Lemon Drizzle Poppy Seed Cake

Imagine an acidic lemon candy in a cake form! This cake is so lemony that it almost makes your eyes to squint when you eat it (in a good way)! (If you have the same trait as I have when eating sour foods :D I can't sometimes help it: especially my right eye closes if I'm eating very sour foods like UFO candies or real lemonade). The tartness comes from the lemon drizzle syrup that's poured on the cake after baking it. It also helps the cake to stay incredibly moist!!!

I've heard countless praises of lemon + poppy seed combination so it was time for me to try it. It's not at all common combination in Finnish baking, and I don't think I've ever seen poppyseeds in any cakes/muffins/etc. in Finland. The only bakery item they are used in (or rather on), are breakfast rolls, which might be sprinkled with them. In this cake they add a nice contrast to the light-coloured cake and they also add a nice crunch. In this recipe I wanted to combine the British home baking classic, lemon drizzle cake, to lemon-poppy seed combination and I'm very happy with the result! (Just don't leave the cake for too long in the (metallic) cake pan: the lemon syrup is very acidic, so it might corrode your pan and also dissolve metals into your cake depending on the type of the cake pan.)

You might have already seen this cake in my Instagram feed and/or Stories. I baked it on Easter while we were in Germany, so the photos have been taken with my cellphone. And as an excuse to why it took so long, I've had flu twice and a back pain episode since Easter... But anyway, hope you stay well :) Happy baking!!!

P.S. The lemons I used for this cake were grown in Germany! (I didn't know one could grow lemons in Germany! So exotic!!!)

Lemon Drizzle Poppyseed Cake
Author: Tuulia / Kitchenfoxtales     Preparation Time: 20 min     Cooking time: 40 min
Servings: 12 slices     Calories per serving: 204 kcal*

Makes about a 25 x 10 cm loaf cake.

Ingredients:

• 75 g soft butter
• 40 g cold-pressed rapeseed oil
• 160 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 160 g cake flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 75 ml (5 Tbsp) poppyseeds
• 100 g yogurt
• 25 ml (about 1,5 Tbsp) lemon juice
• zest from 1 lemon
Drizzle syrup:
• juice from 1 lemon
• 50 g sugar

Instructions:

1. Beat butter, oil and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and beat until light and airy.
2. Mix flour with baking powder and poppyseeds.
3. Fold in half of the flour mixture and then the yogurt into the batter. Fold in the rest of the flour and then the lemon juice and zest.
4. Pour the batter into a prepared cake pan (I used 20 x 10 cm pan).
5. Bake in 180 C for about 40 minutes.
6. While the cake is baking, prepare drizzle syrup: combine the juice from 1 lemon and 50 g sugar in a heatproof dish. Warm the mixture in a microwave oven in 10 second intervals until the sugar has dissolved.
7. When the cake is still warm, poke holes into it with a toothpick or a bamboo skewer. Pour the syrup oven it and leave for at least 30 minutes to let the syrup absorb to the cake. Remove from the cake tin quickly after the syrup has been absorbed (read note above) and if you are not serving it straight away, wrap in clingfilm to ensure it stays moist.

Adapted from Mary Berry's recipe.
*Nutritional information is based on average values and is a rough estimate.

Sitruuna-unikkokakku
Tekijä: Tuulia / Kitchenfoxtales    
Valmisteluaika: 20 min    
Kypsennysaika: 40 min
Annokset: 12 viipaletta    Energiasisältö per annos: 204 kcal

Reseptistä tulee pienehkö vuokakakku (n. 10 x 20 cm).

Ainekset:

• 75 g pehmeää voita
• 40 g kylmäpuristettua rypsiöljyä
• 160 g sokeria
• 2 munaa
• 160 g vehnäjauhoa (miel. kakkujauhoa)
• 1 tl leivinjauhetta
• 75 ml (5 rkl) unikonsiemeniä
• 100 g jogurttia
• 25 ml (noin 1,5 rkl) sitruunamehua
• 1 sitruunan raastettu kuori
Sitruunasiirappi:
• 1 ison sitruunan mehu
• 50 g sokeria

Valmistusohjeet:

1. Vatkaa voi, öljy ja sokeri yhteen vaaleaksi vaahdoksi. Lisää kananmunat ja vatkaa ilmavaksi.
2. Sekoita jauhoihin leivinjauhe ja unikonsiemenet.
3. Kääntele puolet jauhoista taikinaan ja sitten jogurtti ja sen jälkeen loput jauhot. Lisää lopuksi sitruunamehu ja -kuori.
4. Kaada taikina leivinpaperilla vuorattuun vuokaan (käytin n. 20 x 10 cm kokoista vuokaa).
5. Paista 180 asteessa noin 40 minuuttia.
6. Sillä välin, kun kakku on uunissa, valmista sitruunasiirappi: sekoita sitruunamehuun sokeri ja lämmitä niitä mikrossa noin 10 sekunniin jaksoissa, kunnes sokeri on liuennut.
7. Kun olet ottanut kakun uunista, pistele sen pintaan reikiä esim. hammastikulla. Kaada lämmin siirappi kakun päälle ja anna siirapin imeytyä kakkuun ainakin 30 minuutin ajan. Poista kakku vuoasta pian tämän jälkeen (jotta vuoastasi ei irtoa metalleja kakkuun). Jos et tarjoa kakkua heti, kääri se tuorekelmuun. Kakku säilyy mehevänä ainakin 5 päivää.

Lähde: Mary Berry's ohje
Energiasisältö perustuu keskimääräisiin arvoihin ja on karkea arvio.

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