Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake

When You're Pressed for Spring!

Today in France, we are finally seeing the signs of spring!

Buds on the trees, tulips at the market and more daylight every day! (YAY!)

It’s not quite in full bloom yet, but I swear I can taste it!

I make this lemon poppy seed cake whenever I’m pressed for spring and craving springtime flavors.

It’s light and fluffy and filled with lemon flavor. It’s great for a Sunday brunch or a tea-time snack.

This cake is so light, fluffy and moist! For the best texture, make sure your butter, eggs, and sour cream are at room temperature.

Watch My Video Demo Below

Snack Cake Vs. Dessert Cake

It really works for both! Leave it unglazed for a snack cake or brunch cake, or you can whip up a quick lemon glaze to pour over the top to add additional sweetness.

Allow the cake to cool completely before turning it out and glazing it. It will set up as it cools and become more stable.

Preparing The Lemon Glaze

• This cake can be served without the glaze. It would be more like a snack cake like my Banana Bread, Pumpkin Bread or Zucchini Bread recipes.

• But for a special occasion or dessert, a little glaze is quite nice!

• Alternatively, instead of the glaze you could add a cream cheese frosting. Use the recipe for cream cheese frosting in my Banana Cake Recipe. It would be perfect.

• If you prefer a plain glaze you can omit the lemon juice and add the same amount of liquid but use water. Adding 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract would be a nice touch too, or a scraped vanilla bean pod for a speckled vanilla glaze if you wanted to be extra fancy.

• Or you could also use milk. But if using milk or any dairy for the glaze, be sure to keep the cake refrigerated before serving.

Place the cake on a cooling rack with parchment paper fitted into a sheet pan. This will make for easier clean-up after the glaze sets on your cake.

What To Do With The Zested Lemons?

• After you make this cake, you’ll have 2-3 zested lemons.

• The zest of a lemon is the protective skin of the fruit and prevents it from drying out. Once removed through zesting, you’ll quickly see it will turn hard practically overnight.

• You can refrigerate them to prolong their lifespan. Or use them up in my Sheet Pan Chicken Recipe, which calls for lemon juice, or whip up a batch of my fantastic Homemade Lemonade, Strawberry Lemonade, or Watermelon Lemonade Recipes.

• Or you can slice the lemons into wedges and place them in the fridge. They make a nice addition to water bottles!

This Month’s Paid Newsletter

This month, how a trip back to the U.S.A made me a bit nostalgic for the silly things in American culture.