Orange Poppy Seed Cake

This orange cake relies entirely on eggs for its rise. Five room-temperature eggs beaten into creamed butter and sugar until light and fluffy trap enough air to lift the batter without any baking powder or baking soda. It’s a European-style pound cake approach that produces a dense, velvety crumb.

Orange zest folded into the batter gives every slice a bright citrus fragrance, while poppy seeds add their subtle nutty crunch throughout. The flour gets folded in gently, one third at a time, to keep all that beaten-in air from collapsing.

After baking and cooling, an orange and lemon juice glaze brushed over the top soaks into the crust. Then comes the real trick: letting the cake stand for one to two days. That resting period lets the flavors marry and the crumb tighten into something almost fudgy in texture.

Kitchen Tips

• Eggs must be at room temperature. Cold eggs don’t whip as well and can cause the creamed butter to seize up.
• Fold the flour in gently. This cake has no chemical leavener, so every air bubble you knocked in during creaming is what makes it rise.
• Bake on the lowest rack as directed. This gives the bottom proper heat without over-browning the top.
• If the top browns too fast, tent with foil for the last 10 minutes. The full hour of baking is needed to set the center.

Variations

• Lemon poppy seed: Swap orange zest for lemon zest and use all lemon juice in the glaze.
• Glazed with Grand Marnier: Replace some of the orange juice in the glaze with Grand Marnier for an adults-only finish.