Nothing says spring time like a light, bright lemon poppy seed loaf cake! It's sweet, buttery, and has just the right amount of tang from the lemon icing.
You might also like these lemon poppy seed muffins or these lemon curd cookies!
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Ingredient Notes
You only need a few ingredients to make this lemon poppy seed loaf cake!
Cake Flour - I always use cake flour in my cupcakes because it makes them super soft and tender, but all purpose flour also works great!
Sour Cream - The sour cream keeps the cake super moist while also adding a bit of tang! You always want to use full fat sour cream in baking for the best results! You could also use plain full fat yogurt or buttermilk!
Lemon Juice & Zest - I highly recommend using fresh lemons for the best flavor! But you can always substitute with a little bottled lemon juice if necessary.
Poppy Seeds - You can't have lemon poppy seed cake without poppy seeds! Sometimes they can be super expensive at the regular grocery store, but I've found they can be more affordable online or at your local international grocery store!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make a Loaf Cake
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Then add in the eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
Stir in sour cream and lemon juice until combined.
Fold in the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until fully incorporated.
Then gently fold in the poppy seeds.
I love all of my USA Pan cake pans because they are extremely sturdy and truly nonstick. However, I still like to prepare my pans to ensure the cake comes out easily.
Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray (I love Bakers Joy or Everbake). Place the parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray. You can also use solid metal binder clips to hold the parchment in place.
Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake at 350°F for 45-60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and let rest in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then carefully use your parchment paper sling to remove the cake from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool to room temperature before glazing.
In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and melted butter. Add in the lemon juice one tablespoon at a time until your desired consistency is reached.
Pour the glaze over the fully cooled lemon poppy seed loaf cake and top with sliced lemons if desired.
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Recipe FAQ's
Store covered in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Lemom Poppy Seed Loaf Cake
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Loaf Cake
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sour cream, substitute regular yogurt or buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cups cake flour, substitute all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- 2-4 tablespoons lemon juice, as needed for desired consistency
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Then add in the eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth.
- Stir in sour cream and lemon juice until combined.
- Fold in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until fully incorporated.
- Then gently fold in the poppy seeds.
- Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray. Place the parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray.
- Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake at 350°F for 45-60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let rest in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then carefully use your parchment paper sling to remove the cake from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack. Let cool to room temperature before glazing.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and melted butter. Add in the lemon juice one tablespoon at a time until your desired consistency is reached.
- Pour the glaze over the fully cooled lemon poppy seed loaf cake and top with sliced lemons if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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