After the recent indulgence of the chocolate brownies, and the abundance of Christmas chocolate still filling the flat, the latest decision of what to bake came down to “anything that doesn’t have chocolate in it” much to Ben’s disappointment! Having seen this recipe while browsing through the BBC Good Food website (what would I do without that site!?) it seemed just what I was in the mood to make.
As usual I will leave you to look at the BBC site for full directions, but to make this cake you will need:
For the cake:
- 50g poppy seeds
- 220g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 300g self-raising flour
- 185g unsalted butter
- the rind of 1 lemon
For the icing:
- 15g unsalted butter, melted
- 300g icing sugar
- Juice of 1 lemon
This cake needs a loaf tin about 20cm x 10cm at the base, and needs about 40 minutes in an oven at 180 degrees to cook. Make sure the cake is cool before pouring over the icing. This is not a neatly iced cake, and the icing should dribble over the sides! I found that I needed to add extra lemon juice from the amount in the recipe in order to get the icing to the correct consistency. I also used the zest of the second lemon in order to decorate the top of the cake.
This is a fantastic cake, but you really do need the icing, as this is where most of the lemon flavour is. I would be tempted to add a little lemon juice to the cake mix as well next time to give it a little more sharpness, and would maybe slightly reduce the amount of poppy seeds, but these are only minor tweaks and I’d happily recommend the recipe just as it is.
Just a warning – it’s very difficult to stop at a single slice of this one as both myself and my neighbour/trusted cake taster have discovered!!
applepiezucchini 
I haven’t eaten lemon and poppy seed cake in a very long time. Looks delicious.
🙂 I suddenly realised I had never made it before but yet it’s about my favourite cake – it’s definitely on the “make again” list!
So glad to hear it’s on the ‘make again’ list, it was truly melt-in-the-mouth – a light moist sponge and a perfectly tangy icing – incredibly moreish, (I may or may not have demolished every last crumb of the huge half that was brought round for sampling) …and I’m very pleased to be entitled the ‘trusted cake taster’! Also a little reminder that the trusted cake taster will be on hand at any time of day or night to help out with vital quality testing….;op (All recipes and baking tested so far have been met with the highest seal of approval and much gratitude for all the yumminess!!)
Hee hee I think shortbread biscuits, and banana & muscovado muffins have been selected as the next bakes so I think the cake testing skills may be called for again!