Levanas Orange Poppy Seed Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush a 9-by-13-inch or 8-by-12-inch baking pan with butter. Line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on long sides. Butter parchment.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Combine eggs and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until thick and pale, about 4 minutes. Add flour mixture; beat to combine. Add butter, zest, poppy seeds, and vanilla; beat to combine. Add sour cream; beat until smooth.
• Scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with a spatula. Bake until top springs back when lightly touched and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes (for 9-by-13-inch) or about 40 minutes (for 8-by-12).
• Let cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Using parchment overhangs, lift cake out of pan and let cool completely on rack. (Cake can be made to this point and stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic, up to 1 day.)
• Icing: Whisk together confectioners' sugar, butter, and orange juice until smooth. Spread over cake. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Let set at least 20 minutes before serving. Iced cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine the poppy seeds and milk. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, and allow to rest until cool, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a large loaf or tube pan by greasing it with margarine and lightly flouring the inside of the pan.
• In bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together butter or margarine and sugar. Add egg yolks, vanilla, and poppy seed-milk mixture, and beat until smooth. Gradually add 2 cups flour, salt and baking powder. Mix well; remove bowl from mixer and set aside.
• Place a clean bowl in mixer, with a whisk attachment, and whisk egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gently fold into batter. Scrape into pan, and bake until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Transfer cake to a rack. Unmold after 15 minutes. When cool, dust cake with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F Grease 10-inch bundt pan (or two small loaf pans).
• Cream butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Mix well after each addition.
• Fold in poppy seeds, vanilla and grated orange zest. Pour batter into the prepared pan(s).
• Set on middle rack of oven and bake for 50-60 minutes (less time if baked in loaf pans), or until edges shrink away slightly from sides of pan and cake tester inserted into center comes out clean. Let cake cool in the pan for 30 minutes before turning it out onto a cake rack.
• When cake has slightly cooled, prick holes in it 1 1/2 inches apart with a long toothpick and pour the *Orange glaze evenly over top. Serve warm. Disposable loaf pans work great for this, as the pans hold all the glaze and keep the cake moist.
• *Orange Glaze.
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice.
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar.
• Combine orange juice and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until a light syrup forms.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• To make the cake: In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and orange zest.
• Set aside.
• In an electric mixer, combine the eggs and sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
• Add the oil and vanilla and beat until just combined.
• Beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the 3/4 cup orange juice.
• Mix slightly after each addition, just to incorporate.
• Add the poppy seeds and mix to incorporate the seeds into the batter.
• Pour the batter into a greased 10-inch springform pan.
• Bake for 1 hour, or until the point of a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
• To make the syrup: While the cake is baking, place the syrup ingredients into a small saucepan and heat until thickened, about 3-4 minutes.
• When the cake is done, immediately unmold it from the springform pan.
• Prick it all over with a skewer and brush the syrup all over the top and sides of the cake while it is still hot.
• The cake will absorb all the syrup.
• Let the cake cool completely before serving.