This Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake with Greek Yogurt Drizzle is an easy classic dessert that is made from scratch in no time. This Lemon and Poppy Seed Quick Bread is perfect for breakfast, afternoon tea time, sweet snack or simply as a delicious and light dessert!
Why we love this recipe
This cake is such a classic one. The combo of Lemon and Poppy Seeds is famous for a reason; the mix of tangy lemons and crunchy, almost bitter poppy seeds simply works perfectly together, just like for my Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffins or my Lemon Poppy Seed Shortbread Cookies!
And to take this famous association to the next level, what else but creamy, sour-y Greek Yogurt?
This cake is just as perfect for breakfast, afternoon tea, sweet snack or even for dessert as my Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake or my Lemon Yogurt Bundt Cake!
Ingredients
There is nothing complicated or tricky about this cake. It is a straightforward recipe, with simple every day ingredients: fresh lemons, creamy yogurt, eggs, flour,... mainly things you should have around in your fridge and pantry!
The three main ingredients - lemon (juice and zest), poppy seeds and greek yogurt - are used throughout the cake, both in the batter and for the drizzle. They bring a simple, well known flavour that everybody loves, kids included!
To make this Poppy Seed Cake, you will need (scroll down to recipe card below for all quantities below):
- Butter: unsalted and soft
- Sugar: Caster Sugar or Fine White Sugar
- Eggs: at room temperature
- Greek Yogurt: you could also use Natural Yogurt or even Sour Cream instead if needed
- Lemons: both the juice and zest
- Flour: Plain / All-Purpose
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda
- Poppy Seeds
Lemon Yogurt Drizzle
Making this drizzle is actually incredibly simple. You will just need to mix some Greek Yogurt with Lemon Juice and a little bit of Icing Sugar to thicken the liquid. That's it!
Make sure to let the loaf cake cool down completely before you drizzle it over it, otherwise it will starts melting and dripping around it. Then, sprinkle some extra Poppy Seeds while the yogurt drizzle is still wet to finish the cake.
Optionally, you can also top it with some lemon zest or lemon peels - or go extra and make some candied lemon peels!
Recipe FAQs
Loaf Cakes are often confused with Pound Cakes, but they are different. A Pound Cake is, just like its name indicates, a dessert made using a pound (or equal quantities) of four basic ingredients: flour, sugar, butter and Eggs.
A Loaf Cake (sometimes also called "Quick Bread") , however, can be any sort of cake batter baked in a Loaf Pan.
For this recipe, I used an Enamel Loaf Pan, but you can really use whichever bread loaf pan you have in your kitchen: ceramic, metal, glass, silicone, stoneware... What I love about using an enamel pan though is that it creates a deliciously crunchy exterior, but keeps the centre of the cake nice and moist.
How to store this cake became a bit of a dilemma for me. The first night, I left it in the fridge but found that it made the cake a bit denser and heavier. So I decided to keep it out of the fridge and it made a real difference.
That being said, it is relatively cold in my kitchen at the moment so leaving the cake out was not a problem for the greek yogurt. So I would say:
- keep it in the fridge if it is hot in your kitchen - it's better to have a slightly denser cake than have the greek yogurt drizzle go bad
- If it is cool enough inside, keep it out of the fridge but well covered with wrap for up to 48 hours.
Yes, you can! To do so, bake the loaf then leave it to cool down completely. Wrap it well with a double layer of foil or plastic wrap, place it in an air-tight container or simply use a large freezing bag.
Then, place in the freezer WITHOUT the yogurt drizzle for up to a month (you could technically leave it for longer but I find that cakes tend to be less fresh after a month in the freezer).
When ready to eat it, thaw in the fridge overnight or unwrap on a cooling rack at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours. Finally, add the Greek Yogurt Drizzle when fully thawed. You can read more about freezing cakes on taste.com here!
More Lemon Recipes
- Lemon Raspberry Muffins
- Lemon Sweet Rolls
- Lemon Blueberry Muffins
- Lemon Ricotta Cake
- Lemon Meringue Mousse Cake
- Vegan Lemon Tart
- Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake
Made this recipe? Let us know if you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below! And don't forget to share your creation on Instagram with the hashtag #abakingjourney and tag @a.baking.journey
Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake
Ingredients
Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf
- 120 gr (1/2 cup) Soft Unsalted Butter
- 70 gr (1/4 cup + 1 tbsp) Caster Sugar
- 3 Eggs
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) Greek Yogurt
- 2 Lemons - Juice + Zest
- 175 gr (1 cup + 2 tbsp) Plain Flour
- 1 1/2 teasp. Baking Powder
- 1/4 teasp. Baking Soda
- 25 gr (1/4 cup) Poppy Seeds
Lemon Greek Yogurt Drizzle
- 2 tbsp Greek Yogurt
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice - optional: plus lemon peels
- 2 tbsp Icing Sugar
- 1 teasp. Poppy Seeds
Instructions
Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf
- Preheat your oven on 180'C/350'F.Grease a Loaf Pan with some butter or oil and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, cream the Butter and Caster Sugar with the Lemon Zests. When you get a homogeneous paste, add the Eggs one at the time, beating well between each egg.
- Pour in the Greek Yogurt and Lemon Juice and stir until combined.
- Stir in the dry ingredients: Plain Flour, Baking Powder and Baking Soda. When combined, add the Poppy Seeds and mix for a few seconds to fold them in.
- Pour the cake batter in the greased loaf pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tip of a knife comes out clean.Leave to cool down completely before drizzling with the lemon yogurt sauce.
Lemon Greek Yogurt Drizzle
- Mix the Greek Yogurt, Lemon Juice and Icing Sugar until combined. When the cake is completely cool, drizzle it over and sprinkle the poppy seeds over.Optionally, add some lemon peels (or candied lemon peels).
