Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting [+Video]

This Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is soft, moist & deliciously buttery with a fresh lemon flavor. Dotted with poppy seeds & topped with cream cheese frosting – it’s the perfect dessert for lemon lovers!

From Poppy Seed Muffins to Cake!

It’s a soft, buttery, perfectly moist lemon cake that’s dotted with poppy seeds and topped with cream cheese frosting. It’s one of my favorite cakes, and it’s the perfect dessert if you love lemon poppy seed muffins.

The inspiration for this cake came after a friend gifted us with a poppy seed roll. It was a yeast bread with a swirl of poppy seed filling, and absolutely delicious. As I was having a slice with a thick slather of butter, it got me thinking about poppy seed recipes and I realized I hadn’t made any in a very long time.

So – this lemon poppy seed cake was born.

We have an entire video of exactly how to make it, so check it out…

What Do You Need to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Cake?

The ingredients for this cake recipe are simple and pantry friendly. Here are the items you will need:

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

• Wet Ingredients: Granulated Sugar, Lemon Zest, Unsalted Butter, Eggs, Vanilla Extract, Sour Cream, Buttermilk and Lemon Juice
• Dry Ingredients: All Purpose Flour, Cornstarch, Bakin

20-Minute Cheesy Pesto Pasta

Need dinner on the table in 20 minutes? This Cheesy Pesto Pasta is quick and easy to make, and you can throw in any extra veggies lying in your produce drawer!

The BEST Pesto Pasta Recipe

If you’ve got a need for vegetarian or gluten-free recipes, these basil pesto noodles is a great dinner option. You can add chicken to make it a heartier dish, but it’s actually really fantastic with just grape tomatoes. Heck, you could even throw in chopped zucchini, which would also be yummy. In fact, I think I will next time.

Our favorite way to serve this pesto pasta is actually straight from the pan. I know, that doesn’t seem very classy, but the pan is sizzling hot and to bring it out and serve it straight into bowls really is so fun and it keeps everything fresh and fragrant versus putting it into a cold serving bowl.

We started with our Classic Pesto recipe. You just can’t beat the taste of fresh pesto! It’s our favorite and I think it’s the toasted garlic that really takes things over the top. We actually add a little more to the pasta as well. It’s ridiculous, but true. Garlicky, cheesy noodles are kind of awesome.

I don’t know how healthy pesto pasta is considering that you dump a full cup of cheese in there, but it’s certainly better for you than a lot of other pasta dishes out there. It’s fresh, simple and a really fast pasta to serve as a main dish. Not to mention it is full of flavor!

What’s Needed for Basil Pesto Pasta?

This pesto sauce pasta couldn’t be any easier to make! Here’s all you’ll need to make these pesto noodles:

• Olive Oil
• Garlic
• Angel Hair Pasta
• Basil Pesto
• Shredded Mozzarella
• Grape Tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes)
• Black Pepper

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card down below so keep scrolling for all the details.

How to Make Pesto Sauce Pasta

This pesto dish comes together in just 20 minutes! Here are the basic steps to mastering this recipe:

1. Prep: Make the homemade pesto (if making at home) and prepare the pasta to al dente according to the package instructions (reserve the pasta water!).
2. Sauté: Add the oil and garlic to a large skillet over medium heat and stir until fragrant. Reduce the heat then at the tomatoes and salt and sauté.
3. Boil: Add some starchy pasta water and bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. You want the tomatoes to start burstin

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! It’s rainy and wet over here in Ohio today, but tomorrow’s forecast looks glorious. I’m looking forward to spending tomorrow afternoon napping on the back porch and enjoying the time with my family. 

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Street corn dip is a creamy, spicy, slightly sweet snack for any time of the year. With loads of great flavor from cilantro, lime, chili powder, and cumin, this is irresistible for anyone who loves Mexican street corn.

Creamy and fresh with a bit of tang, German cucumber salad brings back happy memories. Nothing says summer Sunday dinner at Grandma’s house quite like this old-fashioned salad.

Tangy, sweet pineapple rice with cilantro and lime is a guaranteed win for any pineapple lovers. My family gives it two thumbs up around the table every time I make it. This is a fun side dish that was originally inspired by this recipe for Hawaiian huli huli chicken. I wanted something sweet and just a bit tangy, and the rice worked out beautifully.

This is a sweet, moist cherry cake filled with fruit and drizzled with an almond glaze. It is a dessert you can pull together with minimal effort for maximum results.

Blueberry milkshakes are summer in a glass, perfect for sipping on a hot day or treating yourself after a long day. This is a creamy, dreamy milkshake bursting with juicy blueberries. So simple, yet so satisfyingly delicious.

Crunchy, sweet, and salty old fashioned haystacks bring my Grandmother’s kitchen to mind every time I make them.

Having published well over 100 ice cream recipes, I get asked a LOT of questions about ice cream makers. So, I’ve updated my gigantic ice cream maker review to highlight the best and the worst ice cream makers for 2024.

What I’m CRAVING: This Vietnamese bbq shrimp pasta looks so good! Bring on all the shrimp recipes this summer. Grilled, sauteed, boiled, I’ll take them all.

My FAVORITE THING this week is this Read more

Hi friends! Happy Friday! How was the week? Ours was a wild one, packed with events, but such is Maycember. We also had the great Beautycounter fallout, which was pretty mentally draining. I’m excited for the weekend and for the new week ahead.

I hope that my friends who are celebrating Mother’s Day enjoy a beautiful holiday this weekend! If Mother’s Day is a difficult time for you, I’m sending you a hug, and holding you in my heart. We’ll be Sunday brunching around here and then I want to spend the rest of the afternoon by the pool, margarita in hand.

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below.

5.10 Friday Faves

Life:

Last weekend, Liv had her last dance compeition of the season, so we had another weekend in Phoenix. In between all of the dancing and costume changes, we had our usual takeout picnic and Friends marathon. It was perfection. She still has recital coming up in June, but I can’t believe how quickly competition season flew by!

Mother’s Day Tea at the kids’ school. This is something they do for the younger departments, but it ends in 2nd grade. It was our last year doing it together and it’s one of my favorite traditions of the year. They had a lovely spread of drinks and snacks, we did some crafts together, and the kids performed a poem and song for all of us. It was so beautiful and special.

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Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

These chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting start with moist, fudgy chocolate cake. Then they’re topped with creamy strawberry buttercream made from real strawberries.

Chocolate and strawberries – could there be a better combo? There’s just something about fudgy, creamy chocolate and fresh, sweet, juicy berries that go so perfectly together. And when Valentine’s day rolls around, these chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting are the perfect thing.

I always get really excited for Valentine’s Day, and I love the idea of taking a day to appreciate the people we love – and after cold, dreary January, I think everyone can use something to brighten their day.

I don’t typically buy gifts or do anything too fancy for Valentine’s Day – but I love to make a special treat to celebrate. And these chocolate cupcakes with strawberry frosting are great for February 14th, or whenever you’re looking for a chocolate cupcake recipe that’s just a little extra special.

How to Make Chocolate Cupcakes

The chocolate cupcakes are moist, fudgy, and have a perfectly soft cupcake crumb. Oil keeps the cupcakes moist. Then we’re using buttermilk for a soft, delicate cupcake crumb. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand – you can make your own with vinegar and 1% or 2% milk. Then for a super fudgy rich chocolate flavor, I recommend using dutch process cocoa.

Start by whisking all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, cream together all the wet ingredients. Then add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Spoon the batter into a cupcake pan lined with cupcake liners and bake. Let them cool completely before adding the frosting.

How to Make Strawberry Buttercream

For the strawberry frosting, we’re using real strawberries. You can use fresh or frozen berries – but if using frozen berries just make sure they aren’t packed in syrup or sugar.

First process the berries in your food processor or blender, and then put the juice through a metal sieve to remove the seeds. I usually do about 1/2 at a time and push the mixture through using the back of a spoon. It can be a little tedious – so if you don’t mind seeds in your frosting, you can skip this step.

Then boil the juice down until it’s thick like jam, and place it in the fridge or freezer to cool. After this is done – making the strawberry buttercream frosting is straight forward. Beat the butter until fluffy, then slowly beat in the powdered sugar followed by the cooled, boiled down strawberry puree.

PRO TIP: If you really want to amp up the strawberry flavor (and color), pulverize a half cup or so of freeze-dried strawberries, and mix those in.

What Piping Tip to Use on Cupcakes

You can either frost the cupcakes using a piping bag and tip (I used a 1M) or simply frost them with a knife.

You’ll