Citrus Poppy Seed Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
- Yield: 10 1x
Description
Despite using over half a dozen eggs, this cake is not at all dense but rather light and almost sponge-like.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup (160 ml) sugar
- 8 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Zest of 2 lemons
- Zest of 1/2 an orange
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) cornstarch
- Pinch of salt
- 2 sticks (225 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) poppy seeds
- {Optional} Confectioners' sugar, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter or spray a bundt pan liberally to ensure your cake doesn’t stick.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together sugar, egg yolks, and egg until the mixture turns very pale and fluffy {about 5-6 minutes}.
- Mix in the vanilla extract, lemon zest, and orange zest.
- In a separate bowl sift together the flour, cornstarch, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry mixture to the wet until well-incorporated. Pour in melted {cooled} butter and poppy seeds and mix until the batter is uniform.
- Pour the batter into your well-greased bundt or tube pan. Spray a piece of foil large enough to cover the pan with non-stick cooking spray {or grease with butter}, and cover the pan tightly with it.
- Bake for 45 minutes, or until the cake starts to slightly pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and uncover. Let cool for about 15-20 minutes, then carefully invert onto a plate or serving dish. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar before serving, if desired.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 340
Find it online: https://honestcooking.com/citrus-poppy-seed-cake/
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Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe uses 8 egg yolks and 1 whole egg — won’t that make the cake dense?
Surprisingly, no. The recipe calls for beating the yolks with the sugar for 5–6 minutes until the mixture turns very pale and fluffy, which aerates the batter. The excerpt specifically notes that despite using over half a dozen eggs, this cake is light and almost sponge-like rather than dense.
Why is the pan covered with foil during baking?
The instructions call for spraying a piece of foil with nonstick spray and covering the bundt pan tightly during the 45-minute bake at 325°F. This traps steam and ensures the moist interior sets evenly without the top crust over-browning or drying out before the center is cooked through.
Why does the recipe use both flour and cornstarch in equal amounts?
Using ½ cup of all-purpose flour and ½ cup of cornstarch instead of 1 full cup of flour is a classic technique: cornstarch has no gluten, so it lowers the overall protein content of the dry mix and produces a finer, more tender crumb — consistent with the sponge-like texture described for this cake. 
