Fragrant pandan, the tasteful crunchy texture of the poppy seeds and the lightness of this butter cake make this Pandan poppy seed butter cake recipe a delightful all-season cake that’s mild enough to not overpower your taste buds but aromatic enough to satisfy your palate.
My bestie Mandy and I are back to our baking routine again, this time we baked this Pandan Poppy Seed Butter cake recipe as I was seriously craving something light and fluffy that weekend. Mandy (like the angel she is) heard my cravings and she dug out this old recipe and we got down to bake this butter cake recipe together. In case you don’t know who Mandy is, she is my old-time buddy that I’ve known since I was 7 years old and is the main contributor to many of my recipes including myButtermilk Scones recipe.
As you can see from the photo, this gorgeous butter cake recipe has two layers. The pandan layer on the top and the poppy seed butter cake layer on the bottom. It is made with simple ingredients at room temperature. And, to make this fluffy cake even more beautiful I used a bundt pan to achieve the shape shown in the pictures. The sides of the poppy seed cake are a nice warm brown and the insides are bright vibrant green and muted yellow. After letting the cake properly cool in room temperature, you will see that it is a tall pandan poppy seed butter cake with a beautiful dome shape.
Contents
PANDAN POPPY SEED BUTTER CAKE RECIPE
scroll ⬇️to get the detailed printable recipe
Ingredients for the Pandan Poppy Seed Butter Cake Recipe
So if you are looking for a unique fluffy butter cake this is the cake for you and I’m sure it will soon become one of your favorite desserts.
- Unsalted Butter
- Castor sugar
- Eggs
- plain flour
- Baking powder
- Fresh milk
- Poppy seeds
- Pandan paste (Screwpine leaf paste)
- Some icing sugar for decoration
What is Pandan?
In Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines it is commonly known as Pandan (pandanus amaryllifolius), it is a plant of the screwpine genus that mainly grows in Southeast Asia and South Asia. It has fragrant leaves commonly used in cooking, baking, traditional medicine, and even as a natural air freshener. The green pandan juice from its leaves is extensively used in Malaysian and Indonesian cuisine as a green food coloring and as a flavoring agent (which we will be using it for today) it is sometimes used whole and dipped into coconut milk for cooking as well.
Back when I was younger it was common to see my parents and neighbors in Malaysia plant Pandan plants in their garden and cut the whole pandan leaves off then tie them up as air fresheners for their cars. As you can see this pandan cake recipe will be sure to ‘freshen’ up your day just like the fresh pandan leaves did for my parent’s cars.
What does Pandan taste like?
As someone who has grown up familiar with how Pandan looks, tastes, and smells it can be a little hard to describe how it would taste like in this Pandan Poppy Seed Butter Cake Recipe. As one of the important ingredients of this butter cake recipe, Pandan is mild, refreshing, and light. It has a very light naturally sweet taste that feels grassy but not like how it’d taste when you’re eating literal grass (although it is literally a plant LOL).
Some say it has some hints of coconut, rose, almond extract, vanilla extract, and even banana! Others say that the closest taste you’d get to a Pandan essence would be basmati rice or jasmine rice. The tropical plant should not be eaten raw as it has no taste and is fibrous.Anyways the best way to find out would be to give this butter cake recipe a go and add pandan extract into your cake batter to achieve this buttery cake.
Where can I buy Pandan?
In Malaysia, any baking store or local grocers should sell Pandan leaf extract, pandan flavoring, or screwpine paste. However, in other countries, you can find pandan paste from the frozen section in Asian stores or the Asian area of your grocery stores. It is one of the basic ingredients of this delicious recipe that makes this the best butter cake recipe.
Benefits of Pandan
This simple butter cake recipe not only has an easy recipe but it also contains Pandan which has a slew of health benefits.
- Help Control Blood Pressure
- Pain Reliever
- Good for Skin Health and Hair Health
- Good For Weak Nerves
- Has Antibacterial Properties
- Helps Treat Fever
- Potent Anti-Cancer Herbal Solution
- Helps Relieve Rheumatism
- Helps Treat Insomnia
- Helps Prevent Hair Loss
What Are Poppy Seeds?
Poppy seeds are oilseeds from opium poppies that are used widely in Central Europe and South Asia where they are legally grown. In this butter cake recipe, it forms the bottom cake layer and if it is the first time you are using poppy seeds then you will be delighted at the lovely speckled look it gives this simple cake as well as the tender crunch that really elevates this sponge cake.
Benefits of Poppy Seeds
Of course, as one of the main ingredients in this butter mixture, poppy seeds themselves are extremely nutritious! I think this is the first cake I’ve seen in a butter cake recipe that contains both Pandan and Poppy Seeds as its wet and dry ingredients to make a good butter cake.
- rich in manganese (good for bone health)
- May contain pain-relieving compounds
- May boost heart and skin health
This poppy seed cake recipe infused with pandan essence is extremely nutritious so don’t be afraid to give it a go!
Baking Tips
- When you add in the eggs do them one at a time and beat well at low speedusing either a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer (any electric mixer will do).
- The baking pan we used to bake this butter cake isa Wilton Dimensions Belle Pan. The pan is about 9″ in diameter (top), so, it is only about 60% filled with batter before baking.
- If you are using a normal pan, then you will have to grease and line your pan
- In order to get the bright green color layer on top of the cake, pour the pandan batter first then followed by the poppy seed batter. Remember to have one separate bowl of cake batter with pandan and another mixing bowl with the poppy seeds.
- We also increased the oven temperature to 170C to bake this cake. (Please note that all ovens and temperatures vary, so be sure to know your oven well)
- Besides Pandan paste, you may substitute other flavors you like, ie, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, etc.
If you have tried this Pandan poppy seed butter cake recipe and loved it, I have more recipes in myrecipe sectionfor you to master. But if you are looking for other of my famous cake recipes then you can always try myJapanese Cheesecake, Matcha Cheesecake,Blueberry Cheesecake,Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake, and for those who want to indulge without guilt —Low Carb CheesecakeandBurnt Cheesecakeboth are keto desserts perfect for those who are in a keto or low carb diet.
POPPY SEED PANDAN BUTTER CAKE RECIPE
Yield: 7-INCH PANDAN BUTTER CAKE
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
This 2 layers butter cake has pandan (screwpine leaves) flavor on top and poppy seed at the bottom. It is one of the best butter cakes I have ever eaten, moist and full of butter and pandan flavor, not to mention the taste and sensation when you bite on the poppy seeds. LOVE it!
Enjoy baking them!
Ingredients
- 250g Unsalted Butter
- 185g Castor sugar
- 4 Eggs
- 250g plain flour
- 5 g Baking powder
- 100ml Fresh milk
- 30g Poppy seeds
- ¼ tsp pandan paste (Screwpine leaf paste)
- Some icing sugar for decoration
Instructions
Recipe adapted from Kevin Chai’s I Love Butter Cake Too (ISBN 978-983-3641-50-5)
- Preheat oven to 160C, grease and line a 18cm (7-in) baking pan.
- Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Fold in sifted flour and baking powder, then stir in fresh milk, mix to form batter.
- Divide batter into two portions, add in poppy seeds and pandan paste separately, mix well.
- Spread pandan batter into the prepared pan, follow with poppy seed batter. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon.
- Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until cooked.
- Dust some icing sugar on the cake for decoration after it has completely cool down.
Instruction with Image
- Ingredients for the Poppy Seed & Pandan Butter Cake, all at room temperature.
Sift flour and baking powder together.
- Beat butter and sugar until creamy.
- 1 & 2. Add in eggs, one at a time. Beat well at low speed after each addition.
3 & 4. Fold in sifted flour and baking powder. Stir in fresh milk, mix to form a batter. - This is the texture of the batter before adding poppy seed and pandan paste.
- Divide batter into two portions.
Add in poppy seeds and pandan paste separately, mix well. - Spread poppy seed batter into the greased Wilton Dimension Belle Pan (if you are using a normal pan, then you will have to grease and line your pan), follow with pandan batter. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon.
Bake in preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until cooked (skewer come out clean).
Notes
- The baking pan we used to bake this butter cake is Wilton Dimensions Belle Pan. The pan is about 9″ diameter (top), so, it is only about 60% filled with batter before baking.
- In order to get the green layer on top of the cake, pour the pandan batter first then followed by the poppy seed batter.
- We also increased the temperature to 170C to bake this cake. (Please note that all ovens and temperatures vary)
- Besides Pandan paste, you may substitute other flavors you like, ie, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, etc.
Get the full article at https://www.craftpassion.com/pandan-poppy-seed-butter-cake-recipe/
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 483Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 161mgSodium: 113mgCarbohydrates: 49gFiber: 2gSugar: 25gProtein: 8g
