When it comes to breakfasts that I love the most, pound cake and quick bread are near the top.

The tough thing about making a pound cake or a quick bread on the weekends is that they take an hour to bake. Which means that you actually have to get out of bed at a reasonable time to mix them up and have them ready for a normal breakfast – and even for a later weekend breakfast, this can be kind of tough. We often end up making muffins rather than cakes or quick breads, but this weekend we were up in time and not trying to get anywhere. And therefore, we made this lemon poppyseed pound cake:

This cake is not ultra sweet or overwhelmingly lemony. I think it could go nicely with a simple glaze icing if you want, but it’s also quite nice without one.

Here’s what you need:

4 dashes lemon bitters (If you don’t have lemon bitters, sub zest of 1 lemon)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 large eggs
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 3/4 cup AP flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 Tbsp poppy seeds

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the bitters/lemon zest, sugar, buttermilk, lemon juice, eggs and oil.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and poppyseeds.

Grease a 9-inch loaf pan, then line with parchment paper and grease the inside of the parchment paper as well. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool for 10-20 minutes before removing from pan, then allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Adapted lightly from the New York Times.