Orange Poppy Seed Pound Cake
Lightened-up orange poppy seed pound cake cheers up chilly days. Made with whole wheat pastry flour, olive oil and yogurt, this pound cake is healthier than most.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
I missed my brother’s birthday last week. I’ve attended every one of his birthday celebrations until this year. I suppose 23 out of 24 is still pretty good, but I wish I could have been there. My dad sent me a picture of my two younger brothers sitting side-by-side on a restaurant booth at the birthday dinner. They’re are all grown up now, transformed from ornery boys into strapping young men. My burly baby brother is even sporting a new mustache. I’ll let it slide.
When we were little, I couldn’t appreciate our age differences. I was the smarty-pants older sister and I called them out on all their dumb mistakes. I really regret that I didn’t offer more supportive words when they did things right. If I could go back in time, I’d tell my younger self to let my brothers be boys. LET THEM BE BOYS.
IF I had been able to make the five hour drive home for my brother’s birthday, I would have made him this cake. It’s not too sweet so I think he would like it. My obsession with the concept began the moment I laid eyes on Melissa Clark‘s blood orange olive oil cake recipe while sitting cross-legged on a hotel bed in Atlanta with In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite. Blood oranges, olive oil… in a cake. Bonus points for yogurt.
I noticed that Melissa’s recipe called for the same amount of flour as my honey whole wheat banana bread recipe and started wondering if I could substitute honey for the sugar. She referenced the original source of her recipe, Dorie Greenspan, so the next thing you know I’m googling Dorie’s recipe on my phone and taking notes on the differences in proportions. What liquid would I decrease to make up for the addition? How much yogurt and oil and orange juice should I use? My head started to hurt from all the math so I eventually gave up and went downstairs.
My subconscious wouldn’t let the idea go, though. At home several days later, I came across A Cozy Kitchen’s grapefruit-thyme pound cake, which reminded me of that Ina Garten yogurt cake I’d bookmarked ages ago. And what do you know, that recipe is so similar to Dorie’s French yogurt and olive oil cake. Then I’m googling all of them at once, tabs galore, and go figure, Deb has made them all. I was zooming into her pictures to see the crumb for each recipe and still wondering about replacing the sugar with honey and which citrus flavors and I realize, I am totally crazy. LET IT BE CAKE.
So I let it be cake, and I ended up with what I like to call, “orange poppy seed pound cake”. The longer name would be “orange, poppy seed, olive oil and yogurt loaf cakey-bread”. This cake has the dense texture and light sweetness of pound cake.The subtle herbal notes of the olive oil hide behind the pervasive orange flavor in the poppy seed-studded crumb. It’s a simple cake that doesn’t required an electric stand mixer (none of my recipes do). You might notice that my loaf didn’t poof up in the middle, but I loved the resulting dense texture.
The cake is a combination of all the recipes referenced. The basic proportions came from Ina’s recipe, but I used orange juice in the loaf like Melissa, rubbed the orange zest into the sugar like Dorie did with lime, and took Deb’s suggestion of adding 1/3 cup poppy seeds to the batter. I used olive oil instead of Ina’s vegetable oil; I think you could substitute coconut oil for the olive oil for a more tropical flavor.
As usual, I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour. Whole wheat pastry flour is finely milled soft white wheat that is still 100% whole wheat and unbleached. It doesn’t have much of a wheat-y taste to begin with, but orange helps cover up the flavor of whole wheat, so I dare anyone to detect it here.
If you want to debate the healthfulness of this cake, I suppose that how “healthy” this cake will be for you depends on your definition of the term. This cake is most certainly better for you than a traditional pound cake, which—fun fact—calls for a pound of flour, pound of butter, a pound of sugar and a pound of eggs. If you try to avoid gluten, dairy and sugar, perhaps this cake is not for you. However, I do have a recipe for vegan chocolate cake, and a maple-sweetened tea cake. And if you’re gluten-free, might I offer you some cookies instead?
Orange Poppy Seed Pound Cake
Lightened-up orange poppy seed pound cake cheers up chilly days. Made with whole wheat pastry flour, olive oil and yogurt, this pound cake is healthier than most. Serve slices as is, or add a scoop of ice cream for dessert or yogurt for breakfast.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
- ⅓ cup poppy seeds
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1 medium organic orange, to yield about 2 teaspoons zest and ¼ cup juice
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- 3 eggs
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 8 ½ by 4 ¼ by 2 ½-inch loaf pan. (Ina suggests lining the bottom of the pan with parchment paper cut to fit. I didn’t do this but the cake did stick to the bottom a little bit.)
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt.
- Pour the sugar into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Grate all the zest from the orange (should yield about 2 teaspoons zest). Rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar is orange and fragrant.
- Slice the orange in half for juicing. In a liquid measuring cup, measure out ¾ cup yogurt and squeeze in about ¼ cup orange juice to yield 1 cup total liquid. Whisk the yogurt and orange juice, eggs and vanilla into the sugar mixture.
- When the mixture is well blended, gently whisk in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated. Switch to a spatula and fold in the oil, making sure it’s all incorporated. The batter will be shiny. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top.
- Bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the top is golden and the sides start to pull away from the sides of the pan; a toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a knife between the cake and the sides of the pan to loosen. Unmold the cake by placing a large plate upside down over the loaf pan and carefully turning them over. Let the cake cool to room temperature right-side up.
Notes
- Adapted from Ina Garten’s Lemon Yogurt Cake, Dorie Greenspan’s EVO and Yogurt Loaf Cake, Melissa Clark’s Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake (found in In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite, available online at Smitten Kitchen) and Deb Perelman’s Lemon Yogurt Anything Cake. Whew.
- Zesting citrus is super easy with a Microplane zester/grater. Love that thing.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Tried making this for my girlfriend. it was dead simple and tastes amazing. highly recommended. thanks
Hooray! Thanks, David!
In looking for an excuse to have the oven on to warm up the house, I went searching for poppy seed loaf cake recipe. I finally found your’s a few pages into my search and I knew it was the one. I had to use a little more orange juice to make up for not quite enough yogurt and a little brown sugar to make up for not quite enough sugar. With those slight adjustments, it still came out perfect! I had to bake a little longer (cold house = cold kitchen), but it ended up with a PERFECT pound cake rise… it even had the most beautiful crack (ha!) down the middle.
Then I accidentally spent most of the day looking on your blog and have now decided you’re my new food best friend. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes, there’s just so much that sounds delicious I’m having a hard time choosing. :)
Heather, I’m so glad you found this cake! Welcome to my blog. I’m sorry for not saying so earlier!
WOW! My new favorite bread recipe. I made it last night, it’s all gone, and the oven is heating up now for my second. I made it in a little dutch oven type dish, round maybe 7 inches. I cut it into loaf sizes and it was delicious. I always use whole wheat pastry flour and often have to fuss with trying to get the proportions right because I just won’t use white flour, what a waste of calories! Thank you so much for a great recipe, and I’m sure many more that are totally my style, too! I cut the sugar almost in half and I used two types of oranges. Tonight I will be adding lemon for a little more tartness. I put half a tsp of rose water into it, and cut the poppyseeds down just a little (they’re pricey). Tonight I think I may make a cranberry/mulberry glaze to pour over it! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Thanks, Jenny! Your version sounds stellar! Glad you’re enjoying the recipe.
This recipe was fantastic! I used organic whole grain flour and it turned out just fine. I also added some almond extract in addition to the vanilla and glazed it with confectioners’ sugar icing made with almond extract. I will definitely be making it again!
Thanks, Kaylee! Your cake sounds amazing!
Just got done making a batch of your double lemon poppyseed muffins for my youngest daughter’s class and saw a picture of this cake. Reminded of my favorite French yogurt cake made with Greek yogurt and coconut oil. Plan to do the same with your recipe only substituting lemon and garnishing with creme fraiche. Tomorrow, I am making a double batch of your double lemon poppyseed muffins as my middle daughter requested them for her school birthday treat.
So glad your daughters are enjoying my muffins! You’re right, this cake sounds very similar to your French cake. Hope your variation turns out lovely (I bet it will)!
This was delicious, Kate!! My new favourite orange cake :) Do you think I could freeze it?
Thanks, Gayatri! I think you could!
Hi Kate, could I use applesauce instead of oil?
I’m in the “can we make this without sugar” camp. (metaphorically speaking)
Due to family allergies we look for recipes with little to no sugar as well as gluten-free. BUT just for the “fun” of it, if the gluten-free person and the diabetic are at the same “food event” we need rice-less gluten-free recipes, because the diabetic has an allergy to rice. :)
Thus cooking and baking get a little challenging at our house.
I also like the person who asked about using Greek yogurt as I alternate being Greek yogurt and Balkan style yogurt.
hi Kate,
love your recipes.
However, may I request you to provide the measurements in metric as well in the recipes?
I have hard time converting cups to g and ml.
many thanks
hey I was wondering if i could add frosting to this recipe or would it turn out too sweet ? would i have to cut down on the sugar of would it turn out fine ? cheers ! :D
Do you think it’s ok to replace the poppy seeds with chia seeds?
I’m not sure. Chia seeds absorb a lot of moisture, so they may affect the outcome.
This was really, really delicious — and you cannot taste the whole wheat flour at all (I used white whole wheat). I also made it in a bundt pan that I recently inherited from a friend, and it worked beautifully. I tend to prefer non-chocolate type desserts (weirdly, because I love chocolate itself) and a fragrant orange cake like this is just my speed.
We love this cake. Made with both lemon and orange (separately). Successfully halved the sugar and mixed while wheat and spelt. We take this camping and enjoy it with midnight tea and morning coffee. Currently baking a triple recipe for this weekend and for the freezer..thank you!
Looked great, heard he Trump/Pence ad.
Bye Felicia.
Hi Kate,
I baked it today for my son’s second birthday. Everybody liked it very much. Even my son who is not a cake lover, ate it.
Thanks.
Uma
Have made this cake a few times for breakfast and it’s a HUGE success!!! love it!
How much juice and zest from a organic medium orange?
From what I’m finding, the average amount of juice is 4 tbsp, and 2-3 tbsp of zest for a medium orange.
Sorry, that’s teaspoons for the zest!
Is it necessary to put the sugar in?
I think it’s necessary to have some kind of sweetener in here. You could certainly swap it out with coconut sugar, honey, or maple syrup.
I really want to make this. I’ve bought the poppyseeds already and I was about ready to make it, but I noticed it has yogurt. I am vegan, is there a any substitution what’s so ever that you have tried to replace it?
It looks amazing.
Hi Kate,
I’ve tried this recipe yesterday with half WW and half regular flour and it turned out perfect! :)
I was wondering if you have tried a gluten free version for this recipe – thinking if your almond meal/GF flour ratio would work like your Healthy Banana Bread recipe?
Thanks and hope to hear from you!
This sounds great! I’m obsessed with oranges lately. Can you substitute the sugar for maple syrup? Thanks!!
Hey Gabriella! I’m sorry, the cake won’t turn out right if you add that much moisture.
i enjoyed this… i want to try it with lemons!
Let me know what you think!
just fyi, made it with oranges again, and took it to a party. it was a big hit!
I followed this recipe exactly as it was written and while my batter seemed perfect, it’s been in the oven for 55 minutes and is very gooey in the center. The top looks perfectly cooked except for the very middle. Any tips?
Mine took total 70mins to bake but I had to cover it with foil at 55mins because the top was getting too brown. So you’re not alone!
I found the cake a bit too oily and wish I reduced the olive oil a bit. Otherwise the flavour was good and I liked the orange/poppy seed combo.
I wonder if it rises less because you only use baking powder. You use a lot of acidic ingredients here (yogurt, citrus) and usually that inhibits the rise when using baking powder. I might try a baking powder + baking soda mix like you did in your muffin and see how that works out.
Remi, you’re probably right! I’ll try to revisit soon.
hey Kate,
have been wanting to bake an orange cake since long. could you tell me if white poppy seeds can be used instead of the black ones. i live in india and the white ones are widely available and that’s what i have at home right now.
also, i an a bit confused about using honey instead of sugar. can i?
thanks and love from India.
Hi again, now I see that you were asking about this recipe. Yes, you can use white poppy seeds instead of black. This is not the best recipe for substituting honey. If you like any of my honey-sweetened cakes (like the banana cake), those would better starting points.
thank you, Kate :)
I would love to make this with lemon and almond flour….thoughts on swapping them out??
Unfortunately, almond flour doesn’t typically work as a 1:1 substitute. You could try it, but I would be hesitant.
Hi,
Can I use greek yogurt for this recipe? And also will it be okay to use coconut oil instead of olive oil?
Greek yogurt should still work, although it can be a little thicker. Most times coconut oil and olive oil can be interchanged. However, I haven’t tired it with this one. Let me know how it works for you!
Do you know if this recipe freezes well?, I’m going to make it it several mini loaf pans
I haven’t tired it. It might just based on the type of recipe. Let me know if it works for you in the kind of recipe!
I made this recipe today, and WOW it came out as one of the top things I’ve ever baked. The subtle orange is such a fun twist on a lemoney classic. I left my loaf in for 55 minutes, and when I pulled the knife out of the center there was a teeny bit of batter still there – but I’m so glad I took the bread out and let it bake on it’s own outside of the oven for the right consistency. Such a fun one to share with roommates.
Hooray! Thanks for sharing, Thalia. I’m glad you loved it!
Really good recipe — definitely a keeper! I used lemons instead of oranges and it was very tasty, although next time I’ll add a lot more zests for more flavor.
Hi, can you substitute sugar for honey, if so what amount?
Thank you
Hi Beti! I’m sorry, I have tried but not had good luck substituting honey here.
Hi,
I don’t have any poppy seeds – can I leave it out? Do you think stevia would work as a substitute for the sugar or even half stevia/ half sugar?
Thanks,
Leena
Hi Leena! Sure, you can leave out the poppy seeds. I don’t know about the stevia, since I don’t have experience with it. I think you’d need to use at least half the sugar specified here because sugar makes baked goods tender, in addition to sweet.
I used half sugar & half stevia and it was perfect. Since discovering this recipe just last week, I’ve made it twice already with the a double batch the second time. The family is fighting over it.
It turned out so well. I didn’t have poppy seeds so I substituted with almonds sliced very thin. Baked it for 60 minutes and was absolutely perfect. Thanks!
Leena
I just made this. Its so perfect. Even though I substituted with coconut oil and Greek yoghurt and . I thinned out half a cup of yoghurt with a quarter cup of water. I will definitely be making this again!
Thank you very much for sharing the good recipe. The cake taste awesome! It’s full of orange and poppy seed flavour. Love it!!
Dear Kate, thanks so much for your art works. The banana loaf came out amazing! And the banana, carot muffins, too! Healthy, yum yum and beautiful!
About this recipes, I would like to ask if I can use honey instead sugar, skip seeds? I am looking for a very simple orange loaf that we can enjoy the delicate original orange.
I also would like to ask if, just if you can write your recipe in gr, too, as I believe it would be super helpful for many many many people that don’t use US Cup, like me. Thank you so much.
Thanks for this recipe! I’m planning to try it very soon. Do you think it would still be good with just 1/4 cup poppy seeds? That way I can avoid an extra to the store… :)
Corinne
Love this simple cake for a hot summer pool party tomorrow! Since I was out of baking powder, I used the Cream of Tarter and Baking Soda substitution from this Heathline post and my cake did have a small puff up in the middle like a banana bread loaf. Looking forward to flavor tomorrow!
I am so impressed by this recipe, it is literally the best homemade cake ever. I make it with flax eggs, and doubled the amount of orange zest and juice. Kept the Yogurt to 1/2 cup, and everyone loved it!
I’m delighted you loved it, Charuta! Thank you for your review.
So so good! My edges came out a bit chewy though.. left it in for about an hour because middle was still a bit gooey at 55 min. Do you have any suggestions for a better edge next time?
Hi Finley, I’m sorry to hear that. What type of pan did you use?
This turned out perfectly! I love the tip to mix the zest into the sugar and to use pastry flour.
That’s great, Sarah! Thank you for your review.
Can I use honey instead of sugar and if so do I need to reduce any liquids?
Hi Neerah, Unfortunately, without trying it I don’t know. I hope you try making it as is!
I love this recipe SO much, I used coconut yogurt to make a dairy free version and it worked perfectly,, it stays moist for days (if it can last that long without being eaten) and it’s perfectly light.
<3
Love it. Made it with gluten free flour. Very nice.
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it, Heling! I appreciate your review.
This is so delicious! I had to make several adjustments to accommodate my husband’s health needs and the ingredients I had on hand, but the flavor was still spot on. Thank you! My husband is supposed to be following a whole food plant based diet, so I used a combination of almond butter and apple sauce (I only had 1/4 cup apple sauce on hand) to make up for the missing fat, and I used flax eggs instead of chicken eggs. I did add some nonfat yogurt that I had on hand, although that’s not part of a WFPB diet, and added more almond butter, since my yogurt was fat free. Much to my surprise, my poppyseeds had been in the pantry for 3 years & smelled rancid, so I replaced them with toasted black sesame seeds to get the speckled look. I also used coconut sugar instead of white sugar, to keep it healthier. I had no idea whether any of this would work, but it did! Thank you for this delicious recipe. I may experiment using date paste or date powder next time and maybe find a way to replace the yogurt (perhaps use almond flour, less almond butter, and more apple sauce) to make it closer to the WFPB that my husband’s doctor recommended. Thank you, again, for all your wonderful recipes. I’m so glad you use whole wheat flour instead of making everything gluten free.
Thank you for sharing, Luisa!
Best cake I have made so far!!
Everyone loved it ❤️
This cake is so good! I followed the recipe—almost. I substituted coconut sugar for the white sugar and it turned out just fine. I’ll definitely be making this again.
Happy to hear it, Charlotte!
Are your measurements in US or UK cups?
Hi Ellen, I live in the US so they are US measurements.
Hi, I’m a Type 1 Diabetic with MS and a plethora of other things and I love all the muffin recipes with whole wheat flour and Greek yogurt. Is there a way to make this recipe using Greek yogurt? I’m just starting to get back in the kitchen after 2 decades while REALLY trying to be healthy. I personally use Too Good Greek yogurt in the vanilla flavor instead of plain. The Too Good has super low carb count. But thank you for having recipes that are healthy AND TASTE AWESOME!!
Hi Tammy, I haven’t tried it. But, it may work ok. Let me know how it turns out if you try it!