This Poppy Seed Cake is so easy and completely addictive! It's perfect to throw together at the last minute for a gathering or the holidays and the results are moist and delicious. Your guests will never know it's a cake mix hack!
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I hope everyone had an excellent 4th of July! I know we did! J had Monday off and I took Monday off to make it a nice, long weekend. This proved to be an excellent decision, but it also made getting back into the swing of the rest of the week much harder (it doesn't help that it's finally starting to feel like summer).
Our weekend involved a little bit of everything. The market. Adult time with some close friends (and a raging game of Aggravation!). Food photos videos and recipe testing (of course!). Some quality family time. A date with my J to celebrate our 8 year anniversary, which was on the 4th. And a big family picnic with alllllll the amazing food you can think of, a pool and a ton of laughter.
A was super excited to go in the pool, as a direct result of us building it up to her. But when the day finally came and we got to the actual picnic (where they happened to have an amazing in ground pool!) A wasn't that into it.
Initially, I think it was because she discovered there were munchies like chips and cheese puffs available. As I've mentioned before, our girls typically don't snack at home. They get one small afternoon snack at daycare but outside of that it's nothing, zero, zilch.
Now before you conclude that I'm a horrible mom who's starving her kids, know that my kids get three excellent meals per day and they eat extremely well. Their bodies are in the habit of eating well at their meal and so they don't need snacks between meals. They also get unlimited water and some milk as well.
But I'm completely hardcore about it. Sometimes we'll be staying with family member's who have kids that do snack. On these occasions, I smile and I let my girls enjoy their snacks. I'm not going to make my kids sit on the side and watch all the others enjoy their snacks.
And when it comes to special occasions like family gatherings, holidays, and birthday parties, I also ease up and let them snack. I don't go overboard and we'll limit it (particularly if we have a meal coming up). But needless to say, A knows she's welcome to indulge at parties and indulge she does!
So naturally, when she discovered there were snacks available the pool took a back seat and the cheese puffs took center stage. A was also more than happy to deliver them to all of us adults. I think it was more of her way of trying to ensure she could continue snacking. My gal is certainly strategic!
When she did get in the pool, it didn't last long. Same with T. We need to do a better job of getting them into pools, in general.
It an all around fun day, outside of the three falls in a row that A took off of lawn chairs. Some of the yard was slanted and A happened to choose the wrong lawn chairs. Poor kid. She was a trooper, though.
A slowly warmed up to some of the cousins that she doesn't get to see too often and by then end she was having a blast, particularly with the older girls. They have always been fantastic with the younger kids. It was really sweet, they took her right under their wing.
By the evening, we were all pretty tired. A had already given us a hard no when it came to fireworks, but we were ready to get home and get to bed early.
Recipes don't always have to be super-detailed and in depth. You shouldn't have to work super hard for something to really be delicious. I personally love having some go-to recipes in my arsenal that I can throw together in a pinch. This is Poppy Seed Cake one of these recipes.
I'm not exactly sure where the recipe originated and to be honest, I can't remember the name of the person who passed it on to us (Mom- if you're reading this and remember, please let me know!).
It's basically a doctored up cake mix recipe. But the results are so moist and full of flavor. I have a very difficult time keeping J away from it the minute it leaves the oven.
I typically make this in a Bundt Pan, but in the past I've also split it between two Loaf Pans as a gift for a friend who sends me the most delicious cheeses and the other was for dessert for dinner with some family. It looks extra pretty if you sift some confectioner's sugar over the top of it right before you serve it!
Other great cake mix hacks include:
- Super Easy Chocolate Pudding Cake
- Lemon Pistachio Cake
- Orange Cake with Chocolate Ganache Glaze
- Pumpkin Spiced Latte Cake
Poppy Seed Cake
Ingredients
- Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix not sponsored, I just love them!
- 2 pkg. of Instant Butterscotch Pudding
- 5 extra large eggs I used large because that is what I had on hand
- ¾ cup of canola oil
- 1 cup of warm water
- 1 small container of poppy seeds they sell 1.2 oz. containers, though I've used half of one of those containers as well with success
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Mix all of the ingredients together until smooth.
- Pour into greased bundt or loaf pans.
- Bake for 50 minutes-1 hour (check it around 50 minutes, especially if you're using the loaf pans, mine went slightly faster).
- Enjoy!
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