A Jammin Life

So this is my version of the classic lemon poppy seed poundcake. Korean cafes frequently have lemon poundcakes. And why wouldn’t they? Lemon poundcakes are fragrant, light, go well with coffee or tea, and everyone likes them!

But do you know what Korea doesn’t have? Poppy seeds!! Poppy seeds are illegal here because they result in opiates coming out of your pee system. And since Korea is super duper drug unfriendly, they can’t even have people eat poppy seeds. Ugh talk about overprotective conservative dummies.

Koreans have been missing out on poppy seeds for so long. I’ve seen bakeries use chia seeds instead of poppy seeds, but they are definitely not interchangeable.

So I may or may not have brought in poppy seeds from America to Korea. And I may or may not have made lemon poppy seed poundcakes. And I may or may not have given them out for people to try. And people may or may not have said they were delicious and loved the poppy seed texture. And I may or may not be a secret lobbyist for poppy seeds to become legal in Korea. And I may or may not be waiting for it to turn legal so that I can ambush the baking market and dominate with my poppy seed recipes.

These may or may not be true so they don’t hold up in court! Right?

Anyways, here’s the Korean lemon poundcake recipe that will rule over the Korean cafes soon!

• Cake Ingredients:
  • 376 grams all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1½ Tablespoon poppy seeds
  • 460 grams butter
  • 350 grams sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 120 grams Greek yogurt
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Glaze Ingredients:
  • 120 grams powdered sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • ½ tsp lemon zest
  • 1 Tb heavy cream

• Recipe:
  • whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt
  • cream together butter and sugar
  • add in eggs one at a time
  • mix in yogurt, lemon juice, zest, and vanilla
  • mix in the flour mixture just until incorporated
  • butter a large loaf pan and fill it 2/3 of the way up (or a pan of mini bundt cakes)
  • swipe the batter upwards on the longer ends with a spatula
  • brush melted butter on a knife and go down the middle of the batter
  • bake at 177°C for 50-60 minutes, covering with foil halfway if needed to keep from turning too dark
  • whisk all glaze ingredients together, adjust consistency as needed
  • pour glaze over cooled cake