Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake Recipe: The tastiest lemon poppyseed bundt cake ever—a light, airy cake flecked with crunchy, sugary poppy seeds and brimming with lemon flavor.
This bundt cake is one I’ve made about 3941 times. My goal was for it to be flawless, the benchmark for poppy cakes. However, I also wanted to offer you three other versions of it!
Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Lemon Poppyseed Bundt Cake
- 2 cups granulated sugar 440g
- zest of 2-4 lemons more if you like it to be lemon
- 1 cup butter, unsalted and softened 226g
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour 335g
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk 220g
- 1/4 cup poppy seeds 70g
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 113g cream cheese half a package
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy 130g
- pinch fine sea salt
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp milk, cream
Method
- Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan, or spray it with baking spray. To make removing the cake from the pan easier, make sure you get into all the nooks and crannies.
- Using your fingertips, massage the zest and sugar together in the stand mixer bowl. Add the butter, vanilla, and salt when the sugar has become moist and the oils have been released. Mix until incredibly frothy and light, scraping down the bowl as necessary. It’ll take five to seven minutes.
- Using the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time. ensuring that the batter is thoroughly combined by scraping down as necessary.
- Using a rubber spatula, stir the cake flour into the batter after sifting it together with the baking soda and powder. This will prevent the flour from flying out when the mixer is turned on. Reduce the speed of the mixer and gradually add the buttermilk. After thoroughly mixing, add the poppy seeds and stir. Once the cake tester comes out clean, pour the batter into the bundt pan and bake for one hour. After ten minutes of cooling in the pan, turn it out onto a plate.
- Whisk together the glaze ingredients and pour over the cake after it has cooled. Add poppy seeds on top.
ALSO SEE
FAQs AND QUESTION
How do I make Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake?
- First, check that all of your ingredients—especially the eggs, buttermilk, and butter—are room temperature.
- Remove the butter from the refrigerator approximately an hour before you start baking the cake (if your kitchen is unusually cold, remove more butter, if it’s warm). In a basin of warm water, eggs can be reheated.
- After pouring the buttermilk into a cup, let it sit for about an hour at room temperature.
- Rub the sugar between your fingers and squeeze the lemons straight into it.
- After that, whip in the butter. Continue beating, scraping down as necessary, until the mixture is very well-creamed.
- This is also the moment where you can add the vanilla, salt, and leavening. The eggs should be added one at a time after that. Before you add another yolk, the first one should go. Then, beat until fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Bits of unmixed dough are seen below, which is why I mention scraping down as necessary.
- If using a 12 cup bundt pan, this recipe will result in a shorter cake, and if using a 10 cup bundt pan, a taller cake.
- You can see what it looks like with the cream cheese filling in the final picture below—a tiny cheesecake arch!
Cream Cheese Swirled Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
For this you’ll need to beat together:
- 1 package cream cheese, 226g (softened a few hours beforehand)
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- Pinch salt, splash of vanilla
- Once you have made the cake batter, add ⅔ of it into the bundt pan and use the back of a spoon to create a moat, then pour the cheesecake filling into the center (see photos below) and add the remaining cake batter on top and bake as directed.
