05 July 2011

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Who's birthday is it?

No ones.

Well, then why did you put a candle in the cake?

Because its cute. So have a Happy Unbirthday!

So this cake is very tasty. Refreshing, summery, a light moist cake with a not too sweet frosting. But I totally messed up with stacking it. I of course tried to make it in as many layers as possible. And the second to bottom layer was a bit rugged, not very solid, must have been a bit thinner than the rest of the layers. So when I finally stacked the sixth and final layer, that second layer was already starting to buckle. It was pretty much the shape of a wine barrel. So I chilled it as quickly as possible to harden up the frosting. So after a bit, I started to frost the outside, thinking that I could compensate the buckling sides with a ton of frosting. It did not go as planned.


Sorry there are no photos of the cake drama, I was too stressed to think about it. So when a lot of frosting didn't help with trying to make the sides more straight, I just shoved it in the fridge at the coldest setting.
So after sitting and staring at it for a while, with a completely defeated attitude, I came up with a solution. I just hacked at it with a knife, yes covered in frosting and all. It was pretty cold, so the frosting hardened a lot so i just cut off the bulging sides, shaving them down till they were as straight as possible. Then just frosted it again! With even more frosting.
It looked pretty normal from the outside. Those are little poppy seeds around the sides.
And the inside is where you can tell. It looks a bit sad, like a depressed cake. Luckily all of the frosting nonsense didn't affect the taste at all.

Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July! My weekend was full of personal drama :( that is stressing me out and making me too emotional. Thank goodness for some good cake and my lovely friend Megan, fellow photographer, who is always there for me when I send out that 'Oh my gosh, so and so drama, I can't be by myself right now' text. 
Oh and about a little print shop, I'm going to go for it! Just working so editing, scanning, test prints, etc all that fun stuff. So I will update you all when I get all my stuff together!


 Recipe from here

73 comments:

Unknown said...

I love your blog and photos :) Just wanted to stop by and say my weekend was also full of personal drama, I feel your pain, girl! Stay strong.

Julie Marie said...

thank you! you too!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! I would love a slice of that cake right now!! despite the dramas, it is such a stunning cake and that thick frosting looks divine!

juliana alonso dorola said...

for me, this cake looks amazing! and im sure it taste wonderfull too! i love lemon and poppy seeds cakes!

la domestique said...

Oh Julie- don't fret too much. Every day is a new day, and your cake looks just fine. Take care.

Lynn said...

This looks amazing! No worries! :)

Unknown said...

love this space and all your dream-like recipes. I also love the effect of the little poppy seeds on the frosting, cute!

Karen said...

Hi Julie, I came across this recipe while on my daily foodgawker break...I love the whiteness in the pics for some reason. The cake looks simple yet beautiful. Going to try it soon. Love lemony things.

Sashquatch said...

wow, this is gorgeous :) I made my first poppy seed cake a couple of months back, an almond version, but ive always wanted to try the classice lemon-poppy seed combo. Your cake looks utterly beautiful and so light and moist, really lovely :)

bayaderka pl said...

Your poppy-seed lemon cake does not look depressing at all. It is truly inspiring! Well done!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Your cake looks amazing! You are such a brave baker for stacking so many layers together. Good job! Don't be so hard on yourself, the cake looks really beautiful (and yummy).
Lovely photos - I'll become a regular around here!
xx

Marla said...

This cake is gorgeous & I love your blog. So pretty :)

cindy said...

the cake looks lovely...despite being a little wonky, from the outside no one can tell! imperfect cake and life drama, I have so been there. good friends do help! i hope things turn around soon and the stress melts away.

bridget {bake at 350} said...

I'm just discovering your blog and I have to say, I'm a little in love with it...AND this cake!

tami said...

this might be my dream cake - poppy seeds, lots of small layers and lemony. what a lovely post - thank you so much for sharing with us :)

MilAve_Deborah said...

Wow, that is a fantastic looking cake. My cup of coffee is crying out for a piece... do you feel my personal drama?

Tara @ The Butter Dish said...

Found you via Twitter and have to say... a blog after my own heart.

Poppyseed/lemon anything is always a wonderful thing and a joy to behold. This cake is gorgeous and something I would love to devour.

Will have to wake up my kitchen and get all those appliances on the job it seems. ☺

purabi naha said...

That's a real good-looking cake, yet it is so simple! Loved your blog and your photography!! Do visit mine if you love Asian (especially Indian) food. Shall come back again very soon!

Emma @ my darling lemon thyme said...

That looks like the perfect cake to celebrate my daughters birthday today! If only it was here, now... Gorgeous photo's, as always!

Yoanna said...

This looks lovely and yummy!

Jenn (Cookies Cupcakes Cardio) said...

Your photos are beautiful! And I don't think your cake looks sad at all...it looks delicious! I love lemon poppy seed too...it's one of my favourite flavours.

julia said...

hello. this cake is some major cuteness. it looks splendid!

Ruth said...

Your photos are delightful! I've just pinned some on Pintrest. :-)

Bianca said...

Yum. That pretty much sums up how I feel!

Clara-Emily McKay said...

Depressed?! What are you talking about this cake looks absolutely amazing!!!!xx

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
& the little joy said...

doesn't the cake itself just show that the beauty is in the imperfection? I love that it has it's own story and wonkiness, just like the wonkiness of life - but nonetheless, I hope your dramas settle themselves soon. Thank goodness for your cake and your friend Megan, indeed :) take care & keep blogging; this blog is just gorgeous :)

Dolce Fooda said...

Very cute blog... I use poppy seed only for strudel (http://dolcefooda.blogspot.com/2011/06/poppy-seed-strudel-strudla-sa-makom.html), never thought about making the cake with it.

Vale said...

I made this cake. It was the lightest, fluffiest cake I have ever had. It's my new go-to recipe. Thanks a lot for this.

Julie Marie said...

Your welcome! I'm so glad it worked out well for you

Lisa said...

I just love the look of your cake, so pretty. I have a sweet treat linky party going on at my blog till Monday and I'd love it if you'd come by and link your cake up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/07/sweets-for-saturday-25.html

Vanessa K said...

I really really love this! The cake looks so beautiful

Y said...

What a gorgeous cake! I don't think there's ever such a thing as a depressed lemon poppy seed cake :)

Jacina carobna kuhinja said...

Prelepo izgleda, verujem i da je jako ukusno :)

Amy said...

Not a depressed poppyseed in the mix by the looks of that cake!
Actually it's my Mum's favourite flavour so I might get in the kitchen tomorrow and surprise her!

Ada Egloff said...

Hi Julie,

This cake is stunning! It actually inspired me so much, I am having my baker tweak our wedding cake to include poppy seeds (it was a lemon curd cake before). I was wondering how you achieved the poppy seed effect on the outside of the cake! Did you mix the poppy seeds with the icing?

Julie Marie said...

Ada: thank you! I think it would make duh a cute wedding cake. For the poppy seeds on the outside, I just frosted with the buttercream and then dabbed my finger in a bit of water, dipped it in the poppy seeds and lightly placed them on the cake, it was the best way I found to get them to stick.

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Callie Grayson said...

I so love cake, and this cake looks amazing!!! I think cake are prettier and much more pleasant when they have the homemade look! and your is gorgeous.... I would never had know you had cake drama with it.

mmm
xx
callie

Anonymous said...

made your recipe tonight, delish! thanks for this :)

Anonymous said...

This cake sounds delicious. I want to know if I make it in 8 or 9inch pans how many pans do I use

Sange said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
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Cottage and Broome said...

An amazing cake photo! Laura

Anonymous said...

Thats what I like......someone who wont quit! The final product was a beautiful presentation! Good for you!

Anna Scandinavian Cottage said...

what a great blog!
I'm making this cake for my husbands birthday! thanks for the recipe!
Anna @ scandinaviancottage

robinannreilly said...

I just saw this on Anthology and immediately pinned it - my first food pin! I am not a foodie, but this cake is just gorgeous to me! Love the seeds in the frosting. I will be baking this!

marla said...

I cannot believe how stunning this cake is!! Those poppy seeds on the whip are FUN!! A great celebration cake for any time at all!

Jen at The Three Little Piglets said...

Family Fresh Cooking linked to this on Facebook, and WOW! It's just gorgeous!

Geisslein said...

this looks SO PERFECT! And SO YUMMY! omg - I would love to taste this now!!!!
Have a great day today - sunny greetings from cold germany, geisslein

Anonymous said...

Hi Julie! I love this cake so much. Just a question: is there a reason the cake is made with egg whites only?

Tara Deacon said...

these photos are really good! my tase buds are tantalizing! cant wait to try this out

Elisa said...

I made this cake for a baby shower this weekend and it was perfect! Seriously, a huge hit.

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Anna Scandinavian Cottage said...

Follow up from my comment;... -This was the best cake I've ever tasted!! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!

Luckyluke said...

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Ken Topham said...

This cake is beautiful but I must ask if this is correct in only two 6" pans? It just seems that with 3 cups of flour and the ingredients it would take more. I can't wait to make it.

Anonymous said...

So, I am making this now and when I got to the egg white part, it just says to "whisk the egg whites and buttermilk"....is that whisk it to a stiff point? Or just give it a quick whisk??
Thanks!

ZUCKERWANDLERIN said...

Yummy! And your Photos are so good!

Anonymous said...

Stop commenting about how "it looks" and provide us with useful comments if you tried making it and turned out to be good.

Megan Hilby said...

This cake looks delicious and am making it for my best friends birthday. I was wondering if I could use regular eight or nine inch cake pans? Thanks so much!

Surveillance said...

Aaaargh. Great recipes :-)

lolabythesea said...

WHOA CAKE! Drool. I plan to make this on Sunday for post-birthday vegetation and eating yum things day. Thank you :)

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad that someone else is brave enough to be honest and admit to their baking drama! After my last two cake disasters, one in front of company and one being baked for a chef, your transparency gives me enough courage to try it again. I'm going to attempt this recipe today for my daughters birthday tomorrow. If I screw it up, at least it won't be right in front of my guests. It sounds wonderful! Thanks for the inspiration!

Marnie said...

Hi, I am making this cake right now and I believe it should read to use three cake pans instead of two. Is that correct?

Anonymous said...

I made this cake it tasted good everyone especially loved the frosting. But it was not light at all very dense and heavy. Were the egg whites supposed to be whisked to peaks? It did not specify that the only thing I could think that would have made it do heavy and dense. (besides the butter and buttermilk lol)

Lissa D said...

I also wish there were more "I made this..." comments. I'm making this right now. I used 2 6" and I can see where it might be 3 pans. They took much longer than 30 minutes to bake. More like 50. Also, is the syrup supposed to go on each of the layers (once sliced in half) or just the tops of each cake? Since my cakes rose a fair amount, I'm going to slice off the domes, slice in half vertically, then coat each layer with the syrup. Fingers crossed.

Lissa D said...

I also wish there were more "I made this cake..." comments. I only have one 6" pan, so I baked individually (tedious, I know). Anyway, I think it might be 3 pans and not 2...it took close to 50 minutes for each to bake completely. I also wasn't sure if each layer (once sliced in half) is supposed to get a coat of syrup or just the top of each cake. I'm going with a light coat on each layer. We'll see what happens. It's just family for Easter tomorrow, so I have lots of forgiveness if it's an epic fail. :)

MacKenzie said...

Okay. Love this... Funny thing is... I ran into the same problem... My layers crumbled! Thankfully I was able to save 2! Lol delicious cake though!!!

Anonymous said...

This cake is absolutely delicious, thank you for sharing the recipe. I've made this twice as a birthday cake now and everybody loved it. The cake came out really nice and moist, and very fluffy. Loved the frosting, too. I used two 9" pans to make 2 cakes and then stacked those to get a 2-layer cake. Stacking worked out very well.
I'm looking forward to checking out more of our recipes *yum
Best, Melanie

simmer and boyle said...

attempting this weekend, need to find a light cake for a 95th birthday celebration!

Zara said...

Nice blog I love it
love your recipes
check this recipe also guys

http://cakesandmuffinsrecipes.blogspot.com/2013/09/poppy-seed-lemon-cake.html

Anuschka said...

Hello Lissa D. I agree!! Mine takes much longer too to bake them....more like ONE hour!! I ll see for the rest!