Tender Gluten Free Poppyseed Cake

This recipe is adapted from Deborah Madison's "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone," and it's a quiet stunner. It emerges from the oven looking almost humble, but the slight crunch of nutty poppyseeds balances its plush, tender crumb. Unlike my gluten free lemon and poppyseed cake, this gluten-free poppyseed cake needs no citrus zest to define its flavor.

This is a proper cake: light, fluffy, and finely textured. I finished it with a simple dusting of sifted powdered sugar, which was lovely. Serve the cake plain with coffee, or top slices with whipped cream, a drizzle of salted caramel sauce, and sliced strawberries.

What You'll Love

A classic poppyseed cake is a nice recipe to have on hand when you want to make something a tad bit different, yet still easy and delicious. Some things you'll love about this one:

• A nice balance of poppyseeds. I cut down on the amount of poppyseeds the original recipe called for, and I found it to be the perfect amount. Steep them in milk first to release their flavor and soften their crunch.
• You'd hardly guess it's gluten-free! I feel like the best gluten-free cakes are the ones where you casually mention that, oh, this is gluten-free, AFTER you've received rave reviews. And I promise, no one will be able to guess this is gluten-free.
• Not overly sweet. I find this cake to be beautifully sweet, but it's not over the top. So you can take a liberal hand with the powdered sugar on top :)

Ingredients Needed

Here's what you'll need for this cake, along with a few notes on substitutions. Make sure to scroll down to my recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full ingredient amounts and instructions!

• Milk - I used whole milk, but 2% milk is also fine.
• Poppyseeds - Madison's recipe called for 1 cup of poppyseeds, which, in initial tests, I found to be a bit overwhelming. For me, the sweet spot is ½ cup. Feel free to try the 1 cup of poppyseeds, though, if you really love them.
• Oat flour - Grab a package of oat flour at the store (certified gluten-free if needed) or learn how to make oat flour easily at home. If you don't eat oats, substitute sorghum flour or brown rice flour.
• Almond flour - I prefer fine-ground almond flour rather than almond meal.
• Leavening - A combination of (fresh!) baking powder and baking soda.
• Salt - I used fine sea salt, and table salt also works.
• Eggs - Use large eggs.
• Butter - Unsalted butter brought to room temperature is best.
• Granulated sugar
• Vanilla - Use pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
• Greek yogurt - I tend to use whole-fat yogurt in baking because it adds richness and extra fat, which is helpful for stability, especially in gluten-free recipes. However, non-fat or low-fat yogurt is OK, too. Use plain yogurt.

Tips & Recipe Notes

• What type of pan? Madison suggests using a springform pan, so I did the same. However, I think you can just as well use a 9-inch round cake pan. Make sure to butter/grease it and line it with parchment paper.
• Is that oven temperature high? The cake bakes at 375F which can be higher than some regular and gluten-free recipes. However, it is not a problem here, and the cake bakes evenly. If you think it's browning too quickly, tent foil over the top.
• Make dairy-free. Swap softened coconut oil or your favorite non-dairy butter for the butter. Use your favorite non-dairy milk for the milk and your favorite non-dairy yogurt for the yogurt.
• Bake as loaves. For a version of gluten-free poppyseed bread, bake this cake in a loaf pan or mini loaf pans.
• Add a glaze. If you want a bit of sweet citrus contrast, glaze the cake with my simple lemon glaze.

Proper Storage

• Counter - Covered or in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days.
• Fridge - Extend the life of the cake by keeping it in the fridge for up to 5 days.
• Freezer - Wrap the cake in plastic and foil, and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw the cake in the fridge before serving.