This is a popular cake recipe — you'll find similar versions all over cooking sites, especially international ones, often with varying ingredient ratios. Well, here I am with my own ratios too! The cake turned out incredibly delicious: tender, soft, slightly crumbly, with the satisfying crunch of poppy seeds, and the lemon syrup makes the flavor truly unforgettable. Such a good cake! A lot of recipes use just one lemon for both the syrup and the zest in the batter, but why do things halfway — I recommend using two lemons. The flavor becomes genuinely phenomenal, very lemony. Of course, that's only a plus if you love lemon-flavored baked goods — which I absolutely do! Instead of poppy seeds, you can use finely chopped almonds or other nuts. By the way, if you're interested, there's a similar orange-flavored cousin of this cake — Orange Chocolate Loaf Cake. That one's for those who aren't big lemon fans!
Ingredients:
- 200 g flour
- 160 g butter
- 160 g sugar
- 30 g poppy seeds
- 3 eggs
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- zest of 2 lemons
- Syrup:
- 100 ml lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
- 100 g sugar
- 1–2 tsp cognac (optional)
How to cook lemon poppy seed loaf cake
Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the milk and lemon zest, and beat to combine.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, poppy seeds, and baking powder. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined — as little as possible, no longer.
Grease the pan with butter — I used a 24×10 cm loaf pan. Pour in the batter and smooth the top. Bake in an oven preheated to 170°C for about 50–60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
Prepare the syrup. Juice the lemons — I used 100 ml of juice — and add the sugar. If you end up with more or less juice, adjust the sugar accordingly. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Let cool, then stir in the cognac.
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