Lemon & Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

Bundt Cake (Gugelhupf in German or kuglóf in Hungarian) originates from Central Europe and got very popular in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. There are several variations of this cake, my favourite one is definitely the “marble” bundt cake. It brings back some childhood memories, when my mum baked one in the morning for breakfast with coffee for her and my dad, and with hot chocolate milk for me and my brother. A soul-warming breakfast on a relaxed Sunday morning when the family was together.

Today I would like to introduce you to another version – the lemon and poppy seed bundt cake. Tangy, zesty with a bit of interesting texture due to the poppy seed. We use poppy seed in significant quantity in many desserts in the Hungarian cuisine, which might be weird for some of you. I found it very difficult to find poppy seed in grocery stores in Western Europe, but thankfully to the Polish stores in Ireland, I now have enough poppy seed supply for a couple of years.

The preparation of lemon and poppy seed bundt cake is very simple and does not require any special ingredient – beside the poppy seed. Done within an hour and it is perfect for breakfast or as an afternoon pick-me-up with a cup of tea or coffee.

Lemon & Poppy Seed Bundt Cake with a hot cup of tea

Ingredients:

200 g plain white flour
200 g sugar (I always use brown sugar)
2 tbsp yoghurt
100 ml milk
100 ml coconut oil or sunflower oil (I always use coconut oil)
12 g baking powder
1 lemon (zest and juice)
2 eggs
50 g poppy seeds

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 180C (fan)
Mix the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl, and set it aside.
Beat the eggs and sugar until you get a smooth and pale mixture.
Add the milk, oil, yoghurt, lemon juice and zest to the mixture and mix it well together. Slowly add the poppy seed as well.
The last step will be adding the flour mix slowly to the batter and stir it until well combined.
Make sure that you butter/grease your tin well, unless you use a silicon one as I do. Pour the batter into the bundt cake tin.
Bake it for approximately 45 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
Let is cool for 10-15 minutes before removing it from the tin.
Serve it with icing sugar on top if you wish or prepare a lemon glaze. I am not a fan of glaze or icing sugar in general, so I skip this part.

Tips:

If you are aiming for a fluffier cake, I recommend separating the eggs and only beat the egg yolk with the sugar, and beat the egg white separately until hard. Add the hard egg whites to the mixture at the end, after you mixed the flour into the mixture. Use a spatula to avoid breaking the egg whites too much.