Vanilla Poppy Seed Swirl Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Place butter into a 10-inch cast iron skillet. Place skillet into an oven and turn on to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) to allow butter to melt, 2 to 4 minutes.
• While butter melts, mix together flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom in a large bowl.
• When butter has fully melted, remove skillet from oven and gently swirl to coat bottom with butter. Pour melted butter over the dry ingredients, and set skillet aside. Stir melted butter into dry ingredients a few times to allow it to cool slightly. Add buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and almond extracts and mix just until batter has no dry clumps of flour in it.
• Pour batter into the skillet and spread into an even layer. Sprinkle halved strawberries evenly over the top and place skillet into the oven.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs, 55 to 60 minutes. If cake begins to over-brown at any point during baking process, turn the oven temperature down to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and continue to bake until done (baking time will vary with a lower oven temperature). Allow cake to cool before slicing.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy with an electric mixer.
• Add egg yolks and beat until combined.
• Add sour cream and beat again.
• Mix baking soda into flour.
• Mix flour, vanilla and poppy seeds into butter mixture.
• Beat egg whites until stiff.
• Fold gently into butter mixture.
• Pour batter into ungreased bundt pan.
• Bake about 1 hour or until tester inserted into cake comes out clean.

Steps:

• Make the cake: Center a rack in the oven and heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8 1/2-inch loaf pan. Place the pan on 2 stacked baking sheets or an insulated baking sheet.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Put the sugar in a large bowl, add the lemon or tangerine zest, and rub together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Add the eggs, one by one, whisking each vigorously before adding the next. Whisk in the juice and vanilla, and then whisk in the heavy cream until smooth.
• Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, using the whisk to gently stir the dry ingredients into the batter. When the flour is incorporated, add the butter in 2 additions, again stirring gently with the whisk. You should have a thick, smooth, shiny batter. Switch to a flexible spatula and stir in the poppy seeds. Scrape the batter into the pan.
• Bake until the cake has risen and cracked along the center and, most important, a tester inserted deep into the cake comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. Take a look at it after about 45 minutes and tent it loosely with foil if it's getting too dark too fast.
• Transfer the pan to a rack, cool for 5 minutes, and then run a table knife between the cake and the sides of the pan. Unmold the cake, then turn it right side up onto the rack. Cool to room temperature.
• Make the glaze, if you like: Stir together the confectioners' sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice until smooth. If needed, add more juice, a drop at a time, until you have an icing that falls slowly from the tip of a spoon. Spread it over the cooled cake to coat evenly, sprinkle with poppy seeds and let stand until set. Wrapped well, the cake will keep at room temperature for about 4 days; unglazed, it can be frozen for up to 1 month.