Poppy Seed Cake

Poppy Seed Cake with a powdered sugar topping is light and fluffy, packed with rich poppy seed flavor, and perfect for dessert or a snack. A simple everyday cake that’s beautiful enough for special occasions, too!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 35

Cool Time 10

Total Time 1 5

Servings servings

Calories 368kcal

Author John Kanell

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (240g)
½ cup poppy seeds (75g)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups granulated sugar (300g)
1 cup unsalted butter softened (227g)
4 large eggs separated
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk (240mL)
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour a 9-inch tube pan or Bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt until combined.
In a medium mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until fluffy. about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions, and beat until well combined. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.
With the mixer on low speed, add a third of the flour mixture, followed by half of the milk. Repeat, alternating between flour and milk until both are fully combined. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed.
In a separate mixing bowl, beat egg white at medium-high speed until stiff, about 3 minutes. Using a spatula, gently fold a third of the egg whites into the batter until just combined. Repeat in two more additions until the egg whites are completely incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack. Cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar, if you like, before serving.

Notes

Prepare the Bundt pan with both grease and flour. To most easily remove the baked cake from the pan, grease and flour the Bundt pan. You can grease the pan with non-stick spray or softened butter. Try to grease every portion of the pan, especially if using a more intricately detailed pan. Add in a scoop of flour and rotate and tap the pan to evenly distribute the flour over the whole surface of the pan. Flip and tap to dicard the remaining flour. Alternatively, you can also use a nonstick baker’s spray that contains flour.
Gently fold in the egg whites. Use a delicate hand to fold in the egg whites, one-third of the mixture at a time. The goal is to preserve as much of the air in the egg whites as possible to create a fluffy cake texture.
Use a toothpick or cake tester. A toothpick or cake tester should come out clean when inserted into the center of the cake. Use both the toothpick and monitor the visual appearance of the cake and watch for it to become golden brown.
Cool the cake for 10 minutes before inverting it. After the cake has cooled for 10 minutes, invert the cake on a wire rack and allow it to continue cooling. If you invert the cake immediately after baking, it can stick to the pan or break as you flip it.
Dust with powdered sugar once the cake has reached room temperature. Make sure the cake has cooled completely before dusting it with powdered sugar. Adding the powdered sugar too soon will result in it melting into the hot cake, eliminating the snow-like appearance.
Glazed pound cake adaptation. If you prefer a glazed bundt cake, skip the powdered sugar topping and finish this recipe with the vanilla glaze from my vanilla bundt cake recipe.
Lemon poppy seed cake variation. For lemon poppy seed cake, reduce the milk to ¾ cup, and add ¼ cup of lemon juice and lemon zest from one lemon to the cake batter. Finish the cake with the lemon glaze from my lemon pound cake.

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