Levanas Orange Poppy Seed Cake Recipes

ORANGE-AND-POPPY-SEED SHEET CAKE

Steps:

• Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush a 9-by-13-inch or 8-by-12-inch baking pan with butter. Line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on long sides. Butter parchment.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine eggs and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until thick and pale, about 4 minutes. Add flour mixture; beat to combine. Add butter, zest, poppy seeds, and vanilla; beat to combine. Add sour cream; beat until smooth.
• Scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with a spatula. Bake until top springs back when lightly touched and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes (for 9-by-13-inch) or about 40 minutes (for 8-by-12).
• Let cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Using parchment overhangs, lift cake out of pan and let cool completely on rack. (Cake can be made to this point and stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, up to 1 day.)
• Icing: Whisk together confectioners' sugar, butter, and orange juice until smooth. Spread over cake. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Let set at least 20 minutes before serving. Iced cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

LEVANA'S ORANGE POPPY SEED CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• To make the cake: In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and orange zest.
• Set aside.
• In an electric mixer, combine the eggs and sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
• Add the oil and vanilla and beat until just combined.
• Beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the 3/4 cup orange juice.
• Mix slightly after each addition, just to incorporate.
• Add the poppy seeds and mix to incorporate the seeds into the batter.
• Pour the batter into a greased 10-inch springform pan.
• Bake for 1 hour, or until the point of a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
• To make the syrup: While the cake is baking, place the syrup ingredients into a small saucepan and heat until thickened, about 3-4 minutes.
• When the cake is done, immediately unmold it from the springform pan.
• Prick it all over with a skewer and brush the syrup all over the top and sides of the cake while it is still hot.
• The cake will absorb all the syrup.
• Let the cake cool completely before serving.