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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Great tasting cake, however, TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS AND DO NOT USE COOKING SPRAY AND DUST THE PAN WITH SUGAR!
IT WILL DEFINITELY STICK TO THE PAN.
The suggestion to dust the pan with sugar needs to be removed from the directions.
Period.
I disagree. I’ve used this method both times I’ve made this cake with no issues at all. You need to let the cake cool for the full ten minutes before attempting to invert. This is my favorite cake for celebrating Imbolc.
Do NOT use cooking spray and sugar in the Bundt pan. When I tried to invert the cake after it cooled for 10 minutes, half of the cake stayed in the pan, glued to pan. I ended up with chunks of cake everywhere. I’m waiting for it to cool so I can put the icing on the chunks. The cake tastes fine, just use shortening or butter with flour to get the cake to come out of the pan.
I’ve made this using loaf pans a few times and it comes out perfect. I would like to bake these in muffin tins …. How long would the cooking time be … 15 to 18 minutes?
Glad you like this! I’d start checking them for doneness at about 18 mins. I’d love to hear how they turn out!
Can I leave out the poppy seeds to just make a lemon cake?
Thanks!
Hannah
Hi Hannah, you can or you can use this recipe. Hope you enjoy whatever you make!
Could you omit the lemon and sub for vanilla extract?
Unfortunately, that won’t work here as you need the lemon juice for leavening — sorry!
Made this with low fat Greek yoghurt instead of buttermilk and skipped the syrup and glaze to lower sugar content. Came out perfect! Used a buttered and floured Bundt pan, no issues there either. Baking time is spot on, too. Delicious coffee/breakfast cake.
Do you think a 10 inch tube pan would work with this recipe? The tube can be lifted up when cake is cooled. If so, would baking time be the same as for the Bundt pan? Thanks for all your wonderful recipes.
Hi Bev, I do think it will work and the bake time should be the same. For extra insurance to keep it from sticking, I’d recommend lining the bottom of the pan with parchment and spraying the parchment. Enjoy!
It’s really good. I really do wish it was more lemony. I think next time I’ll at least double the lemon juice. I used an angel food cake pan, lined the bottom with parchment paper and had no issues whatsoever getting the cake out.
Hello, I used gluten free flour for this recipe, and as it always falls a bit in the middle, I added 100g. Almond meal. The result was fabulous! Thank you so much for publishing this recipe.
Ok, I’m 3 days into eating this lemon poppy seed cake and I cannot say anything bad about it. I do like my cake with more lemon and so I added much more lemon to the batter after all the liquid and dry ingredients were added. I also added more sugar to the syrup and really went to town with saturating the cake with it. I did not use a glaze at all but even without it, my family and colleagues hit this cake hard. Thanks for sharing. I’ll be saving this to my personal cookbook that I’m gathering my favorite recipes for so that my kiddos have something to reference. I’ll be giving you all the credit for this superb cake.
I’m sad to say I fell victim to the sticking pan. I read the comments and Jenn’s notes carefully and considered the options. Since one reviewer mentioned how the caramelized sugar really is special, I decided to give it a go. I used Pam on my Noricware bundt pan, and REALLY sprayed it, then dusted it with sugar. I inverted it at exactly 10 minutes, and to my dismay, it did not release. I smacked it hard on the counter a number of times and nothing. I used a knife down the sides to see if just a little release would help, but still nothing. I then got aggressive with the knife and finally half of the cake released but the bottom stayed in the pan. 🙁 The only thing I can think of is the pan is a little too detailed. It’s the Nordic ware “Party Bundt Pan.” It’s not intricate, but perhaps it’s still a little too much for the recipe. Lesson learned. I was going to have this Easter tomorrow. But when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade! I guess I’ll whip up some lemon curd and make a lemon berry trifle instead! The crumbs are certainly tasty!