Way back when I didn’t know any thing about food blogs, I used to only refer to my cooking magazines for inspiration and ideas. This orange poppy-seed cake is one of those early recipes that was just a staple in my kitchen. I normally made the lemon version.
It just had this tangy sweetness that was irresistible! I thought I was quite a baker whenever I would see the positive responses of my friends and families after they took that first bite of my cake. I thought it was funny that they were so impressed because the cake was so easy to put together! Who knew that years later I would start to write a baking blog and document my baking adventures. This cake was from an old issue of Bon Appetit magazine. I know I still have it around here somewhere in my recipe piles!
This is still a cake that I love to bake! My kids love it…my friends love it. Everyone is happy when I bake this gorgeous ciambella (ring cake).
Recipe slightly adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe.
Orange Poppy-Seed Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest (use organic orange if possible}
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
- 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Butter a tube pan.(I like to use baking spray)
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, orange zest, and salt in a bowl.
- Beat
together butter and granulated sugar in another bowl with an electric
mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in
eggs until combined. Reduce speed to low, then add flour mixture and
poppy seeds and mix until just combined. - Transfer
batter to cake pan, smoothing top, and bake until a wooden pick
inserted in center of cake comes out clean and top is golden brown,
about 30 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then invert onto
rack. - Whisk
together confectioners sugar and orange juice in a bowl until smooth
(add more confectioner’s sugar or juice a teaspoon at a time if it’s too
thick or too thin until you get desired consistency). Pour glaze over
warm cake, spreading it with a spatula to drizzle over edge. Let stand
until glaze is set, about 15 minutes. - Serve warm or at room temperature.
Alice // Hip Foodie Mom says
April 7, 2014 at 11:21 amI can see why everyone loves this cake!! yummm. . orange poppyseed .. delicious!!! hey, I'll be attending BlogHer Food in Miami next month. . . are you close to Miami? if so, I'd love to meet up!
Paula - bell'alimento says
April 7, 2014 at 11:58 amThis cake. Want now. Swoon.
Amy @Very Culinary says
April 7, 2014 at 12:16 pmWhat's not to love? The glaze alone…*thud*
Susan says
April 7, 2014 at 5:02 pmI love your breads and orange, poppy and that glaze sound fantastic.
Christiane ~ Taking On Magazines says
April 7, 2014 at 5:16 pmI've had lemon poppy seed cake before and loved it, but I've never tried it with orange. If it turns out half as fantastic as yours look, it'll be a winner in this house.
Kirsten/ComfortablyDomestic says
April 7, 2014 at 5:40 pmIsn't funny how sometimes the simplest recipes are the ones that elicit rave reviews? I love citrus with poppyseeds. Since I happen to have picked up a bunch of oranges, I'll be baking your cake this week!
Nutmeg Nanny says
April 8, 2014 at 12:11 pmI love that you did a combination of orange and poppyseed. This cake looks perfectly moist!
domenicacooks says
April 11, 2014 at 3:40 pmMa che bella ciambella. I love the drizzle. For many years I made the Ukrainian poppyseed cake from the Moosewood Cookbook. This one looks fantastic ~ perfect crumb texture in that photo of the slice. Lovely to talk to you today, amica mia. Un abbraccio.
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
April 15, 2014 at 6:43 pmI could make a cake like this every week, love your orange version!