Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake

Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake is an ultra soft and moist pound cake recipe that’s topped with a sweet lemon glaze! Perfect for breakfast and dessert!

Sometimes the most obvious recipes are the best. So why not share one of my long time loves…

Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake!

I’ve long told the story on how no one else in my house likes lemon flavored desserts, and this is no exception. I, however, am fully into lemon sweet treats…like in a major way. Which is great, because MORE FOR ME! But bad because…well…MORE FOR ME.

So when I make this Lemon Pound Cake I know that I save a few slices for myself and share with a friend or two. I can’t be left to my own devices with a loaf of this bright, soft, and moist pound cake in my house if I ever expect to fit into shorts this summer.

I love making pound cakes…most recently my Classic Pound Cake. They’re so simple and perfect with a cup of coffee, or jazzed up with some ice cream or whipped cream.

The texture of this Lemon Poppy Seed Cake is incredibly soft and moist, and the lemon flavor is balanced with the richness of the butter and the depth of the vanilla extract. There is nothing better than a slice of lemon cake to cure the winter blues. Have I convinced you yet?

Why Is This the BEST Lemon Poppy Seed Cake?

First and foremost, this cake definitely has a “pound cake” texture. While the crumb is soft and moist, it isn’t light. But strangely enough it also isn’t heavy. The combination of the ingredients like sour cream, baking powder, baking soda, and butter give this cake a very tender texture, while also being slightly dense, as a pound cake should be.

What Key Ingredients Do You Need?

1. Butter: Use room temperature butter! Room temp butter mixes much easier with the sugar, adding air as you mix them together, making the butter light and fluffy. This is an important step in all baking! Also, I used salted butter, as I do in almost all of my recipes, unless otherwise specified. I prefer the extra bit of saltiness in my desserts. If you are sensitive to salt, feel free to use unsalted.
2. Granulated Sugar: Obviously you need sugar to sweeten your cake, so it can’t be omitted. And like I stated above, creaming the butter and sugar together adds air as the sugar cuts through the butter, aiding with the texture of the cake.
3. Baking Powder and Baking Soda: This recipe has a combination of both leavening agents. I played around with all baking powder and all baking soda when I was testing this recipe, and settled on a combination of both to create the perfect rise. You can see the perfect dome in the shot of the cake above!
4. Lemon Zest: This is obviously essential when creating this lemon cake! The zest provides more flavor than juice when it’s baked. And you will get about a tablespoon of zest from one large lemon.
5. Eggs: Eggs add to the richness and moisture to this cake, as well as all baked goods. The proteins in eggs create structure and stability.
6. Sour Cream: Sour Cream is a great addition in a dense cake recipe in place of milk of buttermilk. The extra fat and less moisture produce a very soft and tender crumb.
7. Poppy Seeds: This is a Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake, so obviously you need poppy seeds! They don’t offer a ton of extra flavor, and could be omitted if desired. However, they do add a subtle fruity nuttiness that is hard to duplicate.
8. Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla is essential in baking, and this cake is no different. But note, you could also use 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla to really amp up the flavor of the poppy seeds for a variation.

Don’t Forget the Glaze Icing!

Ahh, what would this cake…or any cake…be without icing? And what’s so fantastic about the sweet glaze on this Lemon Poppy Seed Cake is that it’s only 2 ingredients…lemon juice and powdered sugar. Yep, that’s it!

Here are some tips for the Lemon Glaze:

1. A lot of the citrus brightness of this recipe is packed into the icing. If you prefer a less lemony cake, sub out the lemon juice for milk, or even water.
2. The glaze on this cake seals in moisture as well as leaving a sweet layer, so I vote not to skip it!
3. If you want MORE lemon flavor, go ahead and add in a teaspoon of zest in with the lemon juice and sugar.
4. Once the glaze sets it will leave a slightly sweet crunch on the cake. Love that!
5. If you would prefer more of an “icing” rather than a glaze, it’s an easy adaptation. Just add less lemon juice! If you would like it to be thicker, start with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice with the 1 1/4 cups of powdered sugar and whisk it until it’s smooth, adding more lemon juice if desired.
6. You could even increase the glaze amount by 50% if you would like to make sure every edge of the outside gets covered!

This is such a fantastic recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake, I hope you make it!

Looking for More Pound Cake Recipes? Try These:

• Lemon Curd Pound Cake
• Orange Pound Cake
• Million Dollar Pound Cake

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