This recipe for Orange Poppy Seed Bundt Cake was published by our favorite NY Deli, Zabar’s, and is a go to in our kitchen for cake recipes.
Orange Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
by Tiffany Ludwig
Cake Ingredients
½ cup poppy seeds
1 cup milk
2 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt (if using salted butter omit salt)
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 ½ cup sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ tsp orange blossom water (optional)
4 tablespoons orange juice (squeeze it yourself if you can)
1 tablespoon orange zest
Orange Glaze Ingredients (Optional)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1-2 tablespoons (or more) fresh orange juice
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease well a 10 inch bundt pan and set aside.
Place the poppy seeds and milk into a saucepan and heat on the stove until just boiling. Remove from heat and allow to cool while preparing the batter.
In a medium bowl sift together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
In a large bowl cream the softened butter until smooth and light. If you haven’t pre-softened your butter, here’s my trick: slice it into ½” slices and place in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it for 8 second increments, checking constantly. Slicing it before microwaving will soften the butter without melting it. Every microwave’s power settings are different so experiment to see what time works best for you.
Add the sugar and continue to mix it until it’s creamy.
Add the eggs and continue to mix. Mix in the orange juice, orange zest, orange blossom water and vanilla extract.
Next, add half of the flour mixture to the butter and stir until combined. Add half of the poppy seed and milk mixture and combine. Add remaining flour mixture and combine. Add remainder of poppy seed mixture and combine.
Pour into the greased bundt pan and smooth the batter if necessary. Place on a middle oven rack and bake for 50-60 minutes, until an inserted wooden skewer comes out clean. The cake will be a wonderful brown and will smell divine.
Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes then flip it out onto a cooking rack until completely cool. Once cool you can add the glaze.
The Glaze:
The cake is great as is, if you prefer a sweeter version add the glaze. it also gives it an extra orange kick!
Just combine the confectioners’ sugar and orange juice until you get a slightly runny icing consistency. Pour this along the top of the entire cake. Let the icing harden before slicing and serving.