Lemon cake with poppy seeds

Is there something that makes you feel relaxed and calm when doing it? Something that derives from within and makes you feel good? Something that you know that will be there to turn to when you want to? For me apart from the closest people in my life, I got the same feeling when baking a cake. Baking a cake means that nothing can go wrong, even when the cake goes wrong. It is like a shelter, when in ‘cake zone’ I am in this cloud and all my thoughts freeze, disappear and i stay calm and and in peace baking my cake. Lately I got this new recipe idea, it happened like it always does. The thought of a fresh lemon cake crossed my mind and then poppy seeds came in as well. As lately I feel I want to add sparkles in anything I do, I thought of the lemon glaze so that my cake is also sparkling!

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the recipe

1h & 15min

250gr. rising flour
275gr. sugar
250gr. sunflower oil
2 eggs
15gr. poppy seeds
70gr. heavy cream
30gr. water
juice from 1 lemon
zest from 1 lemon
vanilla extract
1 1/2tsp. baking powder

for the glaze & garnish

juice from 1 lemon
110gr. water
10gr. corn flour
1tbsp. agave sirup
zest from 1 lemon
extra poppy seeds for garnish

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directions

Preheat the oven at 180 C and butter/flour a long baking pan.
Beat the oil, sugar for some min and add the eggs one by one. Beat for at least 5′ until the mixture becomes velvet and whitish.
Add the heavy cream which you have previously mixed with the water is a glass, the lemon juice and the lemon zest and continue beating.
Add the flour, baking powder and when all mixed add also the poppy seeds and mix well.
Put the mixture in the pan and bake for 55′, swish off the oven and let the cake there for another 5′.
While baking the cake make the glaze: put is a small pan the water, lemon juice and agave sirup and warm up a bit. Add the corn flour and stir well. You can also first dilute the corn flour in a little bit of water is a separate bowl and then pour it to the liquids. Let it warm up well while stirring well. When the texture gets thicker and the mixture looks like a cream remove from the stove and add some of the zest. Let the cream cool down. Before you spread it on top of the cake mix well again to become smooth.
Remove the cake from the baking pan carefully after it cools down a bit and let it cool down before you cover it with the glaze/cream.
Spread the glaze on the cake and add the rest of the zest and some extra poppy seeds and..

Enjoy!

Tips!

Instead of the heavy cream and water you can add 100gr. milk.

If you prefer butter you can use 250gr. of it instead of the sunflower oil.

IF you don’t have agave sirup on hand then you can replace it with 1tsp. sugar. The glaze should not be very sweet, it should retain the freshness from lemon and bring it to the rest of the cake!

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