Lemon Poppy Seed Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I love lemon everything. It’s just one of those flavors that you don’t have to question, and it balances out the sweetness in any dessert perfectly. And then when you add those faintly crunchy little flecks of poppy seeds to the mix for a light flavor and textural contrast, and top each layer of the cake with a rich cream cheese frosting you know it’s a cake that won’t let you down. This is a crowd pleasing cake that’s sure to get some praise, people will be swooning over each soft and fluffy, sweet lemony bite! The two sugars I used in this recipe are the Wholesome Organic Cane Sugar and Wholesome Organic Powdered Sugar. The cane sugar is a good replacement for white sugar for things like baking cakes and cookies (or to sweeten just about anything). The powdered sugar is perfect for frostings. I’m slowly working on adding more organic foods into my families diet (I just made the jump to organic milk a few months ago), so I love knowing there’s now organic sweeteners that are more easily accessible for everyone. You can find many of these products at nationwide grocery stores now. Try them in this lemon cake and see for yourself the great end result you’ll get!

Want to see how to make lemon poppy seed cake? Watch the video!

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake Ingredients

Cake flour Baking powder and baking soda Salt Poppy seeds Unsalted butter Wholesome Organic cane sugar Lemon zest and juice Canola oil Eggs Vanila and lemon extracts Buttermilk Cream Cheese Wholesome Organic powdered sugar

How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prep the cake pans. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside. Cream together butter, sugar and lemon zest until pale and fluffy. Mix in canola oil and eggs, then add in the lemon and vanilla extracts. In a liquid measuring cup, mix together the buttermilk and lemon juice. Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture to the butter/sugar mixture. Divide cake batter between the prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove cakes from oven. While they’re still warm, brush with simple syrup.

How to Make Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream together butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add in vanilla extract and powdered sugar and mix until fluffy. Freeze in 3-minute increments as needed until frosting is desired consistency.

Can I Omit the Lemon Extract if I Don’t Have Any?

I wouldn’t recommend that. The lemon extract really makes this lemon poppy seed cake — without it, I’m not sure the lemon flavor would be strong enough.

Can I Use a Buttermilk Substitute, if Needed?

Without having tested it, I can’t say for sure if a buttermilk substitute would work. But I think a mixture of whole milk and lemon juice could be substituted in a pinch.

Tips for the Best Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

For best results, measure in grams using a kitchen scale. If you don’t have one, lightly fluff bag of flour then scoop into a measuring cup and sweep top with a knife to level. About halfway through cooling the baked lemon cakes, I recommend transferring them to an airtight container to seal in their moisture. Let the cake layers cool completely before adding the homemade cream cheese frosting. Otherwise, the frosting will melt!