Lemon Poppyseed Cake

One of my go-to breakfast foods as a kid were muffins. "Muffin", of course, is the breakfast word for "cake". I could not get enough lemon poppyseed muffins, especially when I made the connection between poppy seeds and the poppies that put Dorothy to sleep on her trek to the Emerald City. Plus, what's not to love? I think lemon poppyseed muffins were my gateway food to a passionate love of all lemon-flavored desserts.

My lovely former coworkers gave me a gift card to Sur La Table on my last day of work and during my week off, I paid a visit to the store on the Upper East Side. I found and purchased my new favorite pan.

It's so pretty, right? I thought about making another version of Lemon Breakfast Cake, but worried that the cake would be too moist and stick to the intricate design of the pan. I opted instead for a Lemon Poppyseed "Bread" recipe. But let's be real: if a recipe calls for a cup of sugar, it's cake.

I closely followed this recipe, except I skipped the lemon glaze entirely. I do love cake, but I'm generally unmoved by frosting/glaze/drizzle. I loved the use of sour cream - the tanginess beautifully balanced out the sweet, tart lemon zest-infused cup of sugar.

The batter itself is a dainty, pale yellow. This is the color I had in my mind when I painted my first apartment after college yellow. I ended up with something closer to pineapple Fanta. It was Not Good. What is good is this batter's color, but more importantly the flavor of this batter. After hanging out in a 350 degree oven for the better part of an hour, your house also smells like this gloriously yellow concoction, which has of course turned into a real live cake.

At this point, I began an audible incantation urging the pan to gently release the cake when I flipped it over.

It's not the prettiest, but damn I buttered and floured that pan to death and it came out okay!!! The glaze might have helped cosmetically but I really did not miss it flavor-wise. This cake is crumbly and sweet and lemony and delicious.

It's perfect on it's own with a cup of tea, but I mostly ate it along with my Adulthood Go-To Breakfast, scrams. Healthy food alongside cake? I believe that is what They call "moderation". It works for me.