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Are you looking for a not too sweet yet deliciously moist cake? This Lemon Poppy Seed Cake is made with bananas and optional honey. For me, this is perfectly sweet with only the bananas, but my son and husband prefer the addition of honey.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

This cake has been a family favorite since I made it a dozen years ago for my son’s first birthday. It was the perfect “healthy” birthday cake for our little guy and continues to be the perfect cake for all occasions. It can be dressed up for birthdays with a fabulous frosting and decorations or served simply unfrosted at tea time.

I prefer making this cake using sprouted flour for a couple of reasons. The first is digestibility. Sprouted grains are easier to digest since some of the starches are already broken down. Sprouted grains also have more available nutrients, making them “better” for our body and (possibly) less inflammatory. Sprouted grains are also naturally sweeter since the starch has been broken down into simple sugars. That’s one reason this lovely cake is perfect with only the sweetness of banana!

If you don’t have or don’t wish to make sprouted flour, it works fine with white whole wheat flour, especially with the addition of honey.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

  • 2 1/2 cups whole wheat sprouted flour (I made my own out of soft white berries using these instructions)
  • 2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
  • Zest of one lemon
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks butter (1 cup)
  • 2 very ripe bananas, mashed until smooth
  • 2 tablespoons honey (optional)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 350 and butter a 9×13 pan (or you could use two rounds).In a bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest.

In a separate small bowl, combine lemon juice and poppy seeds.

Cream together butter, bananas, and (optional) honey in another bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add buttermilk and mix well. Add the flour mixture and poppy seed/lemon mixture until combined.

Put batter in pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean (my cake takes about 45 minutes, but my altitude is pretty high; yours may bake much quicker). Allow cake to cool completely before frosting. This cake is delicious with Cream Cheese Frosting.

 

What is your favorite flavor of cake? How about frosting?

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