Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

I recently toyed around with some ingredients and came up with this recipe. It was exactly what I was craving. I have not had lemon cake in a long time, nor poppy seed anything, so I decided to combine the two with natural sweeteners to see what happened. The result is a spongy, rich, very moist cake and quite heavy. It really hits the spot if you are craving something really sweet and chewy. It is very moist on its own, thanks to the sweetener I used, agave nectar, so it does not need frosting. Also, I have been abstaining from white refined flour, but I decided to go ahead and use it this once since I was experimenting with a new recipe. I am really excited to start baking with some of the new flours that I have bought but I need better recipes than the few listed on the packaging. Luckily, I live fairly close to Bob's Red Mill where anything and everything can be and is turned into flour. Here are some types of flours I've seen, to name a few: garbonzo bean flour, millet flour, teff flour, buckwheat flour, potato flour, almond meal flour, black bean flour, white rice and brown rice flours, corn flour, green pea flour, etc. I have teff flour and millet flour here at home, but I decided to use white flour. I should have photographed the cake for you, but now that it's half eaten, it wouldn't be pretty. Feel free to toy around with the ingredients here. You could use honey instead of agave nectar, which is sometimes hard to find at the grocery store. Let me know what you think!


Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

1 C. flour
1/3 C. poppy seeds
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 C. agave nectar
1/4 C. melted butter
2 eggs
1/2 C. fat-free milk
3 Tblsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. pure lemon extract

350 degrees. Cover a 9" square pan with non-stick spray. Combine dry ingredients and then add wet ingredients. Mix only until everything is moistened. Bake for 25-30 minutes and then cool on wire rack. Enjoy!