Lemon poppyseed is one of those combinations we bakers never seem to tire of. Muffin or loaf; glazed or not, it’s a classic flavor profile that need not be improved upon. But could one challenge the classic just a smidge and make sourdough starter discard lemon poppyseed loaf? (Whew, a mouthful of a recipe name!) As is the case with most bakes that include flour and liquid, the answer is a resounding yes.
With a caveat: Cakes like lemon poppyseed should have a moist, tender crumb (not at all chewy like bread); and their flavor should be tart, but not overly sour (like a sourdough loaf). To avoid a dense, chewy loaf, you should use less starter discard than you possibly could. When taking this into consideration, a lovely tea cake is in your future.
Use Unfed Discard Straight from the Refrigerator
This cake rises thanks to baking powder and whole eggs, so they don’t need active sourdough starter for lift. Feel free to use unfed sourdough starter discard from the refrigerator cache, or the ripe version you’ve just discarded.
To Remove Excess Water, Use Less Dairy
If you’ve made other lemon poppyseed loaf or muffin recipes, you know there’s often dairy included, typically something tangy to play with the lemon, like buttermilk, sour cream, or yogurt. I went with buttermilk for my first test of the recipe, which is mostly water, and replaced half of what I’d use in a regular oil-based buttermilk loaf cake. Because buttermilk has nearly no fat, much of which was then replaced with pure water, the cake lacked richness and the tanginess from the starter was more apparent. While I didn’t want the loaf to be overly rich (think: tea cake, not birthday cake!) I landed on plain whole-milk yogurt (85% water).
In early tests of this recipe, I tried omitting 1 egg white as well and replaced it with the water’s worth of starter discard. While egg whites are mostly water, when replaced with pure water in such a cake, the crumb lacked structure, making the cake more dense. It actually reminded me of cakes made with sweet rice flour, or mochiko; like a cross between butter mochi and a traditional oil-based cake. If the extra starter discard purely created this texture, I might’ve left the recipe alone. But the overt sour flavor from the additional starter discard took away from the delicate lemon flavor I always look for in lemon poppyseed cakes.
I also tried swapping in starter discard in place of 25 grams (2 tablespoons) lemon juice; again, I was met with a strong sour flavor, not the delicate floral tartness that citrus juice offers. Not worth it!
In the end, I found the right balance of flavor when I used just 110 grams (½ cup) sourdough starter discard, taking the liquid from some of the yogurt.
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Tangy Lemon Poppyseed Loaf
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: One loaf
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
A classic tart lemon cake with a moist, tender interior and tangy twist thanks to the added sourdough starter.
Ingredients
- Cooking spray or neutral oil, for greasing the pan
- 162 grams (1 ¼ cups plus 1 tablespoon) all-purpose flour
- 12 grams (1 tablespoon) poppy seeds
- 8 grams (2 teaspoons) baking powder
- 2 grams (½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal or ¼ teaspoon Morton) kosher salt
- 200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 12 grams (2 tablespoons) lemon zest
- 100 grams (2 large) eggs
- 57 grams (¼ cup) plain whole-milk yogurt
- 66 grams (⅓ cup) neutral oil, such as canola
- 25 grams (2 tablespoons) lemon juice
- 110 grams (½ cup) sourdough starter discard (100% hydration, unfed)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350ºF/175ºC with a rack in the center. Grease an 8 ½ x 4 ½-inch loaf pan with cooking spray or oil, then line with a piece of parchment paper, leaving at least a 1-inch overhang on the long sides.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, poppyseeds, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, add the sugar and zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until moistened and fragrant. Whisk in the eggs, yogurt, and oil until smooth. Whisk in the starter and lemon juice until smooth. Whisk in the flour mixture until just combined.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the loaf is puffed and deeply golden, and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then pull out by the parchment overhang onto a cooling rack. Let cool for another 30 minutes, or completely, before slicing in.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 1 week; or wrap tightly and freeze for 3 months.
Sourdough Starter Discard Lemon Poppyseed Loaf FAQs
Can I use another citrus in place of lemon?
Yes! Grapefruit, orange, or lime zest and juice would be lovely swapped in for lemon.
Can I use Greek yogurt instead of plain whole-milk yogurt?
Yes, 57 grams (¼ cup) plain Greek yogurt (preferably full-fat) or sour cream can be swapped in for the whole-milk yogurt if that’s what you have on hand. They’ll make for a slightly more rich cake. Buttermilk can be swapped in too, but it’ll be less rich, and the cake will be slightly tangier.
Can I bake this in a 9×5-inch loaf tin?
Yes, you can use a 9×5-inch loaf tin for this cake if that’s what you have. The cake will be shorter and wider and bake on the lower end of the timing range, so start checking it for doneness at 40 minutes.
Can I use more sourdough starter discard in this recipe?
I don’t recommend adding more sourdough starter discard to this recipe. When I tried versions with a higher starter content, the cake was so tangy the flavor bordered on distracting. Further, to add more starter you’d need to omit more water via yogurt, egg, or lemon juice, which doesn’t turn out to my preference texturally (see the section above on what happens when you omit these ingredients).
Can I add icing?
Sure! Many lemon poppyseed loaf cake recipes are glazed with a lemony icing. If you’d like to make one, whisk together 57 grams (½ cup) powdered sugar with 13 grams (1 tablespoon) lemon (or whichever citrus you used in the cake) juice and a pinch of kosher salt until smooth, adding more juice by the drop as needed to thin the glaze. When the cake has cooled completely, pour the glaze over.
What’s Next?
After you’ve had your fill of this tasty lemon poppyseed loaf, see our list of sourdough starter discard recipes for more tasty treats!
86 Comments
I made this as the recipe is written, except that I used a 1.5X recipe for a 9 x 5 inch pullman style pan. It took 65 minutes to bake to perfection. Delicious!
Made a modified version of this today and it’s delightful! I left out the poppyseeds (I didn’t have any) and added in some frozen blue berries. And, on a whim, added the a streusel topping—the one from Stella Parks pumpkin skillet cake with bits of white chocolate & pecans ( https://www.seriouseats.com/pumpkin-skillet-coffeecake-with-streusel-topping )
This lemon loaf might be a new favorite discard recipe!
I just weighed out my starter and 110 grams looked like far less than 1/2 a cup. When I poured it into a glass measuring cup it was only 1/4 cup. The weight at the full half cup in the measuring cup is 170 grams. Which is correct? Thank you!
Go with the weight, 110g 🙂
For the discard sourdough starter, pls clarify “how dormant” it can be for this recipe…..days/weeks/months? Thank you!
I usually like to say 2-3 weeks is max (at least that's what I do here, Patricia!).
Thank you, Maurizio!
I've trialled this now twice with no chemical leaven and just starter. It takes a long time to proof, longer than my sourdough banana bread so worth baring in mind if you try. I am vegan so I amended the recipe to suit. If anyone is interested to try it just with starter the recipe is as follows:
160g flour
170g wholemeal starter (active as for bread) I included the yoghurt weight in this.
12g poppy seed
2g salt
200g sugar (I will reduce this next time as I find it too sweet).
zest of 2 lemons
100g egg replacer (this was 90g water, 10g powdered egg replacer) or apple sauce (can make it a little dense)
65g oil
25g lemon juice
I baked it at 160c for about 1hr 5 mins. First round it coloured too fast hence the lower baking temp. I'd love to know if anyone else has a go! If not vegan then just drop the yoghurt and use eggs as before.
I love this, Leona. I have been tempted to try doing this naturally leavened myself. Thank you for posting this!
I recently tried a sourdough lemon and poppy cake that was made without chemical leavening. I make a sourdough banana bread and id love to make this but just sourdough. has anyone done that? is it possible?
Definitely possible but I haven't tried this Leona! For me, the small bit of soda/powder makes this so much easier (and less sour).
thanks for the reply. ill give it a go and if it works ill post back here. my banana bread is more yoghurty tasting than sour so ill hope for the same with this.
I’ve made several lemon poppyseed loaves with discard and this is the best one yet. It’s not too sweet, the lemon isn’t overpowering, there’s no sourness from the discard and the crumb is tender, light and moist. I added ginger, chamomile and fiori di sicilia to the batter, and made a Bundt cake instead of a loaf. I also brushed the hot cake with a lemon soaking syrup. Excellent!
Sounds wonderful, Sadie! I agree, this is the perfect flavor profile for me, too.
Hi, can I made this recipe with out the poppy seeds??
Absolutely.
Hi, this looks an amazing recipe but I am trying to reduce the amount of refined sugar we eat at home (specially my children as the sugar highs/crushes are so bad). Any suggestions on alternatives? TIA from a (big!) fan in Spain
Hmm, hard to say, Sami. I would think stevia or even honey might work…
Hi Rebecca and Maurizio,
I have a question about the lemon zest. I zested 2 large lemons and that yielded 4 grams. Is the recipe amount of 12 grams the right amount?
Thanks in advance for your help
Later that same day……
I baked this today with freshly milled Sonoran Soft White Wheat from Bluebird Grain Farms. Excellent flavor and texture.
Measuring zest is so hard, the weight varies significantly. I would say go by whatever you get off the lemons! That flour sounds incredible, I love their stuff!
I agree about using whatever zest comes off the lemon(s). If you want more flavor, add lemon oil or fiori di Sicilia starting with ¼ tsp and adding more to taste.
Do any non-obvious adjustments need to be made if I want to make two loaves? I was just going to double everything.
Nope, just double it all 🙂
This is really lovely. Doesn’t need the optional glaze, but it provides a nice little pop. The starter definitely adds a nice complexity to something (lemon poppyseed loaves/muffins, etc.) that can often be slightly one-note. Thanks so much for the recipe, Rachel, and for bringing it to us, Maurizio!
So happy you liked it, Patrick! I also made one without glaze and was completely satisfied 🙂
This is SO delicious! My whole family loves it. I have one request – on the recipe, could you move the oil up in order of use? I’ve made this twice and both times almost missed adding the oil because I go in order of the ingredient list and the oil is hiding at the bottom 🙂
So glad you liked this Ashley! Great suggestion on the oil, I found myself doing that as well. Will update.
I made this using orange zest/juice since I didn’t have lemons, nor poppy seeds. I was just happy to have a reason to use my discard! It turned out really good. I followed the recipe pretty closely other than the citrus. I used 2% Fage plain yogurt and added 1 tsp of cardamom because I love it 🙂 I’ll definitely add this recipe to the quick bread collection!
Oh, also: I baked it in 9 x 5 pan and baked for 38 minutes, internal temp 195.
Love these mods, Kelly. I’ve used yuzu in this, and it was fantastic. Now orange is next 🙂
I’ve made this delicious loaf twice in the past couple of weeks, but each time, the centre of the loaf sinks in the centre.. quite significantly. When I did it the first time, I thought I must have weighed my ingredients wrong.. but it was the same result today. Any suggestions?
Hmm. I havent seen this here, Judy. Are you opening the door during baking? It could also be a little too much liquid for the flour you’re using, you could reduce that to help. Also, what’s your altitude?
No.. I refrain from opening the door.. I use the same flour as I make my sourdough bread.. a hard wheat all purpose. Maybe that’s it? I don’t have any other kind currently.. I’m going to make it today.. I’ll try lessening the liquid. Thank you! It’s so delicious.
Dairy free, any alternatives to whole milk yogurt ?
You could try dairy-free yogurt, I’ve seen cashew!
What’s the alternate for the sourdough discard. What if I don’t want to use sourdough discard ?
Use half flour and half water for the weight of the starter discard.
This lemon loaf was fantastic – easy and one of the best discard recipes I’ve made.
so glad you liked it! I 100% agree with you 🙂
Love this recipe! Perfect for Easter, however it makes a rather small loaf, so I made 1.5 of the recipe and baked in a 9” Pullman loaf pan. Perfection!
Oh great idea scaling up, Suzanne!
I don’t have the suggested loaf pan, but I do have a metal Pullman pan. Should I expect a similar bake time with that pan?
Id say yes it’ll be similar!
This turned out beautifully and delicious.
Right on, glad to hear that, Leticia! Thanks for reporting back 🙂
Is it possible to reduce sugar??? 200 grams seem a lot for me with the amount of flour and discard…
You could, but this really doesn’t taste overly sweet to me!
My son is drug tested for work and poppy seeds are notorious for false positives. What would you suggest as an alternative? Would like to make this for Easter.
Flax, chia, or even hemp will be good subs!
Maurizio,
Aah! This looks like a stunning recipe.
Every recipe of yours I’ve ever tried has always work, even in our boat’s little Calor Gas oven.
Sir, I salute you – and will spend time in the galley this week and brew up one of your Lemon poppy loaves.
Sincere thanks.
David
Hope you like this one too, David!
Can I use fmf for this recipe?
Hi Mario I’m looking forward to trying this!
I have a question regarding discard. When I create the levain for a bread recipe it calls for using 360(give or take) and I have approximately 500+ grams left over. What can I do with this type of discard?
Thank you for your wonderful recipes & book!
Briana Baumann
That type of discard is perfect for this loaf! Or any recipe on our discard page:
https://slimlife.fit/collections/sourdough-starter-discard-recipes/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Is the weight of the eggs with or without shells. I raise chickens so my eggs are varying weights.
Without shells!
My eggs also vary in size. I wouldn’t expect a little variation to matter too much, but if you (like me) want to be precise and avoid waste, this recipe conveniently calls for 100g of egg, making it easy to scale up or down. For example, if two of your eggs is 96g, multiply quantities of other ingredients by .96; if two eggs is 104g, multiply by 1.04. 🙂
Thanks Jennifer. My eggs go from 50 GR all the way to 65 GR! After CT the winter my girls are laying the smaller weights, but I’m hoping they’ll get back to their normal large size soon!
This looks great. Do you see any problem in increasing the popyseeds by 50%?
Hmm. That feels like a lot, I would start maybe by increasing at 25%, see how it goes, then go the rest.
Thanks.
can i use a gf flour blend instead? i have to be gf. I was curious if you could sub out the eggs as well with egg replacement powder that Bobs Red Mill makes. thanks guys.
An egg sub will work well. You can use a gf flour, but it’ll be less light and airy (still delicious im sure, though).
I’ve been looking for a cast iron loaf pan to bake cakes like this (and this one sounds particularly good!). Do you have a recommendation please?
I have a Staub cast iron loaf pan that I LOVE.
This is perfect! I can’t wait to try it for our Easter Sunday. Thank you, Mario.
Enjoy, Sue!
Can i use fmf forvthis recipe?
I’m not sure what that is!
Can I substitute the poppy seeds with chia seeds at all?
Hmmm. I haven’t tried this, Marianne! My gut says it’ll work.
Go with chia, it’s great. Also, you can use hemp or flax, too.
Great, thanks, I’ll give it a go.
What can I substitute for sourdough starter discard as I have none. Lol
Yes, go with equal parts flour and water. 🙂
Can not wait to make this! Thank You! Happy Easter, Take Care And God Bless! 🙏🏼❤️🙏🏼❤️🙏🏼
You’re going to love it, Lisa! Happy Easter.