This lemon poppy seed pound cake is beyond addictive, which is really dangerous when a recipe is this easy to make! I think poppy seeds get a bad wrap because of sad, stale, and often oily store-bought muffins. In this cake they add a wonderful pop of texture and I love the way they look suspended in each slice, like nature’s sprinkles! I maxed out the lemon juice in this recipe, filling each bite with a wonderful zing. This recipe takes my homemade pound cake recipe up a notch!
The glaze is so simple but amazing, confectioners’ sugar whisked with fresh lemon juice. It hardens for a wonderful crunch and tastes like lemonade! I garnished my cake with some extra lemon zest but this is totally optional. Did I mention these would make amazing cupcakes? Just adjust the baking time to closer to 25 minutes.
How to make lemon poppy seed pound cake
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add parchment paper to a loaf pan. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder and sugar.
2. Add poppy seeds.
3. Whisk together.
4. Zest and juice lemons. Microwave the milk so that it is warm to the touch. Sprinkle in lavender and lemon zest to infuse.
5. In another bowl, combine sour cream and butter.
6. Add lemon juice.
7. Pour in the infused milk mixture and eggs.
8. Whisk everything together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix until combined.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared baking loaf pan. Bake for about 60- 90 minutes or until the center is set and the edges are slightly pulling away.
10. In a bowl, add confectioners sugar.
11. Add the juice from 1½ lemons. Mix until you reach a desired consistency. Make sure not to add too much liquid at the beginning.
12. Drizzle the glaze over the loaf.
If you’ve tried this recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake:
Video
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS
For the Loaf:
- 4-5 lemons medium
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- ½ tsp culinary lavender 1g
- ½ cup whole milk 120ml, warmed
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour 250g
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder 6g
- 1 ⅔ cups granulated sugar 379g
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds 12g
- ⅓ cup lemon juice 80ml
- ½ cup sour cream 120ml, room temp
- ¾ cup unsalted butter 190g, almost melted
- 3 large eggs
For the Glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners sugar about 120g
- Juice from 1½ lemons
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS
For the Loaf:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Add parchment paper to a loaf pan.
- Zest a lemon. Microwave the milk so that it is warm to the touch. Sprinkle in lavender and lemon zest to infuse.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and poppy seeds.
- Juice lemons until you get about ⅓ cup lemon.
- In another bowl, combine sour cream, butter, lemon juice, infused milk mixture and eggs. Whisk everything together.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking loaf pan.
- Bake for about 60- 90 minutes or until the center is set and the edges are slightly pulling away.
For the Glaze:
- In a bowl, add confectioners sugar and the juice from 1½ lemons. Mix until you reach a desired consistency. Make sure not to add too much liquid at the beginning.
- Drizzle the glaze over the loaf.
Notes
Nutrition
IF YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE TRY THESE OUT!
Hillary says
This cake is amazing! I’ve made it several times and everyone always loves it. Thank you! Your recipes never fail!
Jennelle says
Hi! Can I lower the sugar in this recipe? If so, what amount would you recommended without changing the quality of the end result?
Thanks so much!
josh says
can I sub chia for the poppy?
jkanell says
That should be fine if you like chia.
Ying says
I made this lemon loaf in a heart shaped pan today since it’s Valentine’s day. It was sooooo delicious and super moist. It smelled heavenly! I forgot to line my pan with parchment paper so the bottom and sizes were caramelized and hard. Overall we really enjoyed it.
Anna A. says
It was a snow day in Winnipeg Canada today so I thought of trying this recipe. Best lemon pound cake ever! I baked it for 60 minutes and it’s perfect! I can’t wait to try your other recipes.
John K. says
Hey Anna,
It makes me happy to hear you enjoyed the pound cake! What recipe will you try next?
Stay warm up there!
Best,
John
Michelle says
I gave this a try today. I don’t have a big enough loaf tin so I used the loaf tin I have and did a few cupcakes as well. Cupcakes were the giant ones and took about 20 minutes in a convection oven on 160c. Hope that helps someone else anyway. Delicious
Rob Watkins says
Hi John,
Greetings from Merry Olde England!
Have just made your lemon poppy seed pound cake (infused with lavender from our back garden) and it was glorious.
I’d like to try one of your layer cakes next. I’m a novice baker and cake decorator, so what would you say is the easiest cake and most foolproof buttercream to attempt?
Love your YouTube channel as well as this fabulous site; everything is just SO well done!
Kind regards,
Rob
jkanell says
Hi Rob! THat’s one of my favorite cakes!! So happy you liked it. Trying to think of the easiest cake to try. Try my blueberry lemon cake but be careful not to make the filling running.
Victoria Meletis says
I used oranges instead of lemons and made muffins with the extra cake batter
And it was absolutely beautiful and moist!!
John K. says
Hi Victoria,
That is a great idea and sounds delicious! I may have to try that next time!
Best,
John!
Joy says
Hi John,
Can I use olive oil instead of butter? If it is a yes, will it be 3/4 cup oil or less?
Thanks a bunch.
Joy
John K. says
Joy,
I think that will work! Let me know how it turns out!
John
Latasha says
This recipe is becoming my spring season go to! Its incredibly moist!! The tart lemon makes it feel so light and refreshing. The first time I made it, I substituted sour cream for creme fraiche… delicious! Thanks for the delicious recipe! All the credit I get from fellow Moms goes back to you.
John K. says
Latasha,
I’m so happy you liked it! Thank you very much!
John