This recipe plays on a lot of components that I’m not necessarily familiar with. It was around 1 in the morning and we had just got done with a very long bartending shift, and as I laid on the floor and looked up at the ceiling at my coworker’s apartment as my feet throbbed from the repetitive pivots and steps that comes with the territory of an industry job, I felt like I didn’t know what I wanted. Wanting to keep the night going despite our energy levels depleting, we spoke of everything and anything we could possibly think of, things such as our favorite snacks when we were younger, times we felt genuinely alone in life, and even the subject of colors he couldn’t see because one of his cutest traits is that he is, in fact, color blind. A plethora of subjects just to keep the conversation going, with company we weren’t familiar with but somehow felt very acquainted with in any other sense than now. At that moment I didn’t know what we both needed, but as I sat up and grabbed my feet towards my body and guarded my legs and heard him open up to me I realized it was okay. I felt like it was okay not to know. After hours of conversation and questioning from him, I eventually alluded to the fact that I do like learning about flavors and the potential they have in their possibilities. Sooner or later, our night came to an an inevitable end and we sadly parted ways with our floor to couch, soul searching gossip.

I would say about two days later when I arrived at work, after a long morning of errands and mundane tasks, a note caught my eye with my name quickly scribbled on it: “MyMy”. A glossy black covered book with aesthetically pleasing spoons filled with various herbs and syrups, titled: The Flavor Bible. I grabbed the book immediately and squinted and tapped on the dull yellow post-it that read: “For: MyMy, From: Guy Fieri, Because You Know, Flavortown”. Johnny had gotten me a book as a gift to explore and learn about something that I thought was so mundane to most people, and I was honestly so speechless from his kindness.

This recipe is inspired by the thoughtfulness of actions after deep conversations you have with people after a long work loaded evening. It has flavors of tangy sour cream, , zesty and sugary lemon, mild cream cheese hidden deep in the seated moisture in its pockets all wrapped up into a spongy poppy seed cake. I honestly didn’t know if the piquancy would work with so many factors pulling them in different directions, but somehow not knowing made me want to attempt this recipe even more. Blindly adding layers and eventually getting this soft and supple cake that allowed me to play with its different elements, but still becoming a cohesive dessert I could be proud of.

At work, I find myself having very emotionally expensive exchanges with every walk of life you can possibly fathom. But sometimes you meet someone that has no idea where you’re from, or what you’ve done, and somehow you allow yourself to let your guard down and authorize the “I don’t know” consciousness fuel your intentions from then on.

This is to jumping the gun from a hunch.

A “follow your gut” fueled ingredient list of “what ifs” and “let’s just see”.

I hope if this is your first baked good, you feel confused combining the ingredients and slowly allow it all to all come to play and as you sit there waiting for it to bake in the oven you feel the same excitement and hopefulness, just as I do with my Johnny Duggan.

Welcome to my recipe of:

Olive Oil Lemon Poppyseed Cake.

Ingredients

Refrigerated
1/2 cup of milk, room temp
1/4 cup of sour cream, room temp
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, melted
4 large eggs, room temp
1/3 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (2–3 lemons) + ¼ cup of lemon curd flavoring

Pantry
2 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 cup of cake flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp poppy seeds
1 3/4 cups of granulated sugar
2 tbsp lemon zest
1/2 cup of olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz of cream cheese, room temp
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Sour Cream frosting
⅔ cup of sourcream, at near-room temperature
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened
2 cups of powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of olive oil
pinch of salt
Lemon pudding mix
3 large egg yolks
¼ cup of lemon juice
1 tsp of cornstarch
A prepared portion of lemon pudding mix

Directions:

For the Ghetto Lemon Curd:

Before making this I recommend leaving out your sour cream, milk, cream cheese, unsalted butter and 4 eggs so that it is room temperature by the time you get started on the rest of your recipe!

Make your lemon pudding mix according to the box’s instructions.
Whisk together 3 egg yolks, and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch together
In a saucepan add in ¼ cup of lemon juice and add your egg yolk mixture after allowing it to heat up on medium heat for about three minutes
Stir and put into a heat safe container, then add in your lemon pudding mix and fold in your lemon zest, and then let it rest in your fridge while you work on the rest of your cake.
Preheat the oven to 350F and grease and line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 cups of all purpose flour, ¾ cup of cake flour, 2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder, ½ teaspoon of baking soda, ½ teaspoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds.
In a separate bowl, mix together the ½ cup of milk and ¼ cup of sour cream.
In a large mixing bowl, add 1 ¾ cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon zest. Rub both so the oils from the zest can infuse into the sugar.
Now whisk in ½ cup of olive oil and ½ cup of melted butter, followed by the 4 larges eggs, ⅓ cup of lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Pour in half of the dry ingredients and whisk.
Right before it’s combined, pour in the ½ milk and ¼ cup of sour cream mixture and whisk.
Add in the rest of the dry ingredients and whisk until everything is smooth and combined.
Pour the batter into the parchment paper lined baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes on the middle rack
Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

In a mixing bowl using a hand or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
Then mix in the powdered sugar one cup at a time, followed by the vanilla. Set aside.

Sour Cream Frosting

In a large mixing bowl, add in ⅔ cup of sour cream, 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, and ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and beat until fluffy
Then add in your 3 cups powdered sugar and beat until smooth
Add in lemon zest and salt to taste

When frosting your cake, top with your cream cheese frosting first, coating completely

Then add in your dollops of sour cream and swirl with a chopstick

Then finally add in your chilled lemon curd mixture and swirl, top with a light dusting of poppy seeds and more lemon zest if wanted or preferred