lemon almond poppyseed loaf

lemon almond poppyseed loaf

• 18 Aug 2024

A few weeks ago while I was grating some cheese, a small piece of plastic broke off the lid of my elderly food processor and without it, my food processor wouldn't work. As the food processor was so old, spare parts were no longer available so off I went to the shops to buy a new one, with a tape measure in hand because the food processor needed to fit into a kitchen cupboard. In the end only 2 food processors would fit the cupboard dimensions so I went with the most powerful model I could find. 

The food processor has been in the cupboard for a few weeks now and when the time came to take her on her maiden voyage, what was I to make? I decided to make a lemon almond poppyseed cake and used the food processor to make some almond paste. Almond paste is tricky to find in the shops and if you buy it online, the cost of the delivery is greater than the price of the goods. It's very easy to make in a food processor so after I figured how to get the lid on and off my new machine, 2 minutes later I had almond paste.

This recipe is adapted from the Crystal Almond Pound Cake recipe by Flo Braker, from her book The Simple Art of Perfect Baking. The recipe then reappeared in the Tartine Cookbook by Liz Prueitt and popped up again on Edd Kimber's blog. This version is closer to Edd Kimber's reimagining of the cake. Edd swapped the crunchy sugar glaze for a simple lemon syrup, iced the cake with lemon glace icing before topping it with candied lemon peel and a few poppyseeds. The finished cake looked so good, I decided to do exactly the same thing.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a small loaf cake and I used a 4 x 9 inch tin. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Lemon almond poppyseed loaf - makes 1 small loaf cake and the recipe uses 3 lemons

Cake

65g plain flour, sifted (plus some for preparing the pan)

½ tsp baking powder
pinch salt

135g almond paste, at room temperature
135g caster sugar
150g unsalted butter, at room temperature (plus some for preparing the pan)
3½ eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 lemons, rind grated
14g poppy seeds (plus extra for decoration)

Lemon Glaze
75g lemon juice (the juice of 2 lemons)
75g caster sugar

Candied Lemon Peel
1 small lemon
¼ cup (55g) caster sugar, plus extra, for dusting
¼ cup (60mls) water

Lemon Icing
100g icing sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
juice of 1 lemon

Candied Lemon Peel
Remove the zest in wide strips from the lemon, making sure there is none of the bitter white pith attached. Slice it into very fine strips. Drop the strips into a saucepan of boiling water and leave them for 30 seconds, then drain them in a sieve.
 
Place sugar and water into a small saucepan. Heat over high heat, stirring all the while until the sugar has dissolved. As soon as it has, stop stirring and bring the mixture to the boil. Tip in the drained lemon zest strips and reduce the heat to low so the syrup bubbles gently. Cook the zest strips for 10 minutes, then remove the saucepan from the heat and leave them so cool in the syrup. Once cool, drain them through the sieve again.
 
When the zest is well drained, tip some caster sugar onto a plate and toss the strips of zest they’re coated in the sugar. Lay them onto a sheet of baking paper to set- they don't become brittle but remain pliable. Use them as you need them and store any leftover strips in a small airtight container at room temperature for up to a week
 
Cake
Preheat the oven to 180°C, conventional. Lightly grease and line a small rectangular loaf pan with baking paper.
 
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, combine the eggs and vanilla and whisk together just to combine.
 
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the almond paste on low speed until it breaks up. This can take up to a minute, depending on how soft and warm it is. Slowly add the sugar in a steady stream, beating until incorporated. If you add the sugar too quickly, the paste won’t break up as well.
 
Cut the butter into 1-tablespoon pieces. Continue on low speed while adding the butter, a tablespoon at a time, for about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Then turn on the mixer to medium speed and beat until the mixture is light in colour and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. With the mixer still on medium speed, add the eggs in a very slow, steady stream and mix until incorporated. Stop the mixer and again scrape down the sides of the bowl. Turn on the mixer again to medium speed and mix for 30 seconds more.

 
Add the lemon rind and the poppyseeds and mix in with a wooden spoon. Add the flour mixture in two batches, stirring after each addition until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl one last time, then spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with an offset spatula.
 
Bake on the centre rack of the preheated 180°C, conventional oven until the top springs back when lightly touched and a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes while you make the glaze.

 
Glaze
Add the lemon juice and sugar to a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat for a couple minutes until the juice has come to a simmer and the sugar has dissolved. Turn off the heat and set aside.
 
Carefully turn the cake out onto a wire rack set over a sheet pan or a piece of greaseproof paper. Brush the syrup all over the top and sides of the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely on the rack. The cake breaks apart easily when warm, so don’t attempt to move it.

Icing
Mix the icing sugar with a pinch of salt then add enough lemon juice to form a very thick but pourable glaze. Pour the icing onto the top of the cake and use a spoon to tease it over the edges so it drips down the side. Top the cake with some of the candied peel then finish with a little sprinkling of poppy seeds. Let the icing set before serving. Kept covered, this cake keeps particularly well, at least 4 days.

I took the cake into work and it was gobbled up in a trice. Edd also made a blood orange version and, now that blood oranges have appeared in the shops, I think I'll do the same. Maybe I'll do the crunchy glaze next time.

Look at that perfect crumb!

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen. 

Bye for now,

Jillian