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.
Hi Lindsay,
Just wanted to know if you have ever made an orange and poppy seed cake before? If so, could I adapt this recipe and change the lemon parts to orange?
Thank you.
I haven’t, but I don’t see why it would be a problem.
Hi Lindsay,
Thank you for this amazing recipe! One question:
Can I substitute half of the all-purpose flour for cake flour?
That should be fine.
Hi Lindsay,
This cake, like all your others, looks amazing! Can I bake it in two, 9″ pans?
Thank you and God bless,
Brenda
You can, you just might need to adjust the baking time a little bit. And keep in mind that your cake won’t be quite as tall.
Went down really well with my family- they said it was the best cake I ever made! Thanks for the recipe x
So glad to hear that!
This is the best thing that I’ve ever baked! (I am a little biased because I love lemon 🙂 ). I made adjustments for altitude because I live in Denver: I reduced baking powder for each tsp by 1/8, reduced sugar by 2 tablespoons, and increased the oil by two tablespoons. I also cooked it at 375 for 18 minutes and it was perfect! Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
If I make the cake and do not add frosting. An the cake me kept at room temperature for a few days?
I wouldn’t leave it unfrosted for more than a day. The frosting really helps hold in the moisture.
Can you use all oil instead of butter and oil?
I haven’t tried it to be able to say. If you use all oil, it would be harder to cream things together and get that same light and fluffy texture that helps add air to the batter. Plus, some cakes I just think taste better with some butter in there rather than all oil.
Hi Lindsay
I plan to bake this cake( a wonderful looking one i must add) for my daughter’s first birthday. However i do have a question for u. Is the poppy seeds roasted before putting in cake batter? I am from India and havent seen black colored poppy seeds. Hence the question
I didn’t toast the poppyseeds. That is how they come here in the US. I’m not really sure what to suggest, but you could try toasting them.
Hello again,
Back with an update, A positive one ☺️
For testing purpose, i tried a vegan version with the white poppy seeds we get here. The appearance was definitely not as appealing, but the texture was wow. The poppy seeds did add a nice crunch to the cake, so it is this cake for my baby’s birthday 😍. Thank you in advance will keep you posted.
Hipe this helps others who dont get black poppy seeds where they live🤗
I’m glad to hear it worked out well!
I made this cake for a dinner party recently and I’m still dreaming about it. This cake was a huge hit, everyone raved about it! I did find that the recipe yielded almost double the needed icing though, which did not go to waste. I will definitely be making this again.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I do tend to use a lot of frosting so you can definitely cut that down if you like.
After you remove the cakes from the oven, does “remove to cooling racks” mean to turn the cakes out of their pans and let them cool directly on the racks?
Yes
I made it and it turned out AMAZING. I loved the balanced zesty flavour which was just right. The poppy seeds added extra taste and desirable crunch to this lovely cake. Well done and thanx for sharing the recipe. 🥰
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made this cake Saturday for my Dad’s birthday. He took one bite and spoke not one word the whole time eating his cake except for mmm. I only got to taste a pinch of his piece and I wanted to take the cake back. It was divine; lemony, moist, tender, delicious. I’m thinking about it right now. I will be making this cake again. Thank you Lindsay.
I’m so glad to hear you all enjoyed it so much!
Hi, Thanks for the recipe! I was wondering if you turn any of the layers upside down or are they all placed on top of each other right side up? I also wondered what you would think of replacing mascarpone for the cream cheese? Thanks you so much!
I typically have the lower layers right side up and the top layer upside down. And yes, mascarpone cheese should be fine.
THANK YOU for this terrific recipe!! I love the strength of the lemon flavor throughout. I made your lemon curd and put a thin layer of it on top of the second layer, then frosting on that too. I also put a little almond extract in the cake and a dash of vanilla and almond extract in the frosting. It was a big hit for my mother-in-law’s birthday cake! I will be trying your lemon raspberry cake soon!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Almond extract sounds delicious with it.
I am a novice (at best) baker. I made this cake for my mom’s birthday this weekend, giving myself plenty of time. The cake was absolutely to die for!! I don’t even usually like anything lemon poppyseed but it is very subtle in both the cake and icing. I loved how easy it was to follow and with easy ingredients. I will say that I didn’t like the thinness of the cake baked in my 9″ cake pans. I’ll do 8″ next time as recommended. Since I wasn’t sure I’d ever ramp up my cake decorating skills, I didn’t run out to buy any of the tools she talks about in the icing post. I see how they would make my cake go from ok to spectacular! I’m thinking hard about it. Thank you Lindsay so much for taking the time to teach us newbies to bake!
That’s so wonderful to hear! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
oh my god i baked this cake, it was so yummy i surprised all my guests!!
thank u for a great recipe 😍😍
Wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Could I possibly freeze half of this cake?
X
Sure. I typically cut it into slices and freeze them individually. I wrap them in clear wrap and foil and then put them in a Ziploc bag. When you’re ready, thaw it in the fridge.