This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.
This lemon poppy seed cake is moist and fluffy and is bursting with refreshing lemon flavor. Topped with a cream cheese frosting, it looks ambitious, but it’s SO easy to make!
Love lemon dessert recipes? Try my lemon olive oil cake, lemon loaf, and lemon mousse.
My lemon poppy seed cake recipe looks impressive, but honestly, it’s one of the easiest cakes you’ll ever make. I tested this using just pantry staples because, let’s be real- things are expensive these days, and we all deserve (need) some cake!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Basic ingredients. This cake has no eggs, no milk, and no butter, but you’d never tell.
- Perfect for lemon lovers. You get some lemon in the cake batter but also in the frosting.
- It looks incredible. I add a few drops of yellow food coloring to make the color pop, and when you pair that with the poppy seeds and cream cheese frosting, it’s a cake that will impress–just ask my friends!
- Quick and easy. From prep to plate, this cake takes less than 30 minutes to make. The hard part is waiting to add the frosting.
Ingredients needed
- Flour. Nothing fancy is needed here. Just sifted all-purpose flour, or gluten-free flour if needed.
- Sugar. I used regular white sugar. You can use brown sugar if you’d like, but it will make the cake darker and give it a more robust caramelized flavor.
- Salt. Just a dash to elevate the other ingredients.
- Baking soda. To help the cake rise.
- Poppy seeds. For lemon poppy seed cake, of course!
- Vinegar. To react with the baking soda and give it a light, airy texture. Use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
- Vanilla extract. A must for any good cake recipe.
- Oil. I used vegetable oil, but any neutral-flavored oil will work. It provides moisture and binds the ingredients.
- Lemon juice. I recommend using fresh lemon juice for the brightest lemon flavor.
- Water. To bind the ingredients. Milk will also work, though I didn’t notice a huge flavor difference.
- Yellow food coloring. To enhance the color. You can skip this if you’d like, but the cake will be white.
- Cream cheese frosting. To frost the cake. I made my own with softened cream cheese and milk, but you can use a store-bought frosting instead.
How to make lemon poppyseed cake
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Combine dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients.
Step 2- Add wet ingredients. To the large bowl, add all of the wet ingredients to the flour mixture, minus the food coloring, and whisk to combine. Then, add the food coloring and mix until it reaches your desired color.
Step 3- Bake. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step 4- Frost. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool briefly, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Recipe tips and variations
- Don’t overbake. The cake will continue to cook briefly after being pulled out of the oven, so remove it as soon as a toothpick comes out ‘just’ clean.
- Increase the lemon flavor. If you love tart lemon, swap the water for extra lemon juice and fold lemon zest into the batter.
- Make lemon poppyseed muffins. When I want to share this recipe, I find making muffins to be easier. Simply line a 12-count muffin tin with muffin liners and evenly distribute the batter among the pan. Bake for 17-19 minutes, then let them cool completely in the pan before frosting.
- Or make a bundt cake. Pour the batter into a well-greased bundt cake and increase the cooking time by at least 15-20 minutes to make up for the deeper-sized pan.
- Double or triple the recipe. This recipe makes a single 8-inch cake with frosting, but if you’d like multiple cake layers, double or triple the ingredients.
- Swap the citrus. I’ve made this exact recipe with orange and grapefruit, and I’ll tell you what: it tasted just as good!
Frosting options
If you’re not in the mood for cream cheese frosting, you can skip it or use a different frosting recipe. Here are a few of my tested options:
- Lemon cream cheese frosting. Using an electric mixer, combine ½ cup of softened cream cheese with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar in
- Lemon glaze. Combine ¾ cup of powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Vanilla glaze. Combine ¾ cup of powdered sugar with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1-2 tablespoons of milk.
- Vegan cream cheese frosting. Use the frosting recipe from my vegan lemon cake.
Storage instructions
To store: Any leftover cake can be stored in an airtight container and kept at room temperature for 3-4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
To freeze: To keep the cake fresher longer, wrap any leftover slices in plastic wrap and freeze them in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy it again, let it thaw overnight in the fridge.
More easy cake recipes to try
Easiest Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar white or sugar free substitutes * See notes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon vinegar white or apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 5 tablespoon oil vegetable, canola, or any neutral flavored oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3/4 cup water
- 1-2 drops yellow food coloring
- 1/2 cup cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease an 8-inch cake pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and poppy seeds and mix well. Add your vinegar, vanilla extract, oil, water, and lemon juice and mix everything together. Add your yellow food coloring, and mix until incorporated.
- Transfer the cake batter into the lined pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool completely, before frosting.
I have four kiddos with lots of food allergies and a personal obsession with all things lemon and poppy seed so this was a massive success! However, I have a question for you, what is the purpose of the nut butter in the recipe? We used sunflower butter and the flavor of it overpowered the wonderful lemon. My daughter gobbled it up but I’m wondering if I could use something else that is not an allergen that doesn’t overpower the fresh lemon flavor. Thanks!!
Hi Lydia! I like adding nut butter as it really elevates the flavor profile, and avoids them from being too gummy or cake-y- I’ve also found the added fat to help with the staying power. You could use coconut oil if you don’t want the overpowering flavor 🙂
Thank you! I’ll try it with homemade hemp seed butter. I thought it might be for binding purposes which is why I asked! Thank you!! My family enjoys all of the recipes we have tried from your blog. Thank you for what you do!
Lydia, this is so kind of you 🙂 I hope you and your family continue to enjoy them 🙂
I just made the GF version of this, with some substitutions. Always with the substitutions…. Less sugar, lemon extract instead of vanilla extract, and chia seeds instead of poppy seeds because that’s what I had. Very tasty! Thank you! I was dubious of the nut butter, but you really can’t taste it. More to the point, my super taster of a kiddo couldn’t taste it either.
Thanks SO much for the feedback, Sue- I appreciate it- so glad that the chia seeds kept the texture too!
This looks yummy! What size pan would suit this recipe? I have more than one size loaf pan in my cupboard.
Hi Kerrilyn! I personally prefer smaller pans as I love thicker cake slices 🙂
Thanks Arman! Thanks for your reply! I’m going to make this cake today. ?
Hi – this looks awesome! I plan on making it, but I was just wondering – I have PCOS, and so would like to make it as low-sugar and high-protein as possible. Would the gluten-free or paleo option suit me better? Thanks!
Hi Kait- I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with PCOS so I’m not sure- It’s probably best to seek out a medical professional 🙂
Just delcious. Amything lemon, one of my faves this. Thanks .
Simon
I lovelovelove lemon poppy seed and I’ve been looking for a HEALTHY, vegan breakfast muffin option (I’m hard to please, don’t judge haha). Do you think this recipe would be suitable for muffins? If so, how many would it yield? Like a dozen maybe? You’re the best!
Greetings from Denmark
Hi Cecilie!
Hahaha no worries at all! It would totally work as muffins, I’m not sure how many though!
Enjoy!
Well…I’m italian and I’ve fibromyalgia, so I can’t eat gluten and nightshades. I’m eating your AMAZING lemon poppyseed cake right now and I’m so happy I can’t tell *_*. I’ve used Werz glutenfree mix insted of rolled glutenfree oats flour because my mixer is broken and I couldn’t ground them. And your cake is D E L I C I O U S. My boyfriend loves it. And usually he doesn’t like sweets. I need to do the frosting tomorrow, but I don’t know if the cake will be still there. I’m afraid I’m gonna eat it all right now :D. Thank you very much! <3
Cloe!!!! 😀 Bongiorno!
Thanks so much for trying it out- I’m glad you and your boyfriend both enjoyed it! 🙂
Where do you find coconut butter? And what brand do you use?
Thanks
Hi Kathleen! I use Amazon to order it, and the brand I prefer is Coconut manna 🙂
This was delicious! I added blueberries to it. AMAZING. I made the paleo version and it did take 50 minutes to bake, I used a bread loaf tin. I am sad to say that I did not like the protein frosting option nor did I enjoy the coconut butter frosting option. I enjoyed this with out frosting thought with a cup of earl grey tea. This was quite sweet. Next time I make I think I will omit the maple syrup and opt for tiny bit more lemon flavor. I do not eat processed foods or sugars at all or pre packaged food and I do not eat sweets often so I think I am just sensitive to sweet things.
Hi Elisa! Thanks so much for the feedback- Sorry you didn’t like either of the frostings- I guess if you aren’t too big a fan of super sweet recipes, it’s totally not needed 🙂
This looks delicious! I’m just wondering – what brand of coconut palm sugar do you use? I use Wholesome, but it usually turns my recipes an unappetizing shade of brown (especially for a lemon dessert :)). How do you keep the cake such a nice lemony color? Is there any way to prevent it from turning brown?
Hi there! I usually use Nutiva, but for these recipes, I used norbu (as pictured), which is a granulated monk fruit sweetener 🙂
Is ‘T’ tablespoon or teaspoon?
Hi Sharon! 🙂 That is correct!
lol – you didn’t actually state which one it was – there’s a big difference between a tablespoon and a teaspoon.
or does it mean one sometimes and the other at other times, and how do I know which one?
Oh my I’m so sorry! Tablespoon!!!!
haha, thank you Arman. I actually just read through all the comments to see if it was in there, and found it just as you posted. Can’t wait to try this, and I think I’ll try another version with oranges instead of lemons. LOVE orange and poppy seed!
vegan or paleo? which should i try first lol…. yum!!!
Monica! You should try both! 🙂
I did the first recipe with some little changes (rapadura sugar, lemon essential oil). So it’s brown but DE-LI-CIOUS!!
I did small cakes instead of a big one, but 1/4 broke when I took them out of the tin. Maybe it wouldn’t happen with 2 eggs? What do you think?
Hi Odile! So glad you enjoyed it!
Sorry to hear making them smaller broke- I would try perhaps adding a teaspoon or two or flaxmeal?
Hello (i’m frech sorry if it isn’t a good english) for the paleo version there isn’t milk in the list ! Is it normal or how much we need ?
Hi Sandra! You don’t need any milk in the paleo option- The eggs work as the replacement for moisture, along with the applesauce.