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This Lemon Poppy Seed Cake is bursting with citrus in every bite: lemon zest and juice in the batter, a warm lemon syrup brushed over the cake, and a tangy lemon glaze drizzled on top. It’s incredibly moist, bright, and full of fresh lemon flavour. I like to sift in a little fresh-milled wheat flour for depth and tenderness, but the cake turns out perfectly even without it. Simple to make, beautifully fragrant, and the kind of lemon cake that disappears fast.

Triple Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

A moist, ultra-lemony poppy seed cake made with zest and juice in the batter, a syrup that soaks in for extra flavor, and a bright lemon glaze on top. A little fresh-milled wheat flour adds lovely depth but is completely optional. Bright, tender, and packed with lemon in every bite.

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Prep Time 2 hours hrs

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Servings: 9

Course: Afternoon Tea, morning tea

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

For the Cake

• 3 eggs at room temperature
• 265 g sugar
• 120 g sour cream at room temperature
• 150 g softened butter
• 35 g poppy seeds
• 15 g zest from about 3 lemons
• 30 g lemon juice from about 1 lemon
• 200 g AP flour
• 50 g wheat flour, sifted
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Lemon Syrup

• 75 g lemon juice
• 75 g sugar

For the Lemon Glaze

• 40 g lemon juice
• 200 g icing sugar plus 50g

Equipment

• 10x4x2.5 inch loaf tin or a large muffin tin

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 180℃/350℉. Grease a 10x4x2.5 inch loaf tin and line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Combine the lemon zest and juice, sour cream, poppy seeds and vanilla.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, paddle together the softened butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 mins on medium speed.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, stopping the mixer between each addition to scrape the bowl.
6. Add half the lemon/sour cream mixture to the mixing bowl, mixing until incorporated before adding half the flour mixture and mixing until incorporated. Repeat this with the remainder, until you have a thick cohesive batter.
7. Scrape the batter into your lined tin, smoothing it evenly across the surface.
8. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.
9. While the cakes are baking, make the lemon syrup by combining the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat.
10. When the cakes are baked, let them cool for about 10 minutes, then remove the parchment. Working carefully, pour a third of the syrup over the top of the cake, then turn the cake to its side to pour another third over the side, and lastly turn it to its other side so that the three sides are well syruped. Allow to cool.
11. When the cakes are completely cooled, make the glaze by whisking the lemon juice and icing sugar together. You want the glaze to be be thick enough to drizzle, and not so thin as to run off the cake. Add more icing sugar if necessary, a tablespoon at a time, until you achieve peak thickness.
12. Pour the glaze over the cakes, working from the centre outwards, and allow to set for 1-2 hours before slicing.

Notes

You’ll need about 5-6 lemons for this cake.

This quantity fits perfectly in the 10x4x2.5 inch loaf tin, but it also makes lovely little tea cakes if you want to bake them in muffin tins. Grease + flour the tin, spoon the batter in to just over 1/2 full, and bake for 20 mins at 350 F/180 C. Invert and spoon over the syrup, then glaze once completely cooled.