Glazed Poppy Seed Tea Cake Recipes

LEMON POPPY-SEED TEA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch (8-cup capacity) loaf pan; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds; set aside.
• In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar on high until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition; mix in vanilla and lemon zest. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture in two parts and milk in one, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
• Pour batter into prepared pan; smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. In a medium saucepan, bring lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar; set syrup aside.
• Remove cake from oven. While cake is still in pan, poke several holes in top with a toothpick. Set aside 2 tablespoons syrup; pour remainder over cake. Cool cake completely in pan, about 2 hours. Turn cake out of pan; place, right side up, on a platter, and brush all over with reserved syrup. Store, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days.

GLAZED POPPY SEED TEA CAKE

Steps:

• Place oven rack in middle position; heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour one 8-inch round cake pan. Spoon flour and almonds into clean spice grinder, and process to fine meal. Transfer to medium bowl. Spoon a third of the poppy seeds into grinder, and process to break them open, adding them to almonds and flour. Repeat with remaining poppy seeds. Fluff, and separate clumps. Stir salt, cinnamon, allspice and lemon peel into ground mixture. Set aside.
• In bowl of mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 40 seconds. Scrape down bowl, add 3 tablespoons sugar and beat until smooth and light, 2 minutes. Add egg yolks one by one, beating well after each addition. Scrape down mixture with rubber spatula.
• With machine on low speed, add poppy seed mixture in three equal parts and milk in two, starting and ending with poppy seed mixture. Scrape down batter with rubber spatula, and set aside.
• In a separate bowl, beat 2 egg whites on medium speed with whisk attachment until foamy. (Save remaining whites for another use.) With machine running, add 1 teaspoon sugar; continue beating until soft peaks form, sprinkle in 2 remaining teaspoons sugar and beat until peaks are shiny and supple.
• Stir a fourth of the egg whites into cake batter with rubber spatula. Fold in remaining whites, and turn batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Bake until cake is light brown on surface and tests clean with toothpick, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove cake from oven, cool in pan on wire rack 5 minutes, turn out of pan onto rack and cool completely.
• Combine ingredients for glaze in small bowl, and whisk until smooth. Pour glaze all at once on surface of cooled cake, and smooth with small spatula. Let glaze become firm, slice cake and serve.

POPPY SEED TEA CAKE

Steps:

• Make the cake: Center a rack in the oven and heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8 1/2-inch loaf pan. Place the pan on 2 stacked baking sheets or an insulated baking sheet.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Put the sugar in a large bowl, add the lemon or tangerine zest, and rub together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Add the eggs, one by one, whisking each vigorously before adding the next. Whisk in the juice and vanilla, and then whisk in the heavy cream until smooth.
• Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, using the whisk to gently stir the dry ingredients into the batter. When the flour is incorporated, add the butter in 2 additions, again stirring gently with the whisk. You should have a thick, smooth, shiny batter. Switch to a flexible spatula and stir in the poppy seeds. Scrape the batter into the pan.
• Bake until the cake has risen and cracked along the center and, most important, a tester inserted deep into the cake comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. Take a look at it after about 45 minutes and tent it loosely with foil if it's getting too dark too fast.
• Transfer the pan to a rack, cool for 5 minutes, and then run a table knife between the cake and the sides of the pan. Unmold the cake, then turn it right side up onto the rack. Cool to room temperature.
• Make the glaze, if you like: Stir together the confectioners' sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice until smooth. If needed, add more juice, a drop at a time, until you have an icing that falls slowly from the tip of a spoon. Spread it over the cooled cake to coat evenly, sprinkle with poppy seeds and let stand until set. Wrapped well, the cake will keep at room temperature for about 4 days; unglazed, it can be frozen for up to 1 month.

VICTORIAN CITRUS GLAZED POPPY SEED CAKE

Steps:

• Soak the poppy seeds in the milk for 4 hours or more. Rinse the seeds under cold running water, and then drain well.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a Bundt pan or a 10-inch tube pan.
• Cream the butter and gradually beat in 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar. Beat in the brandy, grated lime and orange rinds, lavender powder and poppy seeds. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Continue beating for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture is very light and creamy.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff but not dry.
• Sift the flour and salt over the egg yolk mixture a third at a time, folding in after each addition. Gently fold in a quarter of the egg whites; then fold in the rest.
• Pour the batter carefully into the prepared pan. Bake 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean when tested in the center. If you like a tangy cake,make a syrup by combining the lime juice and orange juice (and brandy!) in a glass measuring cup; stir in the superfine sugar until it has completely dissolved.
• Immediately upon removing from the oven, prick the top of the cake with a long-tined fork or thin skewer and pour the citrus-brandy syrup all over the top to cover it completely. Allow syrup to soak in and let stand until cool, about 1 hour, before removing pan. Place cake on serving platter and garnish with sprigs of fresh edible flowers.

GLAZED LEMON POPPY SEED POUND CAKE

Steps:

• In large bowl, combine 1 cup sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.
• In medium bowl, combine milk, eggs, and vanilla and beat lightly.
• Add half this mixture as well as the butter to the dry ingredients and beat at medium speed for one minute.
• Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 parts, beating at same speed for 20 seconds after each addition.
• Beat in poppy seeds and lemon zest.
• Spoon batter into a loaf pan and smooth the top.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or till done (test with toothpick).
• Lemon Glaze: in a small saucepan beat the 1/2 cup of sugar into the 1/4 cup of lemon juice till dissolved.
• Brush 3/4 of the glaze onto the cake while still in the pan.
• Let cool 10 minutes, invert and brush the bottom and sides with the remaining glaze.

CARROT-POPPYSEED CAKE WITH LEMON GLAZE

Steps:

• For the Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a standard loaf pan (8 by 4 inches) and line with parchment, leaving an overhang on both long sides; butter parchment. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and salt until combined. Beat butter and both sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat 3 minutes more. Add vanilla, carrot juice, and carrots; beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture, then beat in poppy seeds just until combined.
• Transfer batter to prepared pan, smoothing top with an offset spatula. Bake until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool 20 minutes in pan on a wire rack set inside a baking sheet. Remove cake using parchment, transfer directly to rack, and let cool completely.
• For the Glaze: In a large bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar and 3 tablespoons lemon juice until smooth, adding more lemon juice, teaspoon at a time, until icing is thick and pourable. Pour glaze over top.
• Sprinkle cake generously with poppy seeds and let glaze set completely, about 30 minutes; transfer to a serving platter. Cake can be stored, covered, at room temperature up to 3 days.