Anyone else a huge fan of the Starbucks lemon poundcake? It’s my favorite bakery item and I love getting myself a slice as a treat. It turns out with a few simple ingredients, you can make a similar lemon poppy seed loaf at home by yourself! While it’s technically a pound cake, the lemon flavor adds a lightness and really brightens up the flavor profile. It’s part dessert part bread, so it’s a definite crowd pleaser and great to have at your kitchen to sneak a slice here and there!
Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
Equipment
- loaf pan
Ingredients
- butter for greasing
- 1 3/4 cup flour more for dusting pan
- zest of 2 lemons
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 3 tbsp lemon juice plus 4 tsp, separated
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 2/3 cup neutral oil canola or vegetable
- 1 1/2 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1/2-1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. While preheating, coat an 8 or 9 inch loaf pan with butter and then dust with flour. Be sure to tap out any flour that doesn't stick.
- In a large bowl, combine lemon zest and sugar and mix with your hands until it feels like wet sand. Whisk in butter milk, 3 tbsp lemon juice, and eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then slowly whisk dry ingredients into the wet, followed by the oil and poppy seeds. Here you can be as liberal with the seeds as you want, the original recipe called for a tbsp but that didn't quite look like enough for me so I added more. It's up to you!
- Pour your batter into your floured pan, and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 45 min to 1 hour (mine was done at 50 min.) Let it cool in the pan until you can touch it with your hands, and then turn out onto a cooling rack over a baking sheet (to catch the glaze!)
- To make the glaze, whisk together the remaining 4 tsp of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. If it's too runny, slowly add more sugar 1/4 cup at a time until it's the consistency you want. Similarly, just add a little more juice to thin it out. Careful – a little goes a long way!
- Carefully pour the glaze over the cake and allow to set.
- Enjoy!
