Lemon Poppy Seed Bread is studded with poppy seeds and topped with a lemon glaze! This easy lemon loaf cake recipe is so moist and tender and makes a great breakfast or dessert.
We love lemon flavored desserts like our Moist Lemon Cake Recipe, Lemon Mousse Recipe, and our Easy Lemon Curd Recipe that makes a great filling for cakes and cookies.
How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
Lemon Poppy Seed Bread is an easy pound cake recipe made with lemon juice, lemon zest, buttermilk, and poppy seeds. This cake is extremely moist and tender and keeps fresh for days. My secret to extra flavorful lemon cakes is to brush them with a lemon syrup just after baking so they soak up the flavor and then brush them with a thick lemon icing. So delicious!
This Lemon Cake with Poppy Seeds makes a great dessert or afternoon snack and tastes even better than the Starbucks Lemon Poppyseed Loaf – perfect with a cup of coffee or a glass of iced tea!
Tips for making Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
- Line the pan with a piece of parchment paper leaving an overhang on two sides so you can easily lift out the cake after baking
- Make sure that the butter has room temperature and is soft
- For the best results make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature, this helps the cake bake more evenly
- For the best flavor use freshly squeezed lemon juice! Bottled lemon juice works too but I prefer the taste of fresh lemon juice
- Use a Microplane zester
to grate the lemon peel. - When you make the lemon glaze for this poppy seed bread don’t add too much liquid. You want the glaze to be nice and thick not runny.
- This cake keeps well covered at room temperature for up to 4 days.
to grate the lemon peel.
How to make Lemon Glaze for Pound Cake
A lemon glaze adds even more lemon flavor to lemon cakes and breads. During baking flavors often mellow so to get a more intensive lemon flavor I like to brush my hot Lemon Bread with a syrup made from lemon juice and powdered sugar and then add a lemon glaze icing on top.
Making a lemon glaze is very easy. Start with sifting the powdered sugar to avoid clumps and then add lemon juice and milk. I always start with only part of the liquid and then add more as needed so the glaze is thick and creamy and not runny. This way it will form a nice thick icing crust that adds so much lemon flavor.
You can use this Lemon Glaze for Cakes, Bundt Cakes, Cookies, and Loaves.
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Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 Tbsp poppy seeds
For the Lemon Syrup:
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
For the Lemon Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a 9x5-inch (or 8x4-inch) loaf pan and line it with a strip of parchment paper leaving an overhang on two sides to lift out the cake.
- In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, lemon zest, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using an electric mixer) cream the softened butter and sugar together at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer running on low speed, add the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla extract and lemon juice. Beat on medium-high speed until combined.
- With the mixer on low, add about one-third of the flour mixture and mix until almost combined, then add half the buttermilk and mix until just combined. Repeat with another third of flour mixture and then the last half of the buttermilk, ending with the last third of the flour. Beat until just incorporated. Add poppy seeds and fold in with a spatula.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out mostly clean with only a couple moist crumbs. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours.
- Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes in the pan. Stir together the lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar for the lemon syrup. Carefully transfer the cake to a cooling rack, then brush the syrup all over the cake while it’s still warm. Allow cake to cool completely.
- When the cake is cooled, make the icing. Start with adding 1 Tbsp lemon juice to the powdered sugar then add as much milk as needed. The icing should be thick and not too runny. Spoon icing over cake and let harden before serving.
Nutrition Information
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Sharon Snyder says
This sounds goods.
I don’t have a stand mixer. Can I use a hand mixer instead?
Julia Foerster says
Yes, you can use a hand mixer.
Alexa says
Can I use heavy cream instead of buttermilk?
Hailey says
I tried this recipe a few days ago and it’s perfect! I’m just wondering now if I am able to double the batch without ruining the recipe..
Julia Foerster says
I think doubling the recipe should be no problem.
Sarah says
I made this bread yesterday without deviating from the recipe and it’s superb. It’s pretty easy to make and sooo lemony. Everyone loved it so I’m making it again today!
Darleen says
I made this using eggnog instead of buttermilk, really the best I’ve ever had.
Julia Foerster says
What a great idea, Darleen!
Melissa Rayca says
Have you done this with mini loaves? Wondering how long to bake.
Julia Foerster says
I haven’t with this recipe but in general mini loaves take about 30 minutes in the oven. Always test with a skewer for doneness!
Charlene says
Hi Julia,
Can I bake this recipe in a fluted tube pan?
Julia Foerster says
I haven’t tested it in a fluted tube pan, so I’m not sure if there is enough batter to fill it. The cooking time will change too.
Kim says
Made this today. It tastes phenomenal! So moist and delicious. My husband can’t stay out of it!
Rizaliah Sulaiman says
My 1st time trying a lemon poppy seed recipe as it is so hard to find in my country (illegal by standard! 🤫)
and this recipe is definitely a keeper. made it and its SOOO nice, moist and soft. Not to sweet just the right amount of lemon too!
Sam says
Really wish all recipes included grams as well.
Using a cup conversion chart I got the below:
240g plain white flour
180g unsalted butter
180ml buttermilk
200g Sugar
60ml lemon juice
Julia Foerster says
No need to do the conversion yourself, this recipe comes with metric measurements. Just click the button in the recipe card that says “metric” and it will switch to grams and ml.
Kimia says
I’m dying to try this recipe! I don’t have buttermilk on hand and I’m trying to avoid going out right now, do you think sour cream would be an okay substitute? Also was planning on making them as muffins so obviously will shorten the bake time, but would love to hear if you have any tips! Thank you ❤️
Julia Foerster says
Milk and 1 Tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar will work or you could stir a few Tbsp of milk into sour cream.
Kimia says
I ended up doing 2tbsp of sour cream mixed with 3/4 cup milk and they came out perfect!
Ceecee says
Is the cake freezable? Any tips on freezing it?
Julia Foerster says
Yes, it freezes well. Because the bread has an icing on top it is best to place it unwrapped in the freezer for 1-2 hours or until the icing is hard (make sure the cake has room temperature and the icing had some time to dry). Then remove from the freezer and cover the bread with 2 layers of plastic wrap and put back in the freezer.
Bonz says
Delicious recipe!! It took a lot longer than the recipe said, about an hour and 20 minutes. But that’s nothing against the recipe, probably my oven! Will definitely be making this again
Alexandra says
Hi, I’m just wondering if I could use a milk substitute instead of buttermilk? Thanks!
Julia Foerster says
The buttermilk is important for the texture of the bread so sadly I don’t think using milk substitute would result in the same texture.
David Ralston-Bryce says
I made this recipe today and instead of lemon juice and lemon rind used orange juice and rind. The recipe calls for an oven temperature of 180 degrees C but does not state if the oven is with or without a fan. I turned my oven down 20 degrees assuming no fan and it took 60 minutes or so to have a skewer come out clean. Is your oven fan-forced?
Julia Foerster says
That sounds delicious, David! My oven is not fan-forced. 60 min still sounds reasonable to me, perhaps your oven is running a bit colder. With my last, fan-forced, oven I often had the problem that the actual temperature measured with an oven thermometer was less than what my oven was showing.
David Ralston-Bryce says
Thanks for your reply. The cake was indeed delicious, but a little dry. I shall try 170 to 180 degrees C and see how that goes next time I bake it. Nice recipe!
Tayyibah says
Really easy and very very delicious. This recipe is definitely a keeper for me😋
Margaret says
Great recipe and thanks for the tip re the food processor. I made them as you described with a small edition of a tablespoon of lavender. Super tasty!
Shanique says
Yum yum yum! Not to mention such an easy and straightforward recipe. The best part is are the tips you include and explanation. Thank you so much!