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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
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Are you able to put this in in two pans instead?
Yes, I just think the cakes turn out a touch more dense that way.
I have made this recipe 3 times now and every time I make it, it is a hit! Everyone loves it! This cake started my interest in learning how to bake more and I’m hoping to bake my way through more of your recipes! 🙂
That’s so awesome! I’m so glad to hear you enjoy it and are trying more recipes! 🙂
I made this cake for my birthday last year and it was a huge hit! I’d love to make it again, however I recently found out I can’t have gluten. Do you know if can simply substitute gluten free flour for all purpose? Thank you so much!
I’m not terribly familiar with gluten free needs. I do think a gluten free flour would work, I’m just not sure of other substitutions.
I made this cake recipe as a tester for a wedding, and it was the favorite of three!
That said, I made a few changes to suit the bride’s taste: for the cake, I used 5 tbsp of poppy seeds. I put a generous amount of lemon curd between the cake layers to add (even more) flavor and moisture, and to glaze the sides of the cake (applied while it and the cake were still warm – not hot). For the frosting, I used cream-cheese icing on the top of the cake only (iced while still warm, but before stacking on the rest of the cake). The icing is soft and not too sweet, to avoid overwhelming the cheese and lemon flavors.
lemon curd: beat 2 eggs, add 6tbsp lemon juice, zest of 2 lemons, 1 cup sugar, whisk. add 1/4 cup butter. cook in a saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking occasionally until it thickens (10-15min)
lemon-flavored cream cheese icing: 125g cream cheese, 2tbsp soft half-salt butter, 1tsp lemon extract, 1tsp lemon juice, 2 cups icing sugar (approx), whisked until fluffy. Icing is soft, and can easily be spread (add more sugar or use less lemon juice to harden it for piping).
I’m making these into cupcakes. I have some buttermilk from another recipe, can I use that instead of the regular milk?
I’m not sure without trying it. It might throw things off.
Hi! Is this scalable for 3 6 inch layers?!
If you bake the recipe as-is in three 6 inch pans, you’ll get quite a tall cake. You could cut it in half for a cake that’s about 3 1/2 inches tall.
I made in 2 x 6 inch tins. Baked on 160°C for 45 minutes. Cut both in half and had 4 layers. Cake turned out 4 1/5 inches tall. I did put curd in between each layer
Haven’t made the frosting yet but the cake is wonderful! Very light.
So glad to hear that!
Followed cake recipe exactly, except made recipe into cupcakes with a lemon swiss meringue butter cream. Makes 24 cupcakes, cooking time shorter of course. Just so perfect, turned out light, fluffy, not dry and a wonderful lemon flavour. I’ll be keeping this recipe. Definitely would be an amazing layer cake. Thank you.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Ooh would you share your lemon Swiss meringue buttercream recipe?
Could I make this in a Bundt pan?
I haven’t tried it to be able to say for sure.
Do you need to sift the flour before measuring? Will cake flour work also?
I go through my flour pretty quickly so it never really seems to be lumpy, but if yours seems like it needs it then feel free to sift it. It certainly won’t hurt. I’m not personally a big cake flour fan, but you could try it.
Made this recipe 3x now, it’s just lovely. I want to prepare the cake ahead of time for a bday, does it freeze well after frosting or should I frost the day of?
So glad you enjoy it! I don’t really freeze full cakes, so it’s hard for me to say for sure. I imagine it would be ok if you wrap it well and then thaw it in the fridge.
Could I use two 10 inch pans verses 3-8”?
For that side pan, I think you’d probably want to double the recipe.
It was perfect! I made it today, and everyone loves it!
Thanks for such a great recipe!
Awesome! I’m so glad it was a hit!
Do you think a thin layer of lemon curd added between the layers would be too much?
No, I don’t think it’d be too much.
Wow, this was so easy and so delicious! Everyone loved it. Light, fluffy, moist, and flavorful. I actually used a whipped cream and mascarpone frosting that I’m obsessed with instead of the cream cheese frosting, but I bet the cream cheese frosting would have been delicious, too. Thanks for a great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it! I have another lemon cake recipe that I use mascarpone whipped cream on and that is certainly delicious as well.
I made this cake, following the recipe exactly, for a family gathering yesterday and it was absolutely perfect!
I am wondering if it can be frozen if made in advance.
So glad you enjoyed it! I don’t typically recommend freezing full cakes, but you could try it. I’d wrap it well and then thaw it in the fridge so that you don’t get too much condensation forming. You could also freeze the layers, if you make just those ahead of time.
Can I use cake flour instead of all purpose?
You could. I’m not personally a fan of cake flour, but you could try it.
Can this cake be made in 9″ round cake pans?
Sure, but it wouldn’t be as tall of a cake. You could do 1 1/2 recipes worth for a full sized cake.