Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

As school is slowly starting to wind down, teachers seem to want to pile more and more homework and projects on us poor students. But we won't let us bring that down! Three projects to finish in art? No problem! We'll just... stare at the wall. Talk. Listen to music. How do we manage to get anything done? To be honest, no one truly knows the answer to that...

Recently during art, my friend introduced me to some new music. Passion Pit. Crystal Castles. Check them out. While they might not suit everyone's taste, it's something new. Something different that I'm not used to listening to. Time to mix it up a bit! Nothing wrong with that.

On another note, soccer's done with. Over. Finito. Thankkgod. This season had gotten a bit... overwhelming. Time to celebrate our freedom! The freedom to go home after school, or do whatever else you'd like to do. And what better way to do that than bake a cake?

This cake. Holy heck. How to describe it?

Delicious. Scrumptious. Delectable. Yummy. Luscious. Succulent. The-most-tasty-thing-ever.

(No I did not just go all thesaurus on you... okay, maybe just a little.)

You will be drawn in. Captivated. Enthralled. Captured. By the pure beauty and intricacy of this cake. Have one piece and you'll be longing for more.

LEMON POPPY SEED BUNDT CAKE

Adapted from Joy the Baker

2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

zest and juice from one large-ish lemon

1 1/3 cup canola oil (yes, you really need that much!)

1 cup buttermilk**

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 (heaping) tablespoons poppy seeds (depending on how much you like them...)

(**if you do not have buttermilk on hand at home, you can make a buttermilk-replacement by mixing one cup of milk with one tablespoon of lemon juice and let it sit for about five minutes, allowing the milk to curdle.)

For the Glaze...

about 3 tablespoon lemon juice (add more/less depending on the viscosity of the glaze)

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 teaspoons milk

Preheat oven to 325°F. Thoroughly grease a 10-inch bundt pan.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a different bowl, whisk together the lemon, canola oil, buttermilk, egg, vinegar, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredient to the dry ingredients. Whisk until no lumps remain. Stir in the poppy seeds and pour the batter into the bundt pan. Insert into oven and bake for about 45 minutes, i.e. until a toothpick stuck in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Once out of the oven let the cake sit and continue to cook in the pan for another 20 minutes. Wait until it is almost completely cool (important! otherwise when attempting to remove cake it *could* fall apart. i speak from experience...) and then run a butter knife along the inside edges of the form to loosen the cake. Flip the cake unto a wire rack to completely cool.

When the cake is cool (i sped this up by placing it in the fridge. impatient impatient me), it's time to make the glaze. To do so measure out the powdered sugar into a small-medium bowl. Stir in the milk and vanilla extract, and then add enough lemon juice to produce a semi-thick liquid. You don't want the glaze to be too thin because otherwise it will run of the sides of the cake and not settle. On the other hand, you don't want it to be too thick because then it won't spread out, will be chunky and lumpy, and not spread out evenly over the top. Stir stir stir the glaze to get rid of any lumps. Then drizzle the glaze over the cake and allow to set (yet again, i sped this up by placing the cake in the fridge).

Now be ready to get rid of this cake quicker than you can blink. Everyone who had a piece couldn't stop eating and kept going back for more. It's light and fluffy texture and perfect tang of lemon added to an enticing sweetness make it simply irresistible. Your friends will, quite literally, be begging you for more.