Lemon-Soaked Poppyseed Cake with Champagne Crème

For the cake:
Grease and flour two 9″ round cake pans. Preheat oven to 325 F.

Heat milk and butter in a small pot on low heat. After the butter has melted, remove from heat. Set aside.

Beat eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment for 4 minutes. Set the kitchen timer to 4 minutes to make sure you get the time right.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together into a clean bowl. Set aside.

When eggs are done beating, reset the timer for another 4 minutes and add sugar. Beat until creamy and the timer goes off. Add the sifted dry ingredients a bit at a time and mix just long enough to incorporate.

Add cooled milk and butter mixture and then mix in the poppy seeds. Divide batter between the two prepared cake pans and pop into the warm oven. Bake until fragrant and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, roughly 35 minutes. Remove from oven and allow the cakes to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. Then, turn them out of the pans onto a metal rack to finish cooling.

While the cake is baking, make the lemon syrup. Zest the lemon into a container to reserve for use later. Juice the lemon into a small pot. Add the sugar and heat on low just until sugar is melted. Set aside to cool.

For the homemade custard option:

In a mixing bowl using a mixer, lightly beat eggs then mix in the sugar.

Add flour and mix gently. Incorporate milk and zest.

Transfer the mixture into a saucepan. Put it on the stove and cook on medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until it’s thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Remove from heat.

Cool to room temp. Cover and chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Remove from fridge and add champagne. Stir until well incorporated. Cover and return to fridge until ready to assemble the cake.

For the quick custard option:
Mix instant pudding mix, milk, lemon zest and champagne in a bowl until well combined. It will thicken in a couple of minutes and form a nice custard. Cover and chill until ready to assemble the cake.

For the topping:
Using the stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form.

Slice cooled cakes in half horizontally. Place one layer of the cake onto a pretty plate. Brush the top with lemon syrup. Spread about a 1/3 of the custard over the cake, and set another layer of cake on top. Repeat syrup and custard process until the last cake layer is placed on top. Brush the top layer of cake with lemon syrup.

Spoon dollops of the whipped cream over it and spread it to create a wavy pattern. Sprinkle the lemon zest over the whipped cream. Cover and transfer to fridge until ready to serve.

Inspired by Billy Derian.