LEMON POPPY SEED BREAD
If there is an easy recipe that everyone loves, is this lemon cake with poppy seeds. It’s a juicy loaf and the citric lemony flavor combines wonderfully with the poppy seeds crunchy texture.
Lemon bread with poppy seeds
This cake, or pound cake, recipe is known throughout Europe, indeed, it is published in several Yotam Ottolenghi’s books, one of my favorite authors, but the specific origin of this well-known pound cake is unknown.
Recently this recipe has become even more popular due to the publication of a well-known novel by Cristina Campos called “Pan de Limón con Semillas de Amapola”, a book that is inspired by this exquisite recipe, and that talks, among other things, about female friendship and forgotten recipes.
A mouthwatering lemon bread
We all know that lemon is a basic baking ingredient that gives cakes or breads a freshly baked aroma and a very juicy texture, perfect for any breakfast or afternoon tea.
Personally, I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t like sponge cakes flavored with lemon zest, and to make this lemon loaf even more scrumptious, I recommend adding a freshly lemon juice teaspoon to the cake batter.
Poppy seeds for baking
Poppy seeds are a very common ingredient in Eastern European recipes, and can be easily found today in many stores.
Poppy seeds, besides being a source of fiber and vitamins, are one of the main ingredients that make the cut of this lemon bread beautiful and delicious at the same time.
In addition to the crunchy touch, poppy seeds, give this lemon loaf a lightly nutty flavor and achieve a lightly crisp, as well as moist, texture.
How to prepare a perfect lemon loaf cake?
This lemon cake has a little trick to achieve the perfect result: soak the poppy seeds in the melted butter to hydrate them before adding them to the cake batter.
In addition to this special trick, like any good loaf cake, it is very important to mix all the ingredients very well. We can whisk them all very well with a whisk by hand or with our Kitchen Aid.
To start, mix the dry ingredients except the sugar: flour, yeast, lemon zest and salt in a bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, mix the eggs and sugar very well with a whisk until you get a creamy texture. Next add the heavy cream and continue beating.
Meanwhile, we will melt our butter in a saucepan or in the microwave and mix it with the poppy seeds and a teaspoon of lemon juice.
Next, we will incorporate all the dry ingredients, sifting them if possible to avoid lumps and the poppy seeds with butter, mixing our cake dough very well with a spatula.
Finally, before baking, we add the poppy seeds with butter and lemon to our mixture.
The baking pan for our lemon bread
Although you can of course use any baking pan you have at home to bake this lemon cake, I’ve used a loaf pan 26x11cm (8.5 x 4.5-inch) mold.
To be able to unmold it easily, grease your baking pan with baking spray or butter and, if desired, with parchment paper that makes unmolding even easier.
How to prepare lemon glaze for our lemon cake?
Lemon glaze makes our pound cake even more elegant, especially when we are going to give our lemon bread as a gift, but it is true that it is a very sweet element that not everyone likes.
The classic lemon glaze is made with 3/4 cups of icing sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, which I recommend adding little by little to get the texture that you like the white texture (maybe you you must reject ½ teaspoon of lemon juice to achieve the perfect texture)
Another frosting option, which is personally my favorite, is to prepare a topping by melting a little white chocolate or drops that we call “decomelts”.
Finally, if you prefer to skip the frosting, just sprinkle your lemon cake with icing sugar and enjoy!
How to preserve your lemon cake with poppy seeds?
This cake can be kept in perfect condition in an airtight container for two or three days.
To prevent it from drying out, you can cover it with film (or a similar reusable alternative) that covers the surface of the cake.
The lemon loaf cake can also be frozen once baked and after letting it cool, but if you are going to freeze it, it is better to do it without frosting.
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
Equipment
- Oven
- Oven tray
- Parchment paper
- Whisk or food processor
- 2 Bowl
- Pound cake mold
- Saucepan or microwave (if making the frosting)
- Strainer for sifting
Ingredients
- 3 uds Eggs L
- 1/2 cup Heavy cream +33% fat
- 1/3 cup Unsalted butter
- 1 + 1/2 cup Pastry flour
- 1 cup White sugar
- 1 tbsp Poppy seeds
- Zest of 1 or 2 lemons Depending on size
- 1 + 1/4 tsp Baking yeast
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1 tsp Lemon juice
Coverage (Optional)
- 3/4 cup Icing sugar
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius (325 Fahrenheit) with heat up and down.
- Prepare a loaf pan cake mold, loaf type about 26x11cm (8.5 x 4.5-inch) with baking spray or butter and/or parchment paper.
- Mix the dry ingredients except the sugar (flour, yeast, lemon zest, salt) in a bowl and set aside.
- In another bowl, mix the eggs and the sugar with a whisk until you get a very creamy texture. Now add the heavy cream and continue whisking.
- Now melt the butter in a saucepan or in the microwave in 15 second intervals and mix it with the poppy seeds and a lemon juice teaspoon .
- Add the dry ingredients to the egg and sugar mixture, sifting them if possible to avoid lumps, and mix with a spatula.
- Finally, add the poppy seeds with butter and lemon to the mixture and mix well.
- Place the lemon cake dough with poppy seeds in the baking pan that we have previously prepared.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes and enjoy!
Video
If you feel like baking another cake recipe, here are more ideas:
Siguiendo tu receta he conseguido un bizcocho super esponjoso, con sabor a limón y totalmente irresistible con las semillas de amapola! en esta ocasión lo he hecho sin glaseado porque quería congelarlo.. aunque los niños se lo han acabado antes de poder hacerlo! tocará repetir receta! 🙂
Estaba buscando un bizcocho de limón y vi tú receta, así que me puse manos a la obra y me salió un bizcocho de limón riquísimo, le puse el glaseado por encima y le dio un toque jugoso. Gracias! Un abrazo Bela
Hice este pound cake y es irrestible. El limón y las semillas de amapola es una de mis combinaciones favoritas en este tipo de preparación. Gracias!
Aunque he hecho muchas recetas de bizcocho de limón, me faltaba ésta con semillas de amapola. Me encanta la textura que le dan al bizcocho. Queda riquísimo 😋
Laura, this is one of my favorite pound cakes in the whole word. Your recipe is to die-for. I guess I’m making it again for Easter.