Poppy Seed Tea Cakes 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.

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.

LEMON POPPY TEA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until light. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, stopping to scrape the bowl from time to time. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition. Mix in the lemon rind, vanilla extract and poppy seeds.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the sifted ingredients alternately with the yogurt and mix just until smooth. Scrape the batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Place on a rack for a few minutes and then turn the cake out of the pan.
• In a small bowl, slowly stir the lemon juice into the powdered sugar until smooth and brush onto the top and sides of the warm cake.

POPPY SEED TEA CAKE WITH CARDAMOM STREUSEL

Steps:

• For streusel: Mix all ingredients in small bowl until moist clumps form.
• For cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 12-cup angel food cake pan with removable bottom. Sift first 5 ingredients twice into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Mix in sour cream, juice, peel and vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients to blend. Mix in poppy seeds. Transfer batter to prepared pan (batter will fill less than half of pan).
• Bake cake 25 minutes. Sprinkle streusel over top of cake. Continue to bake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Using small knife, cut around sides of pan and center tube to loosen cake. Push cake up. Cut cake free from pan bottom. Transfer cake to platter.

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.