Lemon Poppy Seed Butter Cake - flour

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Grease and flour a 10-inch (2 L) tube pan, plain or fluted.
• Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper and resift twice more.
• Beat butter in mixer bowl on moderately high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Add granulated sugar in two additions, beating for 2 minutes after each addition.
• Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating on high speed for 1 minute after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl often with rubber spatula.
• Beat in lemon zest and vanilla.
• On low speed, beat in flour mixture in three additions and buttermilk in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
• Stir in poppy seeds.
• Beat egg whites in clean mixer bowl with clean beaters until foamy.
• Add pinch of salt; continue beating just until firm, not stiff, peaks form.
• Stir about one fourth of the beaten whites into batter to lighten; fold in remaining whites carefully but thoroughly.
• Pour batter into prepared pan; bake in lower third of oven until wooden pick inserted into cake is withdrawn clean and dry, about 55 minutes.
• Cool cake in pan 10 minutes.
• Turn out of pan onto wire rack to cool completely; if plain tube pan was used, invert cake onto second rack to cool, right side up.
• At serving time, sprinkle top of cake with confectioners' sugar.