Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Print Pin VideoBright, zesty, and irresistibly moist, this Lemon Poppy Seed Cake is a citrus lover’s dream! Fresh lemon juice and zest give it a vibrant, tangy flavor, while poppy seeds add a subtle crunch. The soft, tender cake layers are topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting that adds the perfect touch of sweetness and creaminess—YUM!
IMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- 2 cups (240 g) all-purpose flour - plain flour in UK
- ¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch
- 2½ tsps baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ¼ cup (60 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- 1½ cup (300 g) white granulated sugar
- 3 tbsps lemon zest - see note 1
- 4 large eggs - room temperature
- ⅓ cup (90 g) milk - room temperature
- ½ cup (115 g) yogurt - unflavored and unsweetened. Low-fat Greek yogurt is okay, but regular type preferred.
- ¼ cup (58 g) fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsps poppy seeds
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- 3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar - also known as icing/confectioners' sugar. Use more for a thicker frosting (see note 6)
- 1½ cup (335 g) cream cheese - cold. Use a firm/block type, not the spreadable type.
- 1½ tsp vanilla essence/extract
- 1 tsp lemon juice - must be fresh
Instructions
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- Preheat oven to 180 °C (350°F) conventional (see note 2 if using a convection oven with a fan) and grease two 8-inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release). Also, line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk, mix until well combined and set aside.
- In a large bowl add in butter, vegetable oil, sugar and lemon zest. Using a hand or stand mixer on medium speed, cream together for two minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition.
- Add the milk, yogurt, and lemon juice. Mix until well combined—the batter may look curdled, but that's okay. Now, set your mixer aside, as the rest of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Add your pre-sifted dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Using a spatula, gently fold until just combined—do not overmix. Finally, add the poppy seeds and mix until just combined. Again, avoid overmixing.
- Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8-inch cake tins, and bake for 33 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large bowl, add the unsalted butter. Using an electric mixer (a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment), cream it on medium-high speed for a few minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add in the powdered sugar in 3 batches while mixing on low. Ensure that each batch of powdered sugar is mixed into the butter well before adding in the next batch.
- Next add in your cold cream cheese, vanilla and fresh lemon juice and mix on a medium speed just until the frosting is smooth. Avoid over-mixing (see note 4). If using a stand mixer, you may need to mix on a high speed to get everything nice and smooth (see note 5 if your frosting is lumpy).
Assembly
- See the end of the blog post above for assembly instructions or check out the recipe video for a visual demonstration :)
Video
Notes
Note 1. When zesting the lemons, you want to make sure you're using a fine grater, and only grate the top yellow part of the lemon. Don't grate it right to the white part of the lemon as the white part is bitter and we don't want it in our cake :)
Note 2. If using a convection oven with a fan, bake at 160C/320F
Note 3. You can use cake flour in replacement of the all-purpose flour and cornstarch in this recipe (270g total required).
Note 4. Mix the frosting only until smooth. Once it reaches the right consistency, stop mixing, as overmixing can make it less stable. This happens because the liquid in the cream cheese breaks down the powdered sugar.
Note 5. If your frosting turns out lumpy, it's likely because the cream cheese hasn’t mixed in properly—this is more common when using a stand mixer. To fix it, mix at the highest speed. If that doesn’t work, switch to the whisk attachment and mix on high—this should do the trick! 😊 Alternatively, you can whip the cream cheese first until smooth before adding it to the frosting.
Note 6. If your frosting is too soft and won’t hold its shape, you can add an extra cup (120g) of powdered sugar. I recommend starting with half a cup (60g) and adding more as needed.
Nutrition
Calories: 688kcal | Carbohydrates: 82g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 142mg | Sodium: 434mg | Potassium: 170mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 60g | Vitamin A: 999IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 221mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
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