Tender lemon poppy seed cake layers drizzled with lemon syrup and topped with a tangy cream cheese frosting.
I’ve said it before, I am a HUGE fan of lemon desserts. More so than any other flavor. If there is a lemon dessert on the menu you can bet I’m ordering that over something chocolate (unless it’s panna cotta, no thank you jello-like texture). There is just something about the sweet and tangy flavor that has me coming back for more.
Today, I’m bringing you the classic combo of lemon and poppy seeds in layer cake form. Oh and it’s paired with my delicious new cream cheese frosting recipe for good measure.
How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
To make this Lemon Poppy Seed Cake I started with my favorite Lemon Cake recipe and tweaked it a bit. I added poppy seeds (obviously) and a bit more zest but also reduced the sugar a bit.
Making the cake layers follows the traditional creaming method but the key difference here is that you should cream the lemon zest with the butter and sugars. This helps release all of those delicious and flavourful oils from the zest. Don’t skip this step and just opt to toss it in at the end!
I experimented with adding more poppy seeds (I like my lemon poppy seed cake heavy on the poppy seeds) but that made the cake a little bit denser than I’d like. You wouldn’t think adding an extra Tbsp of poppy seeds would make a big difference but they do tend to absorb some of the moisture from the cake so I’m keeping the recipe at two which is the perfect balance.
To give the cake even more of a lemony punch I made an easy lemon simple syrup to brush onto the cake layers. This will make the cake sweeter though which is why I cut back on the sugar from the usual 1 1/2 cups to 1 cup.
To use the syrup it’s best to trim the crust off the top of the cake. I don’t usually need to trim my cakes — they bake nice and flat because I use baking strips — but for best syrup absorption I find trimming off that top crust is ideal. That or you can poke holes into the cake with a skewer if you prefer. Then simply dip a pastry brush into the syrup and brush each of the cake layers generously.
Stable Cream Cheese Frosting
In my most recent post I gave you the details of how to make cream cheese frosting more stable and I’ve used that recipe here. Cream cheese frosting is such a perfect pairing for Lemon Poppy Seed Cake!
I’ll let you head over to that post to read the ins and outs but it comes down to order of ingredients, temperature, and stabilizing agents.
I hope you all love this cake as much as we did. It’s the perfect spring cake and would be wonderful for Mother’s Day!
