Lemon poppy seed bundt cake

I bought a bag of poppy seeds. That's it. Then I had to bake something, right? Luckily, I also had two lemons on the kitchen counter so there weren't so many options without going to the grocery store. Again. On foot. Because it's ridiculously close to use the car but still far enough to be annoyed by the mere thought of walking all the way there. It's a five minute walk, darn it!

So, if you have a bag of poppy seeds and one or two lemons, you're all set. I'm sure it works just fine with oranges, too.

Ingredients:

110 grams butter (1/2 cup), room temperature

300 grams (1 1/2 cups) caster sugar

4 eggs

260 grams (2 cups) flour

5 grams (1 teaspoon) baking powder

80 ml (1/3 cup) sour cream

50 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

20 grams (approx. 3 tablespoons) poppy seeds

zest from 2 lemons

(optional) 1/2 teaspoon aniseed (not star anise, the other one) and the seeds from two cardamom pods, crushed together in a mortar

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF) and grease well a 25 cm (10 inch) bunt pan. Take my advice and grease it well, you'll thank me later, when it's time to invert the cake on a plate.

Using your mixer, cream the butter, add the sugar and mix until light and fluffy, two minutes or so. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, poppy seed, aniseed, cardamom (if using) and beat until incorporated. I hope you have already sifted together the flour and baking powder, have you now? Fold the flour mixture into the batter using a rubber spatula.

Spoon the batter into the pan and bake it for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

I always let the cake cool completely before inverting it on a plate, if you try inverting it while it's still hot, well, you may regret it. I have. Many times. So do as I say.

Notes:
This recipe works just fine with oranges, too. If you find your oranges to be particularly sweet, reduce the amount of sugar to 270 grams or less. Remember to replace the lemon juice with freshly squeezed orange juice .