Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

I like the soft, fluffy and light texture of Strawberry Sponge Cake that I baked last week. Therefore, I decided to bake lemon cake since I have some lemons in the fridge. I came across Joyofbaking.com and I saw this Lemon Poppy Seed Cake. Now I remembered I had a pack of poppy seed sitting in my pantry for some times. Well, it was a perfect time to try this recipe! = )

"Before"

"After"

Ok, here is my Lemon Poppy Seed Cake. I’ve sliced them into square shape and decorated with some lemon slices on top of the cake. The cake taste really good… a little bit sour. I like the poppy seeds when I bite on them… (It is hard to descript the texture, have a try then you will know what I mean :P) I’ve modified a little from the original recipe to suit myself. You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients

3 eggs
60ml milk
210g self raising flour, sifted
100g granulated white sugar
1tsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt
1tbsp grated lemon zest (outer yellow skin of the lemon)
30g poppy seeds
150g canola spread, softened

Lemon Syrup

60ml fresh lemon juice
65g granulated white sugar

What to do

(1) In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Set aside.

(2) In a separate bowl, beat the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest, and poppy seeds until combined.

(3) Add the softened butter and half the egg mixture and mix on low speed until moistened. Increase the speed to medium and beat for about one minute. This aerates and develops the cake's structure. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the remaining egg mixture in two batches, beating about 30 seconds after each addition. This will strengthen the structure of the batter.

(4) Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 55 to 65 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

(5) You may have to cover the bread with buttered foil after about 30 minutes if you find the bread over browning.

(6) Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the sugar and lemon juice to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

(7) When the bread is done, remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Pierce the hot loaf all over with a wooden skewer or toothpick and then brush the top of the loaf with about half the hot lemon syrup.

(8) Cool the loaf in the pan for about 10 minutes then invert onto a greased wire rack. Brush the remaining syrup onto the bottom and the sides of the loaf. Reinvert the bread so it is right side up and then cool the bread completely before wrapping.

(9) Store at least overnight before serving to allow the lemon syrup to distribute throughout the loaf.

They were delicious! (*o*)