Reviewed: Feb. 28, 2003

The cake is really moist and lemony and yet light. No raising agent so be sure to cream your butter and sugar REALLY well if you want your cake to be light. The quantities called for really fills the 9x5 loaf tin, so if your oven is unpredictable (like mine), it could be best to use a bundt tin. Otherwise the sides will be drier while the middle is still damp (not moist). I got a more evenly baked and moist cake with a bundt tin. If your poppyseed happens to be the hard kind (like the ones I got), you can soften it by soaking it in warm milk for about an hour. then just tip the drained poppyseeds in the batter after you've beaten in the eggs. Otherwise, WOW! thanks Holly!

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25 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

POOH_KORNER

Reviewed: Jul. 2, 2006

Absolutely incredible! I made this cake while homesick for a similar recipe from my favorite cafe. I am thrilled to say it beat all expectations. Everyone who tasted it raved and it vanished in record time. I was concerned at the last stage about the syrup as I expected it to be much thicker. It has the consistency of water (maybe a little thicker) and I thought for sure the cake would be soggy. It wasn't! It was perfect. I suggest poking more holes to the side of the cake than the center as this syrup will moisten up the crust and balance the flavor. You must try this recipe if you like lemony delicious things!

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13 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

DanKline

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Ouray, Colorado, USA

Living In: Giv'atayim, Mehoz Tel-Aviv, Israel

Reviewed: Jun. 29, 2009

Very good lemon poppy seed cake. I didn't bother with the syrup and opted for icing instead because I baked it in an 8x8 square glass pan. It baked up nice at 350 in a little over an hour. I creamed together 1 c. of salted butter with the sugar and added 3 eggs vs. 5. Since there was no rising agent I added 1 tsp. of baking powder and used 1/2 tsp. of salt. I also added 1/2 cup of lemon juice and didn't use lemon zest. It was delicious. I have to agree with one of the other reviewers - it is much better the next day for some reason.

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11 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Jillian

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA

Reviewed: Mar. 12, 2007

I made this with low calorie becel instead of butter, regular flour, I didn't have lemon peel so i put 2-3 tbsp lemon juice into the batter and I added a tsp of baking soda as well. It took about 60 min to bake in my loaf pan. I thought it turned out very tasty. Its the first lemon loaf I've tried so I have nothing else to compare it to...essentially the entire lemon flavour comes from the syrup that you add at the end....it looks like a lot but it is needed. I found that the top half of the loaf has more of the lemon flavour and is more moist compared to the bottom half.....but it's not really a huge issue...I think I will add more lemon juice to the batter next time and see what happens.(not that the end result wasn't lemony..it was) Definitely let the cake sit for 1 day before serving...it improves a lot.

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7 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Principessa

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Living In: Burlington, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Reviewed: Oct. 9, 2005

A little too lemony for me, but friends loved it. Nice and moist.

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5 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Countess

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: San Francisco, California, USA

Living In: Oakland, California, USA

Reviewed: Jul. 10, 2011

I was looking for a moist lemon cake I could make ahead of time to keep in the freezer for pot lucks and church suppers. This one filled the bill perfectly. The only changes I made were to add one teaspoon lemon extract to the batter and to bake in a tube pan instead of the loaf pan. I also followed another reviewer's advice and creamed my butter and sugar extremely well. The result was the light, moist, wonderfully flavorful cake I was looking for. The only thing I will change in the future is the baking time. Using a tube pan, I baked the cake for a full 60 minutes. Next time I will start checking it at about 50-55 minutes.

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4 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Kate3381

Reviewed: Aug. 8, 2010

This was pretty good....I was expecting it to be a bit more like the lemon poppy seed cake at a popular coffee house chain...it wasn't quite the same though. Next time i would try to incorporate more of a lemon flavor in the actual batter, maybe by adding lemon juice AND the zest, and I would also like it to be more moist. My fiance loved it though :)

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3 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

lilacwine808

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Living In: Wilmington, North Carolina, USA

Reviewed: Nov. 18, 2006

I must have done something wrong. We called this "egg cake" because that's what it tasted like. Will not make again. :(

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3 users found this review helpful

Reviewer:

MARTIEDARLING

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Sarasota, Florida, USA

Living In: Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Reviewed: Jul. 13, 2012

really good and moist

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1 user found this review helpful

Reviewer:

Yessenia

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: River Ridge, Louisiana, USA

Reviewed: Nov. 21, 2012

Super moist! Followed this recipe exactly as written and it came out perfectly. I was a litter nervous about the batter because it was so thick and equally as nervous about the lemon sugar syrup because it was so thin, but I kept the faith that the ratings were accurate and went ahead with the recipe as written. I do not regret it! I did add some lemon juice in with the zest as I was making it, but other than that I didn't make any changes. Highly recommended for a fall dessert or with morning coffee.

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