Lemon and poppy seed loaf cake with cream cheese frosting
- Published: 31 Mar 08
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
This feather-light, fresh-flavoured lemon and poppyseed cake is delicious shared with friends over a cuppa – or make it as an Easter or Mother’s Day treat.
Alternatively, how about a classic lemon drizzle loaf cake?
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Serves 8
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Takes 10 min to make, 1 hour 10 min to bake, plus cooling and decorating
Ingredients
- 175g butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
- 175g caster sugar
- Finely grated zest of 2 large lemons
- 3 medium eggs
- 250g self-raising flour
- 50g poppy seeds
- 4 heaped tbsp natural yogurt
For the crystallised rose petals
- 1 pale yellow rose
- Caster sugar, for dusting
- 1 egg white
For the cream cheese frosting
- 100g soft cream cheese, such as Philadelphia
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp natural yogurt
Method
- Carefully pull the petals off the rose. Fill a bowl with sugar. Brush each petal with egg white, then bury under the sugar. Lift out, shake off the excess sugar and leave on a tray to dry for a few hours or until brittle (see video in tips).
- Preheat the oven to 150°c/fan130°c/gas 2. Grease and line a 19cm x 12cm x 9cm deep loaf tin with baking paper. Put the butter into a bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until it is almost white. Beat in the zest and eggs, 1 at a time, and a spoonful of flour with the second and last egg to prevent curdling. Sift over the rest of the flour and fold it in with the poppy seeds and the yogurt.
- Spoon into the tin and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.
- Beat the frosting ingredients in a bowl with a wooden spoon until fluffy. Spread thickly over the cake and scatter with the crystallised petals.
- Recipe from April 2008 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 461kcals
- Fat
- 30.2g (17g saturated)
- Protein
- 8.3g
- Carbohydrates
- 50g (25.5g sugar)
- Salt
- 0.9g
delicious. tips
Freeze the cake, wrapped in cling film, at the end of step 3 for up to 3 months. Defrost thoroughly, then continue with frosting.
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Didn’t do the Rose petals but this cake is a sure fire hit! Yummy
I don’t think the temperature at 150 degrees C is correct. Shouldn’t it be 180 degrees C?
Dear May, there is a high quantity of flour (compared to the sugar and butter) and you cook it for a long time so 150C is correct. If cooked at 180C it will dry out. Hope that helps
I love this recipe because I love the lemon and poppy seed combination and the yoghurt makes the cake so moist and creamy. It is a hit with everybody.
I love this recipe because the poppy seeds complement the lemon so well making it a great alternative to the traditional lemon drizzle and it is so light!