Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
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Moist, tender, and unapologetically lemony, this cake pairs plenty of citrus with a generous scattering of poppy seeds.
A variation of my popular lemon pound cake, this lemon poppy seed cake is laced with fresh lemon zest, filled to the brim with nutty, crackly poppy seeds, and drizzled with a bright lemon glaze. The melt-in-your-mouth texture is just what you’d hope for in a homemade loaf.
This lemon poppy seed cake recipe yields two loaves that stay fresh for days. My grandmother would have called it “company cake” since it’s the perfect treat to have on hand when friends and family come over. And if you love the lemon and poppy seed combo, don’t miss my lemon poppy seed muffins!
(Note: This recipe was originally a Bundt cake, but due to readers having issues with sticking, I updated it in January 2025 to loaf pans, which can be lined with parchment for easy removal.)
“The cake was moist and lightly lemony and the proportion of poppy seeds spot on…It’s a GEM.”
What you’ll need to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- All-Purpose Flour: Gives the cake its structure while still allowing for a tender crumb. For accuracy, spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife.
- Baking Soda: Works with the acidity in the buttermilk and lemon juice to help the cake rise.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and brings out the lemon.
- Poppy Seeds: Give the cake its signature look along with a subtle nutty taste and a little crunch.
- Low-Fat Buttermilk: Keeps the cake moist and tender while adding a slight tang that works especially well with the lemon. If you’d prefer not to buy it, check out some easy guidance on how to make buttermilk using milk and lemon juice or vinegar.
- Lemon Zest & Fresh Lemon Juice: Zest gives the cake its strongest lemony punch, while the juice is used in the cake, syrup, and glaze. It adds brightness to the batter, gives the syrup a tart edge, and turns the confectioners’ sugar into a tangy glaze.
- Unsalted Butter: Makes the cake rich and tender; softening it first allows it to cream properly with the sugar.
- Granulated Sugar: Sweetens the cake and is also used to coat the pan and make the lemon syrup that soaks into the baked cake.
- Eggs: Give the cake structure and richness and help hold the batter together.
- Confectioners’ Sugar: Whisked with lemon juice to make the simple glaze that goes over the cooled cake.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Combine the dry ingredients. Whisk the dry ingredients together until evenly combined. Take a moment to make sure the poppy seeds are well distributed so they’re scattered evenly throughout the finished cakes.
Step 2: Combine the wet ingredients. Combine the buttermilk and lemon zest/juice. Don’t be concerned if the mixture looks slightly curdled after the lemon juice goes in—that’s completely normal.
Step 3: Cream the butter and sugar. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Give this step a few minutes—the mixture should look noticeably lighter in both color and texture before you move on.
Step 4: Add the eggs and begin the batter. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then start incorporating the dry ingredients on low speed. Scrape down the bowl as needed so everything mixes evenly.
Step 5: Add some of the buttermilk mixture. Mix in the first portion of the buttermilk mixture. The batter may look a little uneven at this point, but it will come together as you continue adding the wet and dry ingredients.
Step 6: Finish the batter. Continue alternating the dry and wet ingredients, ending with the dry. Once the flour starts going in, keep the mixer on low and mix only until everything comes together; overmixing at this stage can make the cakes less tender.
Step 7: Fill the pans. Divide the thick batter between the prepared loaf pans and smooth the tops. Just eyeballing the amounts is fine, but if you happen to have a kitchen scale, you can use it to get the two loaves reasonably close.
Step 8: Bake and cool. Bake until the cakes are golden, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let them rest briefly in the pans before lifting them out to finish cooling on a rack. The short rest gives the cakes a chance to firm up.
Step 9: Make the lemon syrup. While the cakes finish cooling, make the simple syrup and stir in the lemon juice off the heat. You want the syrup to stay warm so it absorbs readily into the cakes.
Step 10: Make the glaze. Whisk together the glaze until smooth, adjusting the consistency if needed. It should be thick but pourable—closer to honey than a thin icing—so it stays on top of the cakes while still dripping down the sides.
Step 11: Soak and glaze the cakes. Slowly brush the warm syrup over the cooled cakes, giving it time to soak in as you go, then spoon the glaze over the top. Let the glaze set before slicing. The cakes keep well for a few days and can also be frozen without the glaze for up to 3 months.
More Bright, Buttery Cakes you may like
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off with a knife
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup poppy seeds
- 1 cup low-fat buttermilk (see note)
- Finely grated zest of 3 lemons, about 3 (gently packed) tablespoons
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (see note)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2¼ cups granulated sugar, plus more for the pan
- 3 large eggs
For the Syrup
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
For the Glaze
- About 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Spray two 8½ x 4½-in (22 x 11-cm) loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line the long sides of the pans with parchment paper “slings” and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray again.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk, lemon zest and lemon juice. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or beaters), cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again. With the mixer on low speed, beat in one-quarter of the flour mixture, then one-third of the buttermilk mixture. Beat in another quarter of the flour mixture, then another third of the milk mixture. Repeat with another quarter of the flour mixture and the remaining milk mixture. Finally, beat in the remaining flour mixture. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, and give a quick mix with a rubber spatula to make sure all of the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Spoon the thick batter into the prepared pans and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for ten minutes on a rack.
- Set the cakes on a cooling rack, and cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife along the unlined sides of the pans to loosen the cake from the pan. Using the parchment slings, lift the cakes out of the pans and place onto the rack, leaving the parchment paper in place under the cakes. Let cool for about 1 hour.
- When the cakes are almost cool, make the syrup. Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice.
- When the cakes are cool, carefully transfer them to serving platters.
- Gradually brush the warm syrup all over the cakes, including the sides, letting it soak in as you go.
- To make the glaze: in a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice. Add more confectioners' sugar or lemon juice as necessary to make a thick but pourable glaze (it should be a little thicker than you'd think, about the consistency of molasses or honey). Spoon the glaze over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Let the cakes sit for about one hour to allow the glaze to set before serving.
Notes
- If you’d prefer not to buy it, check out some easy guidance on how to make buttermilk using milk and lemon juice or vinegar.
- You'll need 3 large lemons for this recipe.
- Freezing Instructions: The cake can be frozen (without the glaze) for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, double-wrap it securely with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, or place it in heavy-duty freezer bag. Thaw overnight on the countertop before serving. (Add the glaze after the cake is thawed.)
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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This was great. Personally, I’m not too fond of all the sugar in the cake itself, and then that of the syrup and even then that of the glaze.
Hopefully next time I could half the sugar so I can add the glaze on top.
OMG… This is a great recipe for my lemons!!!! Usually I try to make a recipe as written however I had to make a few changes. I used 1/2 cup half and half and 1/2 cup heavy cream with lemon juice to make the buttermilk. This made the crumb of the cake very tender and moist. I loved the idea of dusting the pan with sugar and it gave the cake a beautiful outer layer.
Thank you for sharing this recipe it was the bombdiggity of flavor and texture!!!!
Absolutely brilliant and foolproof recipe. Because I also love baklava, the only thing I changed was adding some ma’ zahar (orange flower essence water) in the syrup. Thank you for sharing, this made for a great birthday.
Not even close to enough lemon flavour unfortunately. I now know to add a whole lot more the next time I make it.
Easy to follow recipe and very moist – the buttermilk is a nice touch.
Does anyone know if you can use “light baking flour” by WhiteLily to make pound cake? or does it need to be all purpose?
Hi Nicole, for the best results, I’d stick to all-purpose flour here. Sorry!
Ha thats very funny, ‘let me know how the recipe went’, well, we have nearly finished it, thats alot of cake, it was delicious. We have recently moved out of Sydney to a new house in the country and have a wonderful lemon tree and too many lemons to know what to do with, so thanks ..i need to check out your other recipes
So easy, and delicious! Mixed reviews on the glaze but I thought it was great. I’m making this again for sure.
I’ve made your Lemon Pound cake 3x and it was always a hit! So wanted to try this poppy version and omg it just gets better every single time! (Even if i accidentally left the oven dead for some time in between!)
Definitely trying these as cupcakes next time!
Made this this morning as two loaves. Turned out beautifully. I lined my pans with parchment paper and skipped the sugar dusting. Only changes I made were to soak my poppyseeds in the buttermilk (read that it makes them less dry and more easily digested- whatever…) and I didn’t think there was enough salt so I doubled it to 1 tsp. Might even do 1 1/2 tsp next time. And there will be a next time. So moist. Not too sweet and just the right amount of lemon zing! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi, Jenn! A number of questions here, sorry! 1. I see that you can make muffins from this recipe. How many muffins? And since I would use paper cups for them, what’s your best thought about putting the syrup on? 2. I only have 9×5 loaf pans. Will this make 2 of those iris my best bet to do one and then do muffins with the rest of the batter? 3. I also plan to use the SACO powdered buttermilk with these – I saw that one of your readers planned to do that. Any feedback? Reviews on it from Bon Appetit, King Arthur, and America’s Test Kitchen are pretty positive. Thanks for you patience. – Jane
Happy to help!
1. This should make 24 muffins.
2. I would make one 9×5 loaf and muffins with the remaining batter.
3. I haven’t gotten any feedback from readers about the powdered buttermilk but I think it’s worth a try.
Please LMK how it comes out!
Thanks so much. What do you recommend for the syrup when I make muffins in paper cups? Just carefully brush the tops and not overdo so it doesn’t stick to the paper? I can’t figure the best way to do that.
Oh sorry I forgot to address that! I actually wouldn’t do the syrup as I think it will be too messy. Without the syrup though, these won’t stay fresh for long, so best to eat them on the first day or two.
I like to do my recipes in metrics, and I noticed that the sugar measurement is 450 grams, and the cups measurement is 2 1/4 cups. To double check since it seemed like an immense amount of sugar, I mesures out 2 1/4 on my scale and it isn’t even 1/2 of 450 grams. Please provide some type of clarification. Thank you.
Hi Bella, I’ve tested out ingredients for my recipes using both cup measures and my kitchen scale. I have consistently found that 1 cup of sugar is the equivalent of 200 g hence the 450 g for 2 1/4 cups. I know that you may find some variation if you look online, but the measurements I’ve provided came from using my scale. Hope that clarifies and that you enjoy if you make the cake.