Poppy Seed Pound Cake

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5 from 1 vote

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 10

Total Time1 40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Poppy Seed Pound Cake with Caramel Icing

Servings:

Calories: 576kcal

Author: Chris Scheuer

Ingredients

For the cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups granulated sugar
8 ounces butter softened
½ cup shortening I use Crisco
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
5 large eggs
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 recipe Caramel Cascades Icing

For the icing:

8 ounces butter
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup milk
4 ½ cups powdered sugar divided (you may need a bit more)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons espresso powder this only gives the tiniest hint of coffee flavor but is mostly used to give the icing an beautiful deep color
½ teaspoon almond extract optional, I think it makes the cake taste quite fine

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the cake:

Spray a bundt pan very well with Bakers Joy or grease and flour carefully (I usually spray the pan then, with a paper towel, rub the sprayed shortening into all the crevices and lightly spray one more time.
Place flour, sugar, butter, milk, eggs, extracts, baking powder and salt (in that order) in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Beat at low speed for 1 minute, stopping to scrape down sides. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.
Pour into the well-greased bundt pan. Bake at 325 for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden skewer or cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar or frost as directed below.

For the icing:

Place butter in 2 quart microwaveable bowl. Melt butter in the microwave for 1 minute on high. Add brown sugar and milk and whisk until brown sugar lumps are dissolved. Place in microwave and cook for 2 minutes on high. The mixture will boil furiously.
Add 3 ½ cups of powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time and whisk until well mixed. Add vanilla and almond extract.
Place cake on a cooling rack with a cookie sheet or aluminum foil underneath the rack.
Slowly pour frosting over the cake covering all surfaces. Let frosting drip for several minutes.
With a spatula, scrape any excess frosting back into the bowl. Add ½-1 cup powdered sugar or enough to make the frosting thicker but not too thick. (You want to be able to drizzle frosting in ribbons over cake.)
With a whisk or table fork, drizzle frosting over the cake in a pretty pattern (like a cascading waterfall!). Wait several minutes for the frosting to harden slightly and then repeat the drizzle of frosting, building up several layers.
Let the cake sit for at least 30 minutes before transferring it to a platter. (I like to take a small dull knife and gently smooth the edges at the bottom of the cake). Pour yourself a cold glass of milk and mmm your way through one or two pieces!

Notes

This is wonderful with Caramel Cascades Icing or just sprinkled with powdered sugar.
-I like to use Crisco sticks. They are alread pre-measured - just use a ½ of a stick.
-I always use skim milk because that is what we drink but you can use any kind of milk.
-I gave this recipe to a friend a number of years back- her bundt pan was smaller than mine and she had quite a mess in her oven after the cake started rising. I measured my pan and it holds 15 cups of water to the brim - if your pan is smaller than this, you might want to divide the batter and make a small loaf cake also.

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