Delicious and Easy Poppy Seed Cake with Orange Marmalade Recipe

This Delicious and Easy Poppy Seed Cake with Orange Marmalade is a rich, hearty cake with a tasty touch of citrus. The combination of cake and bread flour makes a nice dense batter subtly flavored with orange zest and topped with orange marmalade. You’ll definitely want to get your cup of hot tea ready for this yummy cake.

top view of poppy seed cake

If you love this Delicious and Easy Poppy Seed Cake with Orange Marmalade try these other recipes: Red Velvet Cake, Lemon Bundt Cake or this Mint Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake.

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Why You’ll Love this Cake With Orange Marmalade

  • rich, dense cake great for eating alone or with hot tea or coffee
  • fresh orange citrusy taste
  • little pops of poppy seeds in your mouth with each bite

Equipment You’ll Need

• large bowl
• medium bowl
• zester
• mixer (hand or standing)
• Bundt pan (10”), tube pan (10”), or large muffin pan
• small sauce pot
• sifter

Ingredients You’ll Need To Make Poppy Seed Cake

Poppy Seed Cake Ingredients:

• 1 1⁄4 cup bread flour
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 6 egg whites
• 2 sticks butter, room temperature
• 6 oz sour cream
• 2.5 oz poppy seeds
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 3⁄4 tsp baking soda
• 1⁄2 tsp baking powder
• 1⁄4 tsp salt
• 1⁄4 tsp cream of tartar
• Spray oil (Pam)

Poppy Seed Cake ingredients

How To Make a Poppy Seed Cake

Cake Instructions:

• Set oven to 350°.
• Prepare the baking pan by spraying it with oil and sprinkling it with flour to help prevent the cake from sticking.
• Sift together the bread flour, cake flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.
• Zest orange and add to the bowl of flour.

orange zest for Poppy Seed Cake


• Add poppy seeds to the bowl.


• In a medium bowl, cream the butter and 3⁄4 cup of the sugar together.

creamed butter


• Separate eggs and add egg yolks to the butter and sugar mixture. Add vanilla extract. Mix
thoroughly.

butter and egg mixture


• Combine the butter mixture with half of the flour mixture until thoroughly blended.

combining ingredients for Poppy Seed Cake


• Stir in the sour cream.

adding sour cream to Poppy Seed Cake


• Blend in the remaining flour mixture.
• Using a stand or hand mixer, whip the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar on high until
foam is created. Slowly whip in the remaining sugar until stiff peaks form.

soft peaks


• Gently fold the egg white mixture into the cake batter. Do not over-mix.

folding in egg whites


• Spread the cake batter evenly around the cake pan.

Poppy Seed Cake batter


• Bake for 40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
*If making muffins, prepare muffin pan with oil spray and flour or use muffin cups. Bake at
375° for 25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

baked Poppy Seed Cake in bundt cake pan


• Allow pan to sit out until completely cooled on a cooling rack. Use a knife gently run around
the edges of the pan. Turn upside down just over the cooling rack and give it a hard shake to
pop the cake out.

cooling rack Poppy Seed Cake


• Top the cake with orange marmalade glaze. See Recipe Below. *I did not turn the Bundt upside down as the top
was so much nicer looking. There are no rules here 🙂
• Store in a covered container and enjoy.

close up of poppy seed cake

Orange Marmalade Glaze Recipe:

This is where it gets good! Sure poppy seed cake is delicious on it’s own with just a hint of citrus, but adding this orange marmalade glaze really takes it over the top! This is a super simple recipe for orange marmalade glaze that you can actually use for even more delicious recipes during the holidays; including a delicious orange-glazed ham!


Orange Marmalade Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 cup orange marmalade
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup water

orange marmalade ingredients


Orange Marmalade Glaze Instructions:


• In a small sauce pot, combine orange marmalade, water, and sugar.


• Bring to a boil, stirring continually.

boiling orange marmalade


• Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to stir occasionally as the mixture reduces by half.
• Remove the pan from heat and spoon over the cake.

orange marmalade in pan

Tips and Tricks to Making a Poppy Seed Cake

  • gather all the ingredients and set them out on the countertop before you begin
  • bring eggs and butter to room temperature
  • to separate eggs; crack the egg gently over a bowl and pour the contents back and forth between the shells. The egg white will spill into the bowl.
slices of poppy seed cake

Variations of Poppy Seed Cake

  • Add fresh lemon zest instead of orange zest to the batter for a Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf. This combination of lemon and poppy seeds is very popular so give it a try the next time the mood hits for a poppy seed cake.
  • Change up the glaze and top with a mix of confectioners’ sugar and water.
bite of poppy seed cake

FAQs

Can I use all-purpose flour instead of cake and bread flour?

You can not substitute all-purpose flour in this recipe. The combination of cake and bread flour gives a unique, dense texture to this cake that can not be replicated with all-purpose flour.

Can I make this cake without poppy seeds?

The poppy seeds add a nice flavor and texture to this cake so I suggest adding them.

Can I substitute a different kind of seed for the poppy seeds?

Poppy seeds really do work best in this cake. Another seed will not give you the taste results.

Can I bake this cake in a square pan?

This poppy seed cake can be baked in a square pan however the cooking time will be different.

Can I use a different glaze on this poppy seed cake?

Any type of glaze will work on this poppy seed cake however the marmalade goes nicely with the orange zest in the batter. You can try it with a neutral glaze of confectioners’ sugar and water or just dust it with confectioners’ sugar.

Do I have to use cream of tartar?

Cream of tartar helps to stabilize the egg whites, stops the sugar from crystallizing, and helps the cake rise so if you have the cream of tartar on hand you should use it.

What can I substitute for cream of tartar?

There are quite a few options for the cream of tartar substitutes so depending on the ingredients you have on hand, do a quick search and choose the best option.

styled view of Poppy Seed Cake

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top view of poppy seed cake

Delicious and Easy Poppy Seed Cake with Orange Marmalade

A rich poppy seed cake with a tart orange marmalade glaze.
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings 1 10″ cake

Ingredients
  

Cake Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ cup bread flour
  • 1 cup cake flour
  • 1 ½ cups sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 6 egg whites
  • 2 sticks butter room temperature
  • 6 oz sour cream
  • 2 ½ oz poppy seeds
  • 1 tbsp orange zest
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • ¾ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp cream of tartar
  • Pam cooking spray

Orange Marmalade Glaze Ingredients

  • 1 cup orange marmalade
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • cup water

Instructions
 

Cake Instructions

  • Set oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Prepare baking pan by spraying with oil and sprinkling flour to help prevent sticking.
  • Sift together the bread flour, cake flour, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl.
  • Zest orange and add to bowl of flour
  • Add poppy seeds to bowl.
  • In a medium bowl, cream the butter and 3⁄4 cup of the sugar together.
  • Separate eggs and add egg yolks to the butter and sugar mixture. Add vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly.
  • Combine the butter mixture with half of the flour mixture until thoroughly blended.
  • Stir in the sour cream.
  • Blend in the remaining flour mixture.
  • Using a stand or hand mixer, whip the egg whites, salt, and cream of tarter on high until a foam is created. Slowly whip in remaining sugar until stiff peaks form.
  • Gently fold the egg white mixture into the cake batter. Do not overmix.
  • Spread the cake batter evenly around the cake pan.
  • Bake for 40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
  • If making muffins, prepare muffin pans with oil spray and flour or use muffin cups. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
  • Allow pan to sit out until completely cooled on a cooling rack. Use a knife gently run around the edges of the pan. Turn upside down just over the cooling rack and give it a hard shake to pop the cake out.
  • Top the cake with orange marmalade glaze.
  • Store in a covered container.

Orange Marmalade Glaze Instructions

  •  In a small sauce pot, combine orange marmalade, water, and sugar.
  • Bring to a boil, stirring continually
  • Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to stir occasionally as the mixture reduces by half.
  • Remove the pan from heat and spoon over the cake
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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