Lemon and Poppy Seed Loaf

A delightful buttery pound cake with a gentle lemon flavor, soft and moist and looks so pretty with the addition of poppy seeds sprinkled throughout.

This is truly a delightful cake. All you need to do once you have baked this cake is sit down with a slice and have a lovely cup of tea!

Lemon and Poppy Seed Loaf | Lovefoodies (1)

Once you've tried this recipe, I am sure you will make it time and time again.

Here at Lovefoodies, we LOVE cake! This lemon and poppy seed loaf cake is very similar to a pound cake. It's quite dense in crumb and soft in texture. It has a smooth, buttery texture and just the right amount of lemon to give a little sharpness and tang against the sweetness.

This site contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information, checkPrivacy Policy.

If you enjoy lemon cakes we have a huge variety for you to bake so make sure you take a look!

One of the things I love about this recipe is that you can make it in round pans or little cupcakes, and you can also freeze without any loss of flavor or texture. That's so handy if you need to make ahead for a party or celebration.

So here's the recipe, and enjoy our lemon and poppy seed loaf cake!

Table of Contents 📋 hide

1) Ingredients

2) Instructions

3) Recipe Card

4) Lemon and Poppy Seed Loaf

5) Loaf Cake Recipes

Ingredients

¾ cup or 175 g softened butter
&frac23; Cup or 150 ml Milk
1 cup or 200 g regular sugar
2 large eggs (lightly beaten)
Grated Zest and Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp lemon extract
3 Tablespoons Poppy Seeds
1 ¾ cups or 225 g Plain / All purpose flour (sieved)
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 170c, 325F. Grease and line your baking tin. See here for how to line.
** Please note, if using a Bundt tin, be sure to grease it very well as it can be hard to get the cake out of such a shaped tin.

2. Get all your ingredients ready, i.e sieve the flour, and add the salt and baking powder to the flour etc.

3. Start with making the cake batter by creaming the butter and sugar until a pale light colour. Add the lemon extract.

4. Slowly add the beaten eggs to the mixer, on a low-speed setting, a bit at a time.

If the mixture starts to curdle or split, add a spoonful of your sieved flour, keep on adding the eggs, and a bit of flour if necessary until all the eggs are added.

Add the lemon juice, zest and poppy seeds.

5. Add the milk with half of the flour, keeping the mixer on a slow speed. Once combined, gently fold in the remaining flour until combined.

6. Transfer the cake mixture to the greased and lined loaf tin. Then place in the oven for 1 hr to 1 hr and 5 minutes, check after 55 minutes.

Lemon and Poppy Seed Loaf | Lovefoodies (4)

*** Please do test if the cake is done by using a skewer and poke it in the middle to see that it comes out clean. Every oven is different and cook times may vary a little.

7. Have a cup of tea!

8. When the cake is done, take it out of the oven and leave in the cake tin until cool enough to transfer to a cooling rack.

Allow to cool. Store in an airtight container.

We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other ingredients? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

Recipe Card

Yield: 10

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Lemon and Poppy Seed Loaf.
This is truly a delightful cake. The flavors are gentle, the cake is soft and moist and of course looks so pretty with the addition of poppy seeds sprinkled throughout the cake

Ingredients

¾ cup or 175 g softened butter
&frac23; cup 150 ml Milk
1 cup or 200 g regular sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Grated Zest and Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp lemon extract
3 Tablespoons Poppy Seeds
1 ¾ cups or 225 g Plain / All purpose flour, sieved
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt

Instructions

Heat oven to 170c,325F. Grease and line your baking tin.
Get all your ingredients ready, i.e sieve the flour, and add the salt and baking powder to the flour etc.
Start with making the cake batter by creaming the butter and sugar until a pale light colour. Add the lemon extract.
Slowly add the beaten eggs to the mixer, on a low speed setting, a bit at a time. If the mixture starts to curdle or split, add a spoonful of your sieved flour, keep on adding the eggs, and a bit of flour if necessary, until all the eggs are added. Add the lemon Juice, zest and poppy seeds.
Add the milk with half of the flour, keeping the mixer on a slow speed. Once combined, gently fold in the remaining flour until combined.
Transfer the cake mixture to the greased and lined loaf tin. Then place in the oven for 1 hr to 1 hr and 5 minutes, check after 55 minutes
*** Please do test if the cake is done by using a skewer and poke it in the middle to see that it comes out clean. Every oven is different and cook times may vary a little.
Have a cup of tea!
When the cake is done, take it out of the oven and leave in the cake tin until cool enough to transfer to a cooling rack.
Allow to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 10Serving Size: 10
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 323Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 76mgSodium: 292mgCarbohydrates: 39gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 5g

Loaf Cake Recipes

Here's a delicious selection of pound or loaf cake recipes for you to enjoy

Tiramisu Pound Cake

Tiramisu Pound Cake, a soft and delicious pound cake with all the flavors of a Tiramisu! It's even got a mascarpone frosting. This will go fast so be sure to make two!

Easy Lemon and Poppyseed French Yogurt Cake

Easy Lemon and Poppyseed French Yogurt Cake. Lemon and poppyseed French yogurt loaf cake is soft and moist, an incredibly easy to make recipe, with poppyseeds throughout. A great tea time cake.

Strawberry and Lemon Loaf Cake

Strawberry and Lemon Loaf Cake.
A deliciously soft and fluffy strawberry loaf cake bursting with freshly squeezed lemon juice. Flavourful, with a tender, soft texture. An easy, popular cake recipe.

Peach Pound Cake with Raspberry Swirl

Peach Pound Cake with Raspberry Swirl. A delicious recipe bursting with sweet peaches and a tangy raspberry swirl running through. Soft, moist and perfect with a morning coffee or to take to friends! If you are a fan of pound cakes and peaches, then this one is for you.

How To Make A Basic Chocolate Loaf Cake

A simple, easy chocolate loaf cake recipe is moist, rich and chocolatey. Perfect for new cooks and is a go to basic recipe

Caribbean Rum Cake

Caribbean Rum Cake, an easy delicious recipe! The cake is soft and moist, packed with rum infused raisins and makes for a great Christmas time cake.

Strawberry Pound Cake

Strawberry Pound Cake. A delicious recipe bursting with fresh strawberries. Soft, moist and perfect with a morning coffee or to take to friends!

Photo Credit:newbieinthekitchen.com

Easy Lemon French Yogurt Cake

Easy Lemon French Yogurt Cake. Delicious tangy lemon, soft and moist, incredibly easy made from scratch cake recipe, great as a tea time snack

Coffee Pecan Pound Cake

Coffee Pecan Pound Cake is a lovely tasting, moist cake with a perfect combination of coffee flavor and texture from the pecans.

Photo Credit:newbieinthekitchen.com

Easy Strawberry French Yogurt Cake

Easy Strawberry French Yogurt Cake.
Delicious juicy strawberries, soft and moist, incredibly easy made from scratch cake recipe, great as a tea time snack

Moist Vanilla Pound, Loaf Cake

Moist Vanilla Pound, Loaf Cake is such a wonderful tasting cake, soft, and delicious!

Photo Credit:newbieinthekitchen.com

Easy Blueberry and Lemon Crumble Cake

Easy Blueberry and Lemon Crumble Cake.
Deliciously soft & moist cake packed with blueberries and a hint of lemon. Topped with a crumble topping. Easiest simple cake recipe ever!

Photo Credit:newbieinthekitchen.com

Raspberry Pound Cake

Easy Raspberry Pound Cake. A delicious classic pound cake recipe bursting with fresh raspberries. Soft, moist and tangy sweet. Topped with a simple chocolate topping. Easy to follow instructions

Coconut and Lime Pound Cake

Coconut and Lime Pound Cake, a deliciously soft coconut cake with a splash of tangy lime.

Moist Coconut Pound Loaf Cake

Moist Coconut PoundCake Recipe. Light, soft, and oh sooooo delicious!

Blueberry Coconut Pound Cake

Blueberry Coconut Pound Cake, a deliciously soft coconut cake with a sprinkling of juicy blueberries.

Moist Lemon or Orange Pound Loaf Cake

Moist Lemon or Orange Pound Loaf, a wonderful soft and delicious cake using freshly squeezed juice and zest. Bake in a loaf or bundt pan. You choose!

Easy Cranberry and White Chocolate Pound Cake

Moist Pecan Almond Loaf Cake

Moist Pecan Almond Loaf Cake. The flavor combo is just divine!

Easy Cinnamon Swirl Loaf

Easy Cinnamon Swirl Loaf. A moist, soft, and delicious tasting loaf cake, perfect with a morning coffee! This is a wonderful no yeast, quick bread recipe, full of flavor, soft and fluffy, and really easy to make too.

Moist Caramel and Apple Loaf

Moist Caramel and Apple Loaf .... ABSOLUTELY Delicious!

Moist Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake

Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake, a delicious soft and moist loaf bursting with juicy blueberries! Perfect with a cup of tea

Moist Coffee Loaf Cake

Moist Coffee Loaf Cake! This is an absolutely delicious soft, moist cake, easy to make and goes perfect with a lovely cup of coffee too!

Moist Banana and Walnut Pound Loaf Cake

Banana and Walnut Loaf Cake. A delicious, very easy and moist cake, and smells so good when it's baking too!

Chocolate Almond Pound Cake

Moist Chocolate Almond Pound Cake. Delicious, rich chocolate cake with added melted chocolate and ground almonds to take this cake to another level of deliciousness!

Spiced Pecan Carrot Cake

Spiced Pecan Carrot Cake! This has got to be the World's best carrot cake.
Fluffy, soft and bursting with the flavors of Fall! Perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas holidays!

Dolly's Chocolate Chip Cake

Dolly's Chocolate Chip Cake. Very easy recipe and a family favorite. Makes two loaves so perfect for gifts or freezing too.

Moist Nutella Banana Loaf Cake

Nutella Banana Loaf. Delicious, soft pound cake with banana and Nutella chocolate. Easy recipe and very popular. Great tasting cake

Share your thoughts

Pat
says:

June 27th, 2019 at 7:54 pm

What size cake tin should I use?
1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  
  June 27th, 2019 at 8:52 pm
  
  Hi Pat, you can use a 1b loaf tin or 2 round 8inch tins and divide the batter if you want to make a round cake.
  Hope that helps!
Dawn
says:

November 26th, 2018 at 2:18 am

I tried the cake and 300f seemed a little low, after an hour the cake was very pale in colour.
Venetta Mackenzie
says:

November 25th, 2017 at 5:54 pm

Im really looking forward to trying your recipe can you tell me if they can be frozen please
1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  
  November 25th, 2017 at 9:12 pm
  
  Hi Venetta, yes, indeed, this cake can be frozen! Please enjoy!
Kaya
says:

April 5th, 2017 at 4:33 am

Id love to make your lemon cake but I need individual cakes, like cupcakes…would that work with this recipe? thanks
Shireen
says:

November 4th, 2016 at 4:21 pm

Hi I baked the cake this afternoon .. And wow!! it turned out exactly as the post said, moist, light and delicious ! Asked my husband his opinion, and he has one no doubt, he commented it’s lovely..make sure you keep that recipie !! I definitely would be adding this to my all time favorite recipies.. Thank you for sharing.. Shireen – Johannesburg
Shireen
says:

November 4th, 2016 at 4:11 pm

Hi
Sharlene Naidoo
says:

October 22nd, 2016 at 6:49 am

I’m from South Africa, I tried this cake out for a family trip. It was a huge hit. It looked just like the picture. It had a beautiful moist and soft texture. I would highly recommend this recipe to anyone. Thank you for the recipe.
carol
says:

March 5th, 2016 at 11:34 pm

you have such great recipes on your site. can you make a pie with your banana pudding recipe.
thanks carol.
1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  
  March 6th, 2016 at 8:50 am
  
  Hi Carol, Thank you for your kind words. Yes, of course you could make a pie with the banana pudding recipe. It is easy enough to do, if you wanted to make a pastry pie crust, you can follow this recipe here, https://lovefoodies.com/tropical-coconut-pie.html or if you wanted to make a graham cracker crust (which would be a no bake one), follow the instructions here for the BASE only, so you have the correct quantities https://lovefoodies.com/creamy-cocoberry-pie.html . I hope that helps!
Becky
says:

February 28th, 2016 at 1:31 pm

I’ve just made this with my 3 year old son and it turned out beautifully! Delicate flavour and lovely textures. Thank you so much for sharing.
1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  
  February 28th, 2016 at 2:16 pm
  
  Hi Becky, thanks so much for your feedback and so happy to hear your little boy enjoys cooking too!!
  Have a lovely Sunday :)
mari
says:

February 8th, 2016 at 1:25 pm

hi!ur recipes are very good…thnks for sharing it..
1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  
  February 8th, 2016 at 6:26 pm
  
  Hi Mari! Thank you and I’m glad you like the recipes :)
Darlene
says:

February 1st, 2016 at 7:54 pm

I made this cake and mine is very heavy, not toasty brown on the outside and definitely not that yellow. I followed the directions exactly like posted. Do you have any answers?
1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  
  February 1st, 2016 at 9:05 pm
  
  Hi Darlene, thanks for writing in and I’m sorry your cake didn’t turn out as expected. I can think of a few things which might be the cause (there may be others which I don’t know of). First, it could be that your oven might need recalibrating, in other words, the temperature may not be accurate. Or, when you come to beat the butter and sugar, it really needs to be beaten for a while until it goes almost a white color and fluffy. It is that part of the recipe which gives the cake a lighter texture and more spongy as opposed to dense. and finally, the yellow appearance could just be down to the eggs. The eggs I use here in Holland are organic and the yolks I have to say are very deep yellow in color, which does make the cake a darker color than usual, so I don;t suspect you have done anything wrong on the color side!
  I hope this helps, and perhaps when you are able, to give the cake another try. It is a very tried and tested recipe which I’ve honestly been making for many years,so I can say hand on heart it really should work!
Penny
says:

November 4th, 2015 at 1:19 pm

Ooh – thanks for the link!! There’s at least five or six there that I’m definitely going to try!
1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  
  November 4th, 2015 at 1:24 pm
  
  Wooohooo! I thought you might like them! Have fun Penny!
Penny
says:

November 1st, 2015 at 2:53 pm

I was all set to make a lemon poppy seed from another site and realised from the comments that it was a sponge cake, and I didn’t want a sponge. So a quick scout around on Pinterest brought me here. And I am SO glad it did! I served it up after supper last night – to my experienced baker sister and her very fussy husband. SHE cut herself a thick piece and HE thin … but went back for another piece later!! (And so did I, although my first piece wasn’t so thin!)
I’ve only started baking in the last year, so discovering lots of new tastes and sensations. Poppy Seeds are one of those! ! I shall most definitely be baking this one again.
Very best wishes,
Penny
1. Lovefoodies
  says:
  
  November 1st, 2015 at 3:27 pm
  
  Hi Penny,
  That is wonderful news and I’m so happy to hear about your baking! It is a wonderful thing to be able to learn and discover new tastes and sensations. that is what Lovefoodies is all about!
  I’d like to share with you some more of our pound cake recipes, if you take a look, I am sure there will be some ‘new’ ones that you might not have thought about, and I say give them a go if the flavour is to your liking! I’m always creating new and exciting combinations, so we’d be happy for you to check back often to see what we have on offer for you to try!
  Here’s a small selection of the pound cakes, the texture and moistness is the same as the poppy seed one, just some different flavours for you to try! https://lovefoodies.com/?s=pound+cake
  Thanks very much for your feed back and keep up the baking!
Ada Roberts Briem
says:

August 27th, 2014 at 11:04 pm

Omg I have just taken this cake out of the oven and it looks fab. It actually is. I cheated a little because a small piece of one corner fell off and of course I had to eat it. Fantastic. To add even a little more taste, as in your Coconut pound cake, I squeezed the juice from the other half of the lemon and put it in a small saucepan adding around 3 tablespoons white sugar to it and melted on very low heat till dissolved. I then poked holes in the cake and poured that combination over it. Can hardly wait to enjoy a piece a little bigger than the corner that fell off. lol. Thank you for the recipe, I found it very simple and to make as I am not a super baker.
1. lovefoodies
  says:
  
  August 27th, 2014 at 11:14 pm
  
  Hi Ada, I’m so happy you love the cake! and I’m also glad you trusted me on the cooking temperature. It really does make a huge difference with the ‘softness’ of the cake. I also do the lemon drizzle trick with my plain lemon or orange loaf cake, but for this one, I only wanted a gentle lemon taste, but I’m glad you took the initiative and used up the other half a lemon! Well done you! I think you get today’s award for happy baker!
  Thanks for your feedback :)
Ada Roberts Briem
says:

August 27th, 2014 at 1:43 am

300degrees F seems a little low to bake a cake. may I please check to see if this maybe a misprint ?
1. lovefoodies
  says:
  
  August 27th, 2014 at 9:11 am
  
  Hi Ada,
  300F is the correct temperature. The reason is to cook the cake slowly to retain maximum moistness and soft texture. (pound cakes are notorious for being too heavy and often over baked or dry) If you increase the temperature, I have always found my cakes tend to over cook on the outside and also about 1 inch from the outer, leaving the inside of the cake not so good. This will ensure a much even cooking throughout the cake.
  It works, so please do trust me! All of my pound cake recipes are baked at a lower temperature to ensure maximum deliciousness!
  1. Ada Roberts Briem
    says:
    
    August 27th, 2014 at 9:32 am
    
    Thank you so much for your reply and yes, that makes perfect sense. I really appreciate your help . Will give it a go really soon.
  2. lovefoodies
    says:
    
    August 27th, 2014 at 9:55 am
    
    You’re very welcome Ada!
  3. Monali Mohapatra
    says:
    
    April 7th, 2015 at 3:20 am
    
    Can u plz tell me how to bake this cake without egg
  4. lovefoodies
    says:
    
    April 7th, 2015 at 8:52 am
    
    Hi Monali, I have never made this recipe without egg. I suggest if you are used to making egg free cakes, then you could try whatever substitute you usually use. I’m afraid I can’t guarantee the cake will come out as the recipe because it hasn’t been tried. Thanks!
  5. STQ
    says:
    
    April 9th, 2015 at 5:42 pm
    
    could also use a powdered sugar glaze (with lemon, if you’d like)…

Lemon and Poppy Seed Loaf | Lovefoodies (2024)

Ingredients

Instructions

Recipe Card

Ingredients

Instructions

Recommended Products

Nutrition Information:

Tiramisu Pound Cake

Easy Lemon and Poppyseed French Yogurt Cake

Strawberry and Lemon Loaf Cake

Peach Pound Cake with Raspberry Swirl

How To Make A Basic Chocolate Loaf Cake

Caribbean Rum Cake

Strawberry Pound Cake

Easy Lemon French Yogurt Cake

Coffee Pecan Pound Cake

Easy Strawberry French Yogurt Cake

Moist Vanilla Pound, Loaf Cake

Easy Blueberry and Lemon Crumble Cake

Raspberry Pound Cake

Coconut and Lime Pound Cake

Moist Coconut Pound Loaf Cake

Blueberry Coconut Pound Cake

Moist Lemon or Orange Pound Loaf Cake

Easy Cranberry and White Chocolate Pound Cake

Moist Pecan Almond Loaf Cake

Easy Cinnamon Swirl Loaf

Moist Caramel and Apple Loaf

Moist Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake

Moist Coffee Loaf Cake

Moist Banana and Walnut Pound Loaf Cake

Chocolate Almond Pound Cake

Spiced Pecan Carrot Cake

Dolly's Chocolate Chip Cake

Moist Nutella Banana Loaf Cake

References