If you love lemon desserts like I do, this is a must try recipe! Picture a moist Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with a Lemonade Icing. It is perfect with a cup of coffee, tea, or for dessert!
One bite and you will be hooked on this easy to make dessert. You can also do what I like to do, make a double batch and freeze one gluten free lemon loaf for another time. If you are a big make ahead baker, you may also like this Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread or this Gluten Free Matcha Green Tea Banana Bread.
You may also like my Top Ten Gluten Free Lemon Desserts recipe roundup.
With this new recipe, you will notice I am moving away from many store-bought gluten free flour blends for a little while. For the next year, one of my kids has to stay away from white potatoes, and potato starch seems to be in every gluten free flour blend except a few.
Healing the gut is important, so bear with me as I create fun new gluten free flour blends for you.”
(The flour blend I found without potato starch is by Pamela’s and it is a bread mix. I used it to make lemon muffins, which I hope to post on my alternate site Grandma’s Recipes Made Gluten Free in a week or two.)
For this recipe, I used Pamela’s gluten free flour blend. You can also use a combination of sorghum, brown rice, almond flour, and arrowroot flours (I recommend 1/2 cup sorghum, 1/2 almond, 1/4 brown rice, and 1/4 arrowroot.) When you are baking gluten free, you can’t use one flour and get good results. I blend two flours and a starch, which seems to mimic non-gluten free the best. Don’t forget 1 teaspoon xanthan gum to bind it all together.
Loaf, Bread, or Cake
Do you ever wonder what to call these sweetbreads? I always get confused if something is a loaf, a bread, or a cake. This lemon poppy seed recipe is definitely sweet enough to be a dessert so maybe bread isn’t the right word here.
You can call this gluten free lemon poppy seed cake recipe anything you like, perhaps the bigger decision is what lemon poppy seed cake topping is best :-).
For this recipe, I created a simple lemonade icing. You don’t need any topping if you don’t want your poppy seed loaf to be too sweet.
Other lemon poppy seed cake topping ideas:
- Lemon glaze (a much runnier version of my lemonade icing, you want the lemon juice and sugar to absorb into your cake.
- Vanilla frosting
- Cream cheese frosting
If you love all things lemon, you will want to check out the best gluten free lemon desserts on the blog!
More Delicious Gluten Free Lemon Desserts:
(*Please note this post has affiliate links. Ordering through my site will not change the price you pay. A tiny commission will come to Fearless Dining to help offset the cost of running this blog. I truly appreciate the support.)
Things You Need to Make This Poppy Seed Cake Recipe:
- An easy to use lemon juicer makes getting fresh lemon juice a breeze!
- A simple zester can get the right amount of zest, and not the white bitter pith.
How to make a Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Cake:
Add the dry ingredients to a bowl and whisk to blend. In a separate bowl, add the wet ingredients and mix well.
Pour the wet ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix. Don’t over mix because this will make your poppy seed cake not as fluffy!
Next, pour the batter into a greased bread loaf tin and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until done. (You can test if your cake is done by inserting a toothpick into the middle of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, it is ready!)
Next, eat and enjoy!
Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups gluten free flour, I used Pamela's Bread Mix
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup almond milk
- 2 tablespoons almond milk
- For Icing:
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice, feel free to adjust this if you want your icing thicker or runnier.
- 1/2 cup melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Grease a bread loaf pan with coconut oil or butter.
- In a large bowl, add all dry ingredients and whisk to blend.
- In a smaller bowl, add all wet ingredients, including zest and whisk to mix.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix. Don't over mix or your cake will not be as light and fluffy.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until done. Insert a toothpick into the top middle to test.
- Allow the cake to cool completely.
- In a bowl, add icing ingredients and mix. Drizzle on top of the cake and enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 368 Total Fat: 20g Saturated Fat: 11g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 8g Cholesterol: 62mg Sodium: 254mg Carbohydrates: 43g Fiber: 2g Sugar: 24g Protein: 5g
More Delicious Gluten Free Recipes to Try:
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- Cheddar Potato Hash Brown Waffles
-
- GF Funfetti Cookies
-
- Tuscan Chicken Pasta
-
- Paleo Strawberry Muffins
-
- New England Style Fish Chowder
-
- Gluten Free Oatmeal Muffins
Nikita
May 8, 2019 at 12:58 amHi Sandi, can you use butter instead of the coconut oil?
Thanks!
Sandi Gaertner
May 8, 2019 at 10:52 amHi Nikita, I assume butter should be fine in this muffin recipe. I use the two interchangeably. Please come back and let me know how it turned out.
Molly M Brack
April 20, 2019 at 11:00 amGreat recipe. Before Celiac I had a Poppyseed bread recipe that I loved and this turned out very similarly. I did leave out the lemon juice and added an equal amount of liquid, but the key to my rave-reviewed bread is the glaze: 1/2 C sugar, 1/4 C orange juice, !/2 tsp each vanilla, almond, and butter extracts. (the same flavorings go into the batter as well). Poke the bread after it’s out of the oven for 10 minutes and pour the glaze over so it soaks in while warm. Be sure to get GF flavorings.
Sandi Gaertner
April 20, 2019 at 8:41 pmThis sounds fabulous Molly 🙂
Kris
March 8, 2019 at 1:24 pmSandy, I just found this recipe on Pinterest today. I’m so excited to try it, but I’m wondering if you have ever substituted the almond flour with anything else? I just received an assortment of flours through nuts.com that i am anxious to try but know nothing about them and what would be a better option. Brown rice flour, potato flour, cassava flour, and banana flour. Any suggestions?
Sandi Gaertner
March 9, 2019 at 10:41 amHi Kris, you can definitely make this recipe without almond flour. Instead of 1/2 cup almond flour, use an additional 1/4 cup of the gluten free flour blend. I like Cassava flour, but it is very light, starchy, and absorbs liquid a little more. I like brown rice flour…if it isn’t ground superfine it can add a slight grit to the texture, depending on brand. Authentic Foods brand gluten free flours are milled superfine so I use their brown rice flour. I have a bag of banana flour, but I haven’t experimented with it. Thank you 🙂
Ashley Larsen
August 30, 2018 at 7:42 pmThank you so much for this recipe! In my husband’s family, they made a lemon poppyseed cake for every birthday, but since my husband had to go gluten-free two years ago, I haven’t had the nerve to try to make one. I baked this today, and it actually turned out even better than the old family recipe (which for me usually turned out flat). The whole family was so impressed, and my husband was thrilled!
Sandi Gaertner
August 30, 2018 at 10:12 pmYou made my day Ashley. I am so glad your family loved these muffins. Thank you for taking the time to come back and let us know :-).
Andrea
July 17, 2018 at 7:45 amHi Sandi, I was about to try your recipe and noticed that there is no butter or oil. Is the recipe meant to be oil and butter free? Thanks!
Sandi Gaertner
July 17, 2018 at 2:20 pmThat is so odd, thank you for pointing this out. There should be 1/4 cup coconut oil in this recipe. I added it back in. Thank you so much!
Jessica Robinson
April 23, 2018 at 2:12 pmThis cake looks so delicious and you’d never think it was gluten free. I will definitely be sharing with all of my girlfriends that are gluten free!
Sandi Gaertner
April 23, 2018 at 6:31 pmThank you so much Jessica 🙂
Suzy | The Mediterranean Fish
April 23, 2018 at 1:52 pmLove having a delicious option for GF cake!
Sandi Gaertner
April 23, 2018 at 6:31 pmAwesome Suzy, enjoy 🙂
Veena Azmanov
April 23, 2018 at 11:58 amWow, this Lemon Poppy Seed Cake so cute! I would love to eat this for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Thank you for sharing this great recipe! YUM!
Sandi Gaertner
April 23, 2018 at 6:32 pmLOL, my kids would love this lemon poppy seed cake for dinner too!
Valentina
April 23, 2018 at 10:45 amI am loving this recipe. My son has Celiac Disease and we are forever creating new GF baked goods. Personally, I would love this for breakfast with my coffee and for dessert anytime. I’ve always loved the lemon-poppy seed combination.
Sandi Gaertner
April 23, 2018 at 10:52 amI hope your son likes this cake as much as we do Valentina 🙂
Vicky
April 23, 2018 at 10:31 amThis looks so good especially with that icing. I think i might make two loaves as well and give one to a friend.
Sandi Gaertner
April 23, 2018 at 10:53 amI like how you think Vicky, I hope your friend enjoys it too 🙂