This post may contain affiliate sales links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This Lemon Poppyseed Cake is a tender, moist cake that’s full of lemon flavor and poppy seeds! It’s covered in a light lemon cream cheese frosting for a cake that’s perfect for lemon lovers!
It’s no secret around here that I love a tasty lemon dessert. I have quite a variety of lemon flavored cakes and this is my latest. Believe it or not – it might just be my favorite!
LEMON POPPYSEED CAKE RECIPE
What I love so much about this cake is the lemon flavor. It’s perfection. There’s a large variety when it comes to lemon cake flavor, but I really love a strong flavor in pretty much anything I eat. That can be tough with lemon, but this cake is just right.
To make this amazing cake, start with both butter and oil. The butter lends that wonderful flavor, while the oil helps with keeping the cake moist. Beat them with some sugar and vanilla extract on medium speed until the mixture lightens in color and gets a fluffier texture, about two minutes.
Next, you’ll add the eggs, then alternate adding the dry ingredients with the milk and fresh lemon juice. For our leavener, we’ve got both baking powder and baking soda in order to properly balance the acid in the lemon juice.
Finally, you’ll add some lemon zest and poppy seeds.
WHY ADD POPPY SEEDS?
Poppy seeds add both flavor and a little crunch. They also contain a good bit of fiber, calcium, copper, phosphorus and magnesium. All are good and healthy things. Clearly that means this cake is healthy too! 😉
That said, this cake could also be made without them.
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
This Lemon Poppyseed Cake is finished off with my favorite Cream Cheese Frosting, with a little bit of lemon juice and lemon zest added. It adds a subtle lemon flavor, which goes great with the cake.
The final cake is nothing short of delicious! The combination of the full flavored, moist lemon cake with the light flavor of the poppy seeds and cream cheese frosting is heavenly. It’s a wonderful combination of sweet and tangy and such a wonderful citrusy cake for spring and summer. I seriously wanted to sit down with a fork and just eat it one sitting. I hope you love it too!
MORE LEMON DESSERTS TO TRY
Lemon Cake with Lemon Bavarian Cream
Lemon Mascarpone Layer Cake
No Bake Lemon Cheesecake
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake
Lemon Meringue Cheesecake
Triple Lemon Cake
Lemon Poppyseed Cake
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Lemon Poppyseed Cake is a tender, moist cake that’s full of lemon flavor and poppy seeds! It’s covered in a light lemon cream cheese frosting for a cake that’s perfect for lemon lovers!
Ingredients
Lemon Poppyseed Cake
- 2 1/2 cups (325g) all purpose flour
- 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (112g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups (310g) sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- 3/4 cup (180ml) milk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon zest
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 oz (452g) cream cheese, room temperature
- 3/4 cup (172g) butter, room temperature
- 10 cups (1150g) powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon zest
Instructions
1. Prepare three 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper circles in the bottom and grease the sides. Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C).
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
3. Add the butter, oil, sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl and beat together until light in color and fluffy, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Do not skimp on the creaming time.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until mostly combined after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
5. Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until mostly combined.
6. Combine the milk and lemon juice, then slowly add the mixture to the batter and mix until well combined.
7. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not over mix the batter.
8. Add the lemon zest and poppy seeds and gently stir to combine.
9. Divide the batter evenly between the cakes pans and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
10. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool for about 2-3 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely.
11. To make the frosting, add the cream cheese and butter to a large mixer bowl and beat until well combined and smooth.
12. Add about half of the powdered sugar and mix until well combined and smooth.
13. Add the lemon juice and zest and mix until well combined.
14. Add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until well combined and smooth. Add more or less powdered sugar, as desired for consistency purposes.
15. To put the cake together, use a large serrated knife to remove the domes from the top of the cakes so that they’re flat, if needed.
16. Place the first cake on a serving plate or a cardboard cake round.
17. Spread about 1 cup of frosting evenly on top of the cake.
18. Add the second layer of cake and another cup of frosting.
19. Top the cake with the remaining layer and frost the outside of the cake. Refer to my tutorial for frosting a smooth cake, if needed. To make the line pattern in the side of the cake, I used one of the decorative sides on this icing smoother.
20. Finish off the cake as you like. I added rosettes around the top outer edge and sprinkled on some poppy seeds. I also added some lemon slices.
21. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve. Cake is best served cool, but not necessarily cold.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 715
- Sugar: 94.3 g
- Sodium: 263.6 mg
- Fat: 26.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 115 g
- Protein: 7.5 g
- Cholesterol: 89.4 mg
Categories
This post contains affiliate links.
Can i use a bundle pan for this cake?
I haven’t ever tried it. In my experience though, turning a layer cake into a bundt cake usually requires some adjustments. You could try it though.
I’ve made this before and thought was delicious! I’m thinking of making for a graduation party and wonder if I could use fondant over the frosting? I never eat the stuff, but like to decorate with it. Ifit wouldn’t be good, I have other decorating ideas.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! As for fondant, I think it depends a little on the look. Generally speaking, it should be fine. But it’s not a super firm/dense cake and cream cheese frosting is pretty soft, so you may not get sharp corners. But if that doesn’t matter, then it should be fine. Hopefully that helps!
How many GB ounces to a cup?
What are GB ounces?
Could I replace the vegetable oil with melted butter?
If you want to replace the oil with butter, you don’t need to melt it. Just use it at room temperature. That said, I highly recommend using at lease some oil. The cake isn’t as moist with just butter.
I love this recipe
I’m so glad to hear that!
Can I use this recipe to make cupcakes?
Yes, it can. Just fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake for about 15 to 18 minutes.
Can I reduce the sugar to make it less sweet?
Reducing the sugar also changes the moisture and texture of the cake. You could try reducing it, but I wouldn’t reduce it by too much or it’ll definitely change the outcome.
I made this cake for my husband’s birthday and it was delicious!! He usually isn’t a fan of cream cheese but he loved this cake. I added a layer of seedless raspberry jam in between the cake layers to add another ‘dimension’ and it was perfect! It kept well in the fridge and lasted 5 days (before it was all gone!). I also added food dye to some of the frosting to pipe with. If only we could add pictures here!
I’m so glad it was a hit!
Would this work for cupcakes?
Yes, it will. Fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Can I use 2 9” pans instead of the 3 8”?
Thankyou
Sure, that should be fine. The cake just won’t be as tall.
Could this recipe be used in a Bundt pan??
I haven’t tested it to see how it’d turn out, so I’m not sure.
Made this with plant based alternatives and it came out wonderful.
Thank you so much for letting us know! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This cake got rave reviews! I had the honor of making it for a friend’s 70th birthday party, which was catered by one of the top caterers in the DC area. No pressure!
I love the richness and resilience of the cake, and would like to make a chocolate cake with similar texture. Any suggestions on how to adapt the lemon poppy recipe to make a chocolate cake? Thank you in advance!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! While the texture may not be exactly the same (and the recipe themselves are fairly different), I HIGHLY recommend this chocolate cake recipe.
Can I replace the lemon juice and lemon zest with lemon essence?
The lemon juice is needed to react with the baking soda in the cake. Leaving it out would change the way the cake bakes. If you’d like to just flavor the cake with lemon essence, you may want to make my vanilla cake and add it to that.
If I want to make a poppyseed cake but without the lemon flavor what do you recommend replacing that liquid/acid with for a neutral flavor?
I would replace it with milk. To keep the acidity needed for the baking soda, you may want to use buttermilk. You could also leave out the baking soda and use just baking powder (but a little more of it), and use regular milk, like in this cake recipe (which is basically the same recipe, but vanilla) and then keep the poppy seeds. I hope that makes sense.
Where do you find poppy seeds???
I just get them at the grocery store, but you could also try Amazon.