!
I can't imagine that you will be disappointed with this recipe! It's well worth a try!
★★★★★
Easy recipe that was very tasty. Ended up subbing half the sour cream for yogurt as we didn't have enough and it worked out well.
★★★★★