Lemon Poppy Seed Sour Cream Cake

When Mendy suggested that I try to plan cakes appropriate for various Jewish holidays, he told me that something with poppyseeds with be good for Purim. As I got ready for this cake, I tried to remember what I knew about Purim--not much, Esther, Haman, (and hamantashen), ...well, not much, really. The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton says the poppyseed association comes from the fact that Esther "subsisted for three days on poppy seeds and chickpeas while she found the courage to tell her husband, the king of Persia, that his vizier Haman was plotting to annihilate the Jews." I also found reference to A Poppyseed Purim, which is described as a "lighthearted look at the story of Esther." Maybe it's just me, but the plot to annihilate the Jews doesn't seem to lend itself to a lot of lightheartedness. Still, Esther was very clever, and that's worth celebrating. As are poppyseed pastries, including this cake.

I decided that since it was such an easy cake, I would be scrupulous in everything, including taking the butter's temperature. (I noticed that Woody did that when he was testing a cake in my kitchen. He also takes the ambient air temperature in the kitchen using his Thermapen before he starts). I learned that it takes hours out of the refrigerator for my butter to reach 65 degrees F.).

This is the recommended heart-shaped pan. I borrowed it from Woody. I was about 50% relieved that I didn't have to buy another pan for my emporium and about 50% sad that I didn't get to buy another pan for the same.

The batter is an easy butter cake. Although Jim dutifully took pictures of the process, there is really nothing particularly interesting to record. I like seeing the poppy-seeded batter in the heart mold. If you don't like poppy seeds, by the way, you can cut down on the amount (1/3 cup is a lot of seeds) or omit them entirely. (In that case, of course, it would be dumb to call it a poppyseed cake. And it would no longer be a good Purim cake. But whatever you want to do is fine with me.)

Once you put the cake in the oven, there's plenty of time to leisurely make the lemon syrup. You've already denuded the lemons with the peel for the cake, so you might as well use the juice too. In fact, I love recipes that use both the zest and the juice, so I don't end up with a hard-as-a-rock de-zested lemon in my refrigerator that I have to throw away).

The moment of truth: the mold comes off and you check to see whether half the cake remains stuck to the pan. Here, there were only a few bits here and there.

I loved brushing the cake with this sweet-tangy, very lemony syrup, even though at one point I thought my overly enthusiastic brushing might knock the cake apart. I started wielding the brush more daintily, and there were no more threats of collapse.

If it weren't for the intricate heart-shaped pan, this would be a very plain cake, which is one reason it might be worth buying the pan. (I know, I know--it's a sickness!) The other reason is that it makes very pretty, smallish slices, so you can feed a lot of people, although, since they come back for seconds, I guess it's not that many.

I took this cake to work and people gobbled it up. Although I told Jim I'd bring him a piece, I forgot until it was too late, and he was a little bit surly about the fact that this is the first cake he hasn't been able to taste. Since he didn't get a bite, I hate to be too enthusiastic about the cake, but it is awfully good. Sometimes less is more, and this simple, basic cake is one of those times. I think this was a new taste experience for people who have only had store-bought lemon poppyseed cakes or muffins--when they asked me why the lemon taste was so good, I said it was because it came from real lemons, not from artificial lemon extract or lemon cake mix. It takes a few minutes longer, but it's so worth the time to get out your lemon zester to make this delicious cake that tastes like all the good things that are in it: butter, sour cream, poppy seeds, and lots of lemon.

TASTING PANEL:
Ngoc: "Is it hard to make? I want the recipe so I can have it every day."
Sean: "It's good, but I would have liked a glaze with it."
Tony: "Just the right amount of lemon."
Annette: "Very fresh tasting. Sometimes lemon can be overwhelming in cakes, but this isn't."
Cyndi: "Awesome. I have an old favorite lemon poppyseed cake recipe, but this is better. I love the lemon zest in the cake."
Jim: "I wouldn't know."