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Lemon poppy-seed cake

Poppy seeds are used in cakes and many other dishes across the world, their fragrant nutty taste going especially well with the citrus flavour of lemon or orange. There is a lot of milk in this recipe, which makes the crumb very tender and soft. It’s baked in a bundt tin, which gives more of a crusty outer layer, though if you don’t have one, a standard round cake tin would do just as well, or you could use the mixture to make muffins. If you like, you could decorate with candied orange slices, placing these on the iced cake instead of sprinkling over the poppy seeds.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 50–70 minutes

Ready in: 1 hour 40 minutes

Serves: 10–14

325g (11½oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1½ tsp baking powder

1½ tsp salt

400g (14oz) caster sugar

25g (1oz) poppy seeds, plus 1–2 tsp to decorate

225ml (8fl oz) sunflower or vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

325ml (11½fl oz) milk

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Candied orange slices, to decorate (optional)

For the icing

200g (7oz) icing sugar, sifted

3 tbsp lemon juice

2.5 litre (4⅓ pint) bundt tin (about 23cm/9in in diameter) or 25cm (10in) diameter cake tin

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4, then grease the bundt tin with sunflower or vegetable oil and dust with flour. If you’re using a standard type of cake tin, grease the sides and line the base with a disc of baking parchment.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl, add the sugar and poppy seeds and mix together.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until combined. Tip this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix together using a wooden spoon to make a smooth batter. You may need to use a whisk briefly to get rid of any lumps of flour.

Tip into the prepared tin and bake for 50–60 minutes (60–70 minutes if using a standard cake tin). When cooked, the cake should feel springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to sit for just 2 minutes, then loosen the edges with a small, sharp knife, place a wire rack upside down on top of the cake and carefully turn it over. Gently remove the tin and allow to cool completely.

While the cake is baking, or while it’s cooling, you can make the icing. Beat the icing sugar and lemon juice together until smooth. Carefully transfer the cake to a cake stand or serving plate, then drizzle the icing backwards and forwards from the centre to the outside of the cake in a zigzig pattern. Sprinkle over the poppy seeds straight away and the candied orange slices, if you’re using them, before the icing has a chance to dry.

Orange poppy-seed cake

Make the cake as in the recipe, replacing the lemon zest in the sponge with the finely grated zest of 1 orange and using orange juice instead of lemon juice in the icing.