Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup caster sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ cup butter (unsalted, softened)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup lukewarm milk
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 ½ cup cream cheese
- ½ cup butter
- 5 cups icing sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp lemon zest
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven at 350 F or 180 C for 15 minutes.
- Prepare a greased 8-inch pan with butter paper at the bottom. It will help easy loosening of the cake from the mold after baking.
- Sift 2 cups of flour, ½ tsp of baking powder, and ½ tsp of salt in a bowl and mix.
- Add 3 tbsp of poppy seeds and 1 tbsp of lemon zest to the dry mixture and stir together so the poppy seeds have an equal proportion.
- Add ¼ cup of lemon juice to 1 cup lukewarm milk and mix with a spoon and set aside to curdle. This is your makeshift buttermilk. You can substitute it with actual buttermilk.
- Take a large bowl and take ¾ cup of butter and 1 cup of powdered caster sugar and blend them with a hand mixer. Do not use icing sugar, it will make the cake bland.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until the butter attains a light yellowish hue.
- Add one egg to the above mixture and blend, repeat this with the other two eggs. You shouldn’t skip the creaming time required for it, this is what makes the cake moist and fluffy.
- Mix in the curdled milk with ½ tsp of vanilla extract to the wet batter.
- Once the wet batter is prepared, take small proportions of dry batter and mix gently with a spatula until the flour mixture is incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Pour the cake batter in the greased pan and do not overfill it, leave an inch of space for rising.
- Put the pan in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes and check with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, your cake is ready. If it still has batter on it, give it another 10 to 20 minutes.
Frosting:
- Whisk 1 ½ cup cream cheese with ½ cup butter and add 5 cups of icing sugar in proportions with a hand mixer until fluffy.
- Mix 1 tsp of lemon juice and 2 tbsp of lemon zest in it.
Take the cake out of the oven, cool it for 10 to 15 minutes. Cut it into three flat layers. Add frosting when it is completely cool, otherwise, the frosting will melt. Once the frosting is done, put the cake in the fridge and serve chilled.