This lemon poppy seed loaf with lemon glaze is extremely delicious. It’s fluffy, tasty and with the perfect touch of lemon. Contrary to what some people say, poppy seeds do have flavour and they’re the best! The flavour combination of poppy seeds and lemon works excellently here.
How to make a Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf with Lemon Glaze
To make this Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf with Lemon Glaze I use my cake base recipe I adore. The result is fluffy, moist and extremely tasty. For the loaf, we start by creaming the butter with the oil, sugar and lemon zest. This process get the butter extra soft and airy. It also makes the lemon zest release all of its flavour as it gets beaten with the sugar. Then, add the eggs and beat again to thicken. Finally, add the milk and dry ingredients to bring the batter together. We bake it for 45min-1 hour and it comes out golden on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
The Lemon Glaze
Prepare the lemon glaze once the loaf has completely cooled down. If you pour on the glaze while the loaf is still warm, it will melt and become translucent. The recipe for the glaze requires mixing icing sugar and lemon juice. Add the lemon juice little by little until you get a semi-thick consistency. I also like to sprinkle the glaze with extra poppy seeds on top while the glaze is still wet. Those little black speckles look so cute on the glaze!
Lemon cakes
Lemon cakes and loaves are amazing. They’re delicious, moist and with that tangy flavour that makes you fall in love. Other than this Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf with Lemon Glaze, I have plenty of other lemon recipes you might like:
The technique for the line down the centre
I love to do a technique where you add butter along the centre of a loaf before it goes to the oven. That makes the loaf break at the centre evenly instead of a more rustic look where it breaks in several places. I’ve done this before in my Clementine Cake recipe by making a groove down the centre of the batter and pouring in a bit of melted butter. However, I recently saw a new way of doing it on Instagram. For this Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf with Lemon Glaze I cut thin strips of butter and placed them along the centre of the batter. It has the same effect as the other technique and it can be easier for some of you.
Tips for making the best Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf with Lemon Glaze
- Cream the butter with the sugar and lemon. I already mentioned this, but the friction between the sugar and the lemon zest really brings out that incredible lemony taste. This Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf with Lemon Glaze gets most of its flavour from the zest!
- Don’t overbeat your cake once you add the flour. You want to just incorporate it until it’s homogeneous. More than that will develop the gluten in the flour and result in a tough cake.
- Check your baking powder! This has happened more times than I care to admit, but check the use-before date of your baking powder. Past this date, it works less efficiently and you could get a dense cake.
Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf with Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
For the loaf
- 90 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 tsp salt
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 25 g vegetable oil
- 170 g granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 90 ml milk
- 30 ml lemon juice
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds
For the line down the centre (optional)
- 10 g unsalted butter
For the glaze
- 100 g icing sugar
- Juice from 1-2 lemons
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
Instructions
For the loaf
- Beat the butter with the sugar, salt, lemon zest and oil until the mix is lighter in colour. You can use an electric mixer or a whisk.
- Add the eggs and beat once again until they are nicely incorporated and the mixture looks thick and aerated.
- Add the milk and juice and mix.
- Add the flour, poppy seeds and baking powder and mix.
- Brush your pan with melted butter and sprinkle with flour. Turn it over and tap it on the table to remove the excess flour.
- Pour the batter into the pan and level it out.
- This is optional, but if you want that nice and even break at the centre of the cake, cut thin slices of butter. They should be 2-3mm thick. Place them along the centre of the batter.
- Bake the loaf in a preheated oven at 180°C / 350°F for 45min – 1 hr. At the half an hour mark check the loaf as it tends to become golden quickly on top. If it's golden enough, cover it with tin foil for the rest of the cooking process or switch the heat to only the bottom.
For the glaze
- Once the loaf has completely cooled down, prepare the glaze.
- Add a little bit of lemon juice at a time to the icing sugar until you get a semi-thick glaze.
- Pour the glaze onto the cake and spread it.
- Sprinkle the glaze with poppy seeds while it's still wet.
