When I was a little girl of about 6 or 7, my grandmother would sometimes read an old children's book called The Poppy Seed Cakes (published in 1924). I became fascinated with poppy seeds and asked my grandmother all about what they were, what they tasted like and if we could bake something with poppy seeds together.
It wasn't long after that we visited the spice aisle at the market, picked up a jar of poppy seeds and took them home to create some sort of poppy seed masterpiece in the kitchen. Poppy seeds have been a nostalgic friend of mine ever since, and I almost always have a bottle on hand.
I especially love the combination of lemon and poppy seeds. I had a couple of Meyer lemons on hand that I was itching to use, and this Greek yogurt coffee cake was the most perfect moist, tangy thing. The house smelled amazing from the moment I started zesting the lemons for the batter until I pulled the hot, golden cake from the oven. Simple, but so lovely.
Greek yogurt lemon poppy seed coffee cake
Makes one Bundt cake
1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Zest of 2 lemons (I used Meyer lemons)
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a standard Bundt pan.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Incorporate the eggs, followed by the Greek yogurt, vanilla, lemon zest and poppy seeds.
3. In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer in three batches, alternating with the Meyer lemon juice (flour, juice, flour, juice, flour) until it all comes together. Spread the batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Bake 60-65 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Allow the cake to cool on a cooling rack. Turn out the cake from the Bundt pan and dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar. Slice and serve (I served mine warm).
Maya Evoy lives in Nikiski and blogs about food at alaskafromscratch.com. Have a food question or recipe request? Email maya@alaskafromscratch.com and your inquiry may appear in a future column.