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Almond Poppyseed Loaf Cake is an easy pound cake recipe that’s made in a loaf pan. It’s like a quick bread but a cake all in one, full of almond extract flavor and poppyseed!
Last month, on our family trip to Seattle, we ate several times at Frolik Kitchen + Cocktails, the restaurant in our hotel. Normally I avoid hotel restaurants because they’re usually hyped up chains that don’t serve very good food or have very creative cocktails, but this restaurant was different. The menu was fabulous and everything we had (from breakfast to snacks to dinner) was delicious. I grade every restaurant by the creativity of their cocktail and dessert menus, and that one got high marks for both. (Remember that Rosé Lemonade I made? Inspired by Frolik.)
The dessert menu was pretty unique, which is another thing I’m not used to. I hardly ever order desserts at restaurants because the normal offerings are cheesecake with fruit sauce, creme brûlée, and some sort of chocolate decadence cake, none of which actually taste better than any of my recipes. However, there was one on the menu that caught my eye: Almond Poppyseed Cake. Normally used to seeing lemon poppyseed cake, almond poppyseed was a new flavor combo for me. Also, I was surprised at the offering by a restaurant; almond poppyseed isn’t something I think of as a sexy, modern, millennial-type dessert. So I ordered it. And guess what?
(Obviously, I loved it. We all knew that one.)
Mel ate it. He liked it. He really really liked it! (Get it? ?) He actually liked it more than the peanut butter chocolate whoopee pie. It wasn’t too sweet and it was cake and MEL ATE IT.
Almond Poppyseed Loaf Cake is an easy pound cake recipe made in a loaf pan bursting with almond flavor accented by poppyseed.
AND MEL ATE IT.
This loaf cake is a variation on one I’ve made several times before. I’ve made this cake as a lemon loaf, orange bundt, apple cider pound cake, champagne pound cake…and more. This time I added a hefty dose of almond extract and poppy seeds along with a sweet almond glaze. It’s a cake that’s like a loaf of quick bread…but it’s cak…that makes you want it for breakfast.
While I was making this cake I wondered….why would you add poppyseed to cake? I mean…do they have a flavor? I actually googled it and all I got were recipes for what look like really good lemon poppyseed cakes. So…they’re pretty? I guess? Otherwise the bread would just look like a loaf of cake?
I absolutely LOVE almond extract. There’s a hefty dose in both the cake and the frosting. I would drink almond extract if it tasted as good as it smelled (spoiler alert: it doesn’t).
I know a lot of pound cake recipes start with softened butter, but you’ll notice mine starts with melted butter. This ensures that I don’t have to use a mixer of any kind. That, to me, is priceless. All this cake needs is a bowl and a wooden spoon. I used to want to use my stand mixer all the time and hardly ever used a hand mixer. (I have two stand mixers, after all, because of how much I used to use them.) Now that I make video, I hate using the stand mixers because they look annoying on camera…and I even dislike using the hand mixer.
One bowl easy recipes are what I like these days, especially since making recipe videos add a trillion extra dishes from all the little bowls holding sugar and flour and extract.
If you love the flavor of almond extract you’re going to love this cake as much as I do. Just don’t forget the glaze!
Tips for a perfect loaf cake:
- I love using an 8×4-inch pan. It’s the perfect size for this loaf cake; you’ll get rise out of the cake that way. If you use a larger pan the cake will be flatter.
- Poppyseeds can be found in the baking aisle!
- Be sure to just mix this batter, don’t over mix it. As soon as everything is combined, it’s done.
- Don’t forget the glaze!
- It’s definitely cake but since it looks like quick bread I say eat it for breakfast with coffee. 😉
Almond Poppyseed Loaf Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 ½ cups (186g) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ½ cup (118ml) milk
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
For the glaze:
- 1 cup (113g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2-4 tablespoons (30-60ml) milk or heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×5 loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray (the kind with flour) or grease and flour it.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk butter and sugar in a large bowl. Mix in eggs, one at a time, then mix in extracts. Alternately add milk and flour mixture, stirring in between additions, until batter is combined. Stir in poppy seeds.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 20 minutes in pan, then carefully remove to a rack to finish cooling.
- Make the glaze: whisk powdered sugar, extracts, and milk until smooth. Pour over cooled cake.
- Store loosely covered at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month. I like to slice and freeze the slices in sandwich bags.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Full fat milk is best but you can use low-fat or nondairy. I don’t recommend using fat free milk.
Recipe Nutrition
If you think this recipe is good, try Spend with Pennies’ Almond Poppyseed Cake, Lemon Yogurt Poppyseed Bread by Valerie’s Kitchen, or Iced Lemon Loaf Cake by Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts.
Last Updated on September 5, 2022
Love almond flavored desserts! Can I substitute the melted butter/oil for Greek yogurt or half yogurt/half oil? Thanks!
You could do half and half but the texture will be slightly different.
This was delicious- great texture, strong almond flavor, perfect sweetness for a cake. Followed the recipe exactly, but had to bake for 60 minutes, not 50.
Good to know about the baking time! My old oven seemed to bake quicker than my new one, so it’s good to know.
The almond poppy seed cake looks delicious. Two questions for you. In writing about the recipe, you suggest an 8×4 pan, and in the instructions, you suggest a 9×5 pan. What size pan is ideal for baking the loaf? Also, you talk about whisking ingredients in one portion of the recipe (which I assume you mean with a whisker), and then you talk about using a wooden spoon in another portion. What method is ideal? Thanks.
You can use either pan. For mixing, I’ll often use a whisk for dry ingredients, but switch to a wooden spoon with liquids.
I came back to make this recipe for the fourth or fifth time, and I could swear it used oil instead of butter. Has it been updated? If yes, could you possibly share the original? It was delicious! Thanks!
I haven’t updated this one – but you can substitute oil if you want!
Thanks so much for responding!
The recipe looks pretty simple. My question is, if I don’t have any Almond Extract, can I just make it with only the Vanilla Extract and maybe add some lemon juice from a bottle to it, instead of the Almond Extract for flavor. We don’t have any fresh lemons either.
Thanks, Diane S.
Yes you can use any extract you like! If you want a lemon flavor, I’d add lemon zest or lemon extract – you can add the lemon juice but it won’t give much flavor.
thanks for this almond poppy loaf recipe. you had me at all you need is a wooden spoon and bowl.we always bought this at trader joes and they stopped carrying it.its a tasty home made easy loaf to make!
I made this cake last night. So delicious. I did add a 1/4 teaspoon more almond extract.
Hi Dorothy, here I dont find black poppy seeds so can I use white ones. Please help me out.
Thanx.
Looks fantastic! I’m confused though … the description says you use an 8×4 pan, but the recipe calls for a 9×5 pan. Please advise, I’d like to make this soon.
I LOVE almond extract too! I did try it straight…nasty ?
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