Lemon-Poppy Seed Pound Cake

I'm old enough to remember when commercial bakeries were just starting to market low-fat cakes and cookies. When my dad traveled on business, he liked to go to the Entenmann's outlets along his route (oh, those chocolate-covered donuts!) and I remember him coming home one night with a low-fat crumb cake. And I still remember how awful that cake was -- like foam rubber topped with streusel.

Which means I'm also old enough to know that a lot of the things I bake are things I shouldn't be eating (or foisting on my loved ones). So it would be good to find more healthy baked goods for my recipe box, so we can have them a little more often. (A little more often.)  I subscribe to some recipe-a-day emails from Cooking Light (they're well done) and this recipe wended its way to me this morning. (At least, with Cooking Light, you know they've worked on making the recipe healthier, and since they give you the nutrition facts you can't hide behind a lack of information,)

And then there's this pan. I love this pan, but the cakes and tea breads I make it in never seem to come out well. Maybe it's the size (there aren't that many recipes written for an 8x4 inch pan). A sensible person would give up and turn this pan into a lovely craft project, but I'm determined...

I was hoping this would at least be pretty good, and it is. Very, very good. It's not really like a pound cake; the texture is a little lighter, a little moister and little chewier (from the poppy seeds and the low-fatness), all (implausibly) at the same time. {The only challenge was the glaze. 2/3 cup of powdered sugar and 4 teaspoons of lemon juice do not make something that can be brushed over anything. I had a very juicy lemon, so I just played around till I had a nice consistency. I have no idea what the final proportions were.}

I haven't found a l.p.s. cake (or muffin) that knocks me over, so finding this one makes me very happy. And speaking of happy, look at my cake (pictured at the top, before I had to poke holes in it and cover it with a gloppy but delicious glaze). I don't have to turn my pan into a (what do you think?  window box herb planter? soap dish? unusual but chic place to stash desk accessories?) just yet. 

Lemon-Poppy Seed Pound Cake
from Cooking Light, October 1999
(or Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2000)
for twelve servings

Cooking spray and all-purpose flour (for the pan)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup (it's marked on the wrapper!) butter or stick margarine, softened
two large egg whites
one large egg
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind {I zested one whole lemon, so that's probably more}
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
. . .
2/3 cup powdered sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice {see note above on proportions}


Preheat oven to 350°. Coat an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray; dust with 1 teaspoon flour. Set aside.

Beat granulated sugar and butter at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add egg whites and egg, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon rind and vanilla. Lightly spoon 1 2/3 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake at 350° for one hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Poke holes in top of cake using a skewer. Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl; brush over warm cake. Cool completely.

Each serving (a 3/4 inch slice) has 226 calories, 6.7 grams of fat, 32m g cholesterol and 166 mg sodium.