Last month there was a flurry of design activity in NYC. The Architectural Digest Home Design Show that showcases the best in the industry was held on the waterfront, and to add the icing on the cake, Blog Tour NYC was at the same time. Blog Tour is organized by Veronika from Modenus, and she coordinates an amazing tour with notable bloggers. The bloggers get to go to the creme de la creme events, meet the designers and makers, plus connect with amazing brands. One of the events, hosted at the Miele showroom, was a photography class taught by us plus dinner by Chef Cedric Vongerichten of Perry Street in NYC. Perry Street has been one of our favorite restaurants for many years, so I was super excited to hear Chef Cedric was preparing dinner! Chef made this egg dish that was the most perfect egg I ever had!

For our photography presentation, I prepared Lemon Poppy Seed Bunt Cakes. We haven’t had a lot of recipes on the blog (tear in eye) since we moved. I know, I know. I’ll get back in the kitchen. Doing a recipe might take me 4 or more cakes to get it right, while I’m learning our new kitchen. No more nice loft style kitchen anymore! We have the 1960s special, the stove is older than me. Trust me, when I was at the Miele showroom, my eyes glazed over with the idea of even heat distribution, and gas flame cook tops. The kitchen renovation is way in the future as the house infrastructure couldn’t even handle a new range or fridge. Until then, I will rock out the 1960’s special and continue baking.

I picked the fabulous bunt cake because it’s the perfect cake if you are short on time. My love list for the bunt cake: no fussy layering, no overly fancy icing, no crazy decorating. Enough said, the fancy pan does all the work. My mom bought me this pan and I love it. They also make mini bunt cake pans that would be perfect for a dinner party.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bunt Cake

Cake Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Lemon zest from 3 lemons
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 2 sticks or 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (from about 3 lemons)
• 1 cup sour cream

Icing Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups powder sugar, sifted
• 2 tbs milk
• 2 tbs lemon juice

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and set aside bunt pan. I wait to spray mine right before I put the batter in. If you’re worried about the cake batter bubbling over, place pan on a cookie sheet, if you want to get real freaky, line with with foil.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add lemon zest and poppy seeds. Lightly stir to combine. Set aside.
3. Measure out 1 cup of sour cream and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. (I used a hand mixer, but you could use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.) Add eggs two at a time, mixing throughly every two eggs. Add lemon juice. Don’t be alarmed if mixture separates a bit.
5. Alternate adding the flour mixture and sour cream in thirds, until all flour mixture and sour cream have been incorporated.
6. Spray pan with non stick spray. Pam makes a baking version which is pretty good, I really like it BUT make sure it’s not bubbly, or your cake will have bubbles. Smooth it with your finger if you see bubbles. Spoon batter in pan taking care not to create air bubbles. Tap pan to release air bubbles. Cook in oven for 55-60 minutes. Uses a knife or cake tester to check for doneness.
7. When you are ready to serve your cake, make the icing right before. You can prepare the ingredients in advance. In the bowl with sifted sugar, add lemon juice and milk. Continue to add milk until the texture is right. You don’t want it too runny, nor too thick. Let the icing drizzle into the bowl, it the ribbon takes a few second to disappear, it’s good, if the ribbon disappears right away, add more sugar to thicken it up.