Lemony Poppy Seed Yogurt Bábovka

A ridiculously moist Czechoslovakian cake packed with lemon, yogurt and poppy seeds. Just PLEASE dont call it a BUNDT cake. Please🙏

If there is one thing we slavs understand, it's that poppy seeds belong in dessert.

And not just a polite little sprinkle of them either.

This Lemony Poppy Seed Yogurt Bábovka is my brighter, extra-lemony take on the classic bábovka I grew up with. It's incredibly soft and moist from the yogurt, dotted with poppy seeds, and loaded with enough fresh lemon that you can actually taste it.

Because if I'm calling something lemon cake, I want it to taste like LEMON.

Bábovka is one of those wonderfully simple Central European cakes. It's baked in a beautiful mould, sliced thick, and served with coffee—usually with very little fuss. You'll find countless versions across Slovak and Czech kitchens: vanilla, chocolate, marble, nut, poppy seed, lemon... and everybody's family seems to make theirs a little differently.

This version isn't overly sweet or heavy. I use Greek yogurt and only two tablespoons of oil, which gives the cake a tender, moist crumb without making it greasy. Fresh lemon juice, lots of zest and lemon extract give it layers of lemon flavour rather than just sweetness.

And then, because apparently two lemons weren't enough, I pour a tart lemon glaze over the whole thing.

Make yourself a coffee, cut yourself a completely unreasonable slice, and call it breakfast. That's what bábovka is for.

Ingredients:

For the Bábovka

• 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour

• ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar

• 2 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ¼ tsp salt

• 1½ tbsp poppy seeds

• 3 large eggs

• 1¼ cups (300 g) plain Greek yogurt

• 2 tbsp neutral oil

• ¼ cup (60 mL) fresh lemon juice

• Zest of 2 lemons

• 1½ tsp lemon extract

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Lemon Glaze

• ¾ cup (90 g) icing sugar

• 1½–2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

• ½ tsp lemon extract

• Fresh lemon zest, optional
  

Instructions:

1. Prepare the pan

Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).

Generously butter and flour a bábovka or Bundt pan. Don't rush this step. Get the butter into every single groove and crevice of the pan, followed by a light coating of flour.

There is nothing more heartbreaking than making a beautiful bábovka only to leave half of her behind in the pan.

2. Mix the dry ingredients

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and poppy seeds. Set aside.

3. Beat the eggs and sugar

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together for approximately 2–3 minutes, until noticeably lighter, thicker and slightly fluffy.

Since this cake contains very little oil, incorporating some air here helps give the finished bábovka a lighter crumb.

4. Bring on the lemon

Add the Greek yogurt, oil, fresh lemon juice, zest of two whole lemons, lemon extract and vanilla.

Whisk until everything is well combined.

And yes, you really do want the zest from two lemons. We're making lemon cake—not cake that once walked past a lemon.

5. Finish the batter

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently fold everything together until you no longer see any dry flour.

Do not overmix. Stop as soon as the batter comes together.

6. Bake

Spoon the batter evenly into your prepared pan and gently smooth the top.

Bake for approximately 40–50 minutes, beginning to check around the 40-minute mark.

Insert a wooden skewer into the thickest part of the cake. It's ready when the skewer comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached, but no wet batter.

7. Cool and turn out

Allow the bábovka to cool in its pan for 10–15 minutes. I like to set an alarm.

Place a cooling rack or plate over the pan and carefully invert it.

Then comes the traditional bábovka ritual: quietly praying to every Slovak grandmother who came before you as you lift off the pan.

Let the cake cool completely before glazing.

8. Make the lemon glaze

Whisk together the icing sugar, 1½ tablespoons lemon juice and lemon extract.

Add additional lemon juice a little at a time until the glaze is thick but pourable.

Drizzle generously over the cooled bábovka and finish with fresh lemon zest if you'd like.

Sexy Slovak Notes

Use fresh lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice technically works, but fresh lemons give you both the juice and all that fragrant zest. It's worth it.

Don't skip the lemon extract. Fresh lemon gives brightness and acidity; lemon extract gives the cake that deeper, unmistakable lemon flavour. I like using both.

Greek yogurt is the secret. It keeps this bábovka wonderfully moist while allowing us to use only two tablespoons of oil.

Let it cool before glazing. If the cake is warm, your beautiful thick lemon glaze will melt straight into it. Delicious? Yes. Pretty? Absolutely not.

And don't be stingy with the poppy seeds. You're in a Czechoslovakian kitchen now!

How to Serve It

Bábovka doesn't need much.

Cut it into thick slices and serve it with coffee or tea. It's lovely as dessert, but in my family, a cake sitting on the kitchen counter has never needed to wait until after dinner.

It keeps well covered at room temperature for a couple of days, although the yogurt also helps it stay beautifully moist if you refrigerate it for longer storage.

Personally, I think it's even better the next morning with coffee.

But that requires having leftovers.