Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
Updated April 15, 2025
Dane Tashima for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
- Total Time
- 1 hour 20 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
Butter, for greasing pan
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour, more for pan
Zest of 2 lemons
1 cup sugar
½ cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons plus 4 teaspoons lemon juice
3 large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
⅔ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
57 grams carbs; 75 milligrams cholesterol; 446 calories; 14 grams monosaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 22 grams fat; 2 grams fiber; 232 milligrams sodium; 6 grams protein; 34 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch loaf pan.
- Step 2
In a bowl, combine lemon zest and sugar and rub with your fingers until it looks like wet sand. Whisk in buttermilk, 3 tablespoons lemon juice and eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk dry ingredients into the batter, then whisk in oil and poppy seeds.
- Step 3
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in pan until warm to the touch, then turn out onto a baking rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Turn cake right side up.
- Step 4
Whisk together remaining 4 teaspoons lemon juice and the confectioners’ sugar. Use a pastry brush to spread glaze evenly over top and sides of cake. Cool completely before slicing.
Private Notes
Comments
Please... use grams and millilitres, or have a conversion function. Baking is about precision and cups are an archaic and inaccurate form og measurement.
Use Myer lemons, up the zest amnt
Add juice of 1/2 lemon to batter
Canola not olive
Change topping:
Boil 1/2 sugar with 1/4 c lemon juice
Poke holes, pour over after bake
Then bake a few xtra mins
Go heavy on poppy
You could also substitute sour cream, which I do often as I usually don't have buttermilk.
Really delicious! Beautifully light and moist texture. Perfect to bring to a potluck or picnic -- you will get compliments! I added slightly less sugar, double the lemon juice, and extra zest. It came out beautifully, but I would add even more lemon next time I make it. Don't skip the glaze -- worth it for extra lemony flavor and doesn't taste overly sweet. Based on the comments & what I had on hand, I used coconut oil instead of olive oil & was happy with the results.
I agree the moniker “pound cake” isn’t fitting of this recipe. It’s more of a quick bread, and while by no means dry, it doesn’t have that dense, moist texture of pound cakes I’ve made previously. I added lemon extract and omitted the glaze and found it was definitely sweet enough.
fab recipe! have used both buttermilk (whole milk + vinegar) as well as greek yogurt. Both work. Also soaked poppy seeds in yogurt/buttermilk for about 10 minutes before adding. Have used both orange and lemon juice/zest. Both are delicious.