Orange poppy seed loaf cake

A refreshingly sweet and tart orange poppy seed loaf cake with an orange twist.

While in Buenos Aires this past November, I was on a personal mission to try as many desserts as my body would allow. This is my goal for any of my travels, you'd be surprised to see that half of my camera reel is aesthetic scenery and, the other half... well, dessert. So when I physically couldn't consume anymore sweets, I would just take pictures of the most beautiful desserts, in hopes to recreate them when I arrived home.

I had this amazing cake at Ludlow coffee house—their Orange poppy seed loaf. I'm a huge fan of lemon loaf, and honestly, who isn't? But an orange loaf? Excuse me? I had to try it. It was amazing. It was everything I expected. I immediately made notes on the textures and flavours, because I knew I would be recreating it at home. The cake was sweet yet refreshing with the orange, and the crumb was so soft it just melted in your mouth.

A month later, I'm here with my take on the Ludlow coffee house's Orange poppy seed cake. It's got a zesty orange flavor, just the right amount of sweetness, and pairs perfectly with a cup of coffee. Its a soft cake with an orange flavour throughout, thanks to the orange extract and zest. The icing on top provides the hint of sweetness that makes this cake so perfect. The best part? You can whip it up in one bowl.

Can I replace the orange extract with orange juice?

My Orange poppy seed loaf recipe uses orange extract and orange zest to get an orange flavour throughout the cake. We aren't using orange juice, so no, you can't replace it.

Orange juice doesn't lend as strong of an orange flavour as you'd want in this cake. Also, the recipe would require a lot of it, so it would throw off the entire texture of the cake.

Orange poppy seed loaf cake recipe

Ingredients

Wet ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oil

• 1 cup yogurt or sour cream

• 3 eggs

• 1 tbsp orange extract

• Zest of 1/2 an orange

Dry ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 cup sugar

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 2 tbsp poppy seeds

• 1/4 tsp salt

For the icing:

• 1 1/2 cup icing sugar

• 4 tbsp fresh orange juice

• zest of 1/2 an orange

Directions

1. Line a loaf tin with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. In a large bowl, add in all your wet ingredients and mix.

3. Add in the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine. Add in the poppy seeds and stir the batter until just combined.

4. Pour the cake batter into the lined loaf tin.

5. Bake for approximately one hour, or until a knife poked into the center of the cake comes out clean.

6. While the cake is cooling, you can begin to prep the icing.

7. In a small bowl, add in the icing sugar.

8. In a separate bowl, squeeze the juice of half an orange.

9. Add a tablespoon of the orange juice into the icing sugar and mix. The mixture should be a spreadable consistency. Continue to add the orange juice until the icing is flowy but thick. You want to avoid super runny icing. Add in orange zest and mix.

10. If your icing is too runny, add more icing sugar.

11. Once the cake is cooled, pour over the icing and spread evenly.

12. As the cake with icing continues to cool, the icing will harden.

13. Cut a slice and enjoy! You can store the cake in an airtight container.

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