Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake

Two lemon halves were sitting in the fridge, they looked lonely, I took pity on them. I removed the half an onion which had been gently squishing itself up against one of them, and washed it. Poor little lemon half :(

Don't fret, I had sweet intentions for them, they were going to be squeezed and zested into loaf cake, with an in-your-face lemon flavor and tangy lemon drizzle icing (you've probably noticed, I like me some lots of lemon). 

Look at that cake, all dynamic with it's diagonal icing lines, it's a cake to be eaten by cool people, for reals.

Don't think your just getting some ordinary cake here, it has crunch too: Crunchy little poppy seeds are mixed into the batter, and the batter is topped with pearl sugar before baking (which sounds fancy but it's basically just crushed sugar cubes, but lets just keep that secret so this cake can continue being extra special).

Those cake slices are actually running over to a plate just out of view; They totally want to be eaten.

Yah, it's loaf cake time.

Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake
makes 1 large loaf cake

1 3/4 cup (7.5 oz) cake flour
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup - 2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp poppy seeds
1/4 cup (2 oz) butter
1 egg
1 cup (250 ml) milk
1/4 cup lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1-2 tsp lemon extract
(pearl sugar for sprinkling)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350F) and grease your loaf pan (mine's 11.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 inches).
In a small just, combine milk and lemon juice, set aside.
In a food processor combine first 8 ingredients and blend until all the butter is cut in (this dry mixture can be frozen for use in the future btw).
Add the milk mixture to the food processor and the rest of the ingredients (except pearl sugar), and blend again until just combined.
Pour batter into a loaf pan and sprinkle on pearl sugar / crushed sugar cube. Bake for 40-60 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center of the loaf comes out clean and dry. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Lemon Icing

juice of 1/2 a lemon

about 1/2 cup (2 oz) powdered sugar

Mix enough powdered sugar into the lemon juice to get a thick but drizzle-able icing. Pour into a disposable sandwich bag. Cut off a bottom corner of the bag and drizzle icing onto cake. You can sprinkle extra pearl sugar over the icing while its still wet if you want (I did!)

N.B

You could make about 12 muffins with this batter instead of a loaf cake. Just line 12 muffin cups and reduce baking time to 20-30 minutes.