Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake

I made this cake for the first time around a year ago.  It is a really interesting cake because it only uses egg whites as opposed to whole eggs.  It has a low butter content (only 85g) and almost 3 times that amount of sugar and flour.  The result is a light sponge that is not dry but super moist.  The lemon flavour is all natural coming from lemon zest in the cake itself, as well as an optional lemon glaze and syrup.

The first time I made this cake I only had the sponge part (the cake really) and very much enjoyed it.  It was not too sweet but still satisfying.  On my second attempt last week I did add the 2 optional components, which were quick and easy to fix up.  They made quite a difference.  For a start my cake ended up looking very posh and dressed up – as if bought from a shop!  The added elegance added a bit of drama.  But looks aside, the glaze and syrup deepened the lemon taste and gave a contrasting texture with the sponge, as the glaze hardened slightly.  This cake, complete with glaze and syrup, was a proper desert, whereas without those 2 added sugary elements it’s more of a tea-time cake.