recipes: lemon poppy seed & yogurt loaf cake

Whenever I am pressed for time (or whenever I procrasti-bake), I would usually bake something non-fanciful, like this lemon poppy seed & yogurt loaf cake.

I’ve made this cake countless of times, but this set of pictures are from the collaboration with my very talented friend, Filbert T. This little project of ours was tons of fun! We spent an afternoon recording the entire baking process. He was entirely in-charge of the video taking and editing, while I did the baking.  Take some time to watch this video that captures the step-by-step process:

This is my go-to recipe for loaf cakes. I would highly recommend you invest In a Microplane grater (one costs about SGD 49.90 here) for zesting purposes because it makes the process so much easier, and the texture of the zest is much finer than can be achieved with an ordinary kitchen grater. But of course, you can always make do like how I used to.

I like this cake because it is moist, light, not too sweet, and the poppy seeds add an extra crunch! If you don’t have poppy seeds (which sadly are banned in Singapore), you may substitute it with chia seeds, or simply omit the seeds for a simple lemon loaf cake. The glaze is optional and I usually make my loaf cakes sans glace, but I decided to make a more photogenic loaf cake specially for the video shoot.

Recipe (adapted from Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days)

Ingredients (makes a standard sized loaf pan):

190g unsalted softened butter
190g plain flour
190g caster sugar
3 large eggs
1tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp lemon zest
25ml whole milk
80g natural/plain/Greek yogurt

To make the loaf cake, preheat oven to 170 degrees and grease and flour the loaf pan. Add the eggs one by one and push the sides down with a spatula. In a separate bowl, measure the flour, baking powder, salt, poppy seeds and lemon zest (I used the zest of about 1 to 2 whole lemons)

Add the dry ingredients in thirds, mixing well each time on a low speed. After the second batch of dry ingredients, add in the milk. Mix well. Lastly, add the yogurt and mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and level it out. Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until your skewer comes out clean through the middle and it’s nicely browned on top.

For the glaze:

1 3/4 cups of confectioners sugar
1/4 cup of lemon juice
the zest of one lemon (or more!)
1 tsp of salted butter

To make glaze, combine the sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Add in the butter then microwave on high for 45 seconds. Take out the measuring cup and whisk until smooth, making sure there are no lumps. Let it sit for a few minutes then pour it over your creation.

Happy baking!

// A short update:

With fewer commitments this semester, I’ve been taking up baking orders and having flash baking sales whenever I have spare pockets of time. It has been a joy reading customers’ positive feedbacks and finally meeting some of people I’ve always interacted with on Instagram. Thank you so much for the support, it brings me joy knowing that people enjoy what I make.

At the same time, I’ve had so many things going on lately, and I’m thankful for the opportunities that are coming my way. Looking forward to the upcoming media features, the most recent one being my strawberry shortcake (pictured here), which will be featured on one of the episodes of MediaCorp Channel 8’s drama series– will try to get hold of a snippet of the episode and post it up somewhere.

Come August, I will be embarking on a new adventure to a foreign place. I’m fortunate to be given an opportunity to spend a semester in Boston. Besides soaking up all that this country has to offer, I also have plans to take up some short-term pastry courses during my stay. It’s going to be a great experience and I can’t wait.