This high altitude Irish tea cake is soft, moist, tender and fluffy, flecked with poppy seeds and flavored with cardamom. The cake is baked in a Charlotte bundt pan for a simple but lovely cake that can be served warm from the oven with tea or coffee.
You might also love these high altitude recipes for almond Charlotte cake, pumpkin Charlotte cream cake, and angel food cake.
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What is an Irish Tea Cake?
An Irish tea cake is a traditional dessert for St. Patrick’s Day. The cake is usually a simple, one layer butter based vanilla cake that’s very soft, moist and fluffy, and it’s a wonderful cake to serve with hot coffee or tea, for breakfast, brunch or an afternoon snack. Irish tea cakes are often dusted with powdered sugar, or served with berries and whipped cream. While it may not be traditional, I added poppy seeds and ground cardamom to my cake to give it the most wonderful flavor, and baked it in my Charlotte cake pan for a pretty presentation.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Quick and Easy. One of the best things about this Irish tea cake is that you can serve it warm from the oven, so there’s no waiting for cake to cool before you can enjoy dessert.
Perfect Soft Texture. This cake is very moist and soft, with a tender texture from the sour cream.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Sugar. Granulated sugar adds sweetness and moisture.
- Butter + Sour Cream. These two ingredients add fat and moisture for a tender and flavorful cake.
- Eggs. Add moisture, as well as strength and structure.
- Flour. Plain, all purpose flour gives the cake structure.
- Baking Powder. Leavening agent, so the cake rises as it bakes.
- Spices. Salt enhances the flavors and balances the sweetness, while cardamom, vanilla extract and poppy seeds add flavor.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray a Charlotte cake pan thoroughly with non-stick baking spray, or use your favorite “cake goop” to coat the pan. If you don’t have a Charlotte pan, you can also just use a round 8-inch cake pan.
- Using an electric mixer (hand held or stand mixer), beat the sugar and butter on medium speed for 4 minutes, until fluffy.
- Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating each for 30 seconds before adding the next. Add the vanilla and the sour cream, beating until well combined.
- Separately, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds. Add the dry ingredients to the batter, and mix for about 15 seconds on medium low speed, until smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bang the pan firmly on the counter to settle the batter into all the grooves of the Charlotte pan.
- Bake the cake for about 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, and the top of the cake springs back when gently touched.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack to cool for 15 minutes. Then invert the cake onto the cooling rack, remove the pan, and cool for another 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Serve the cake plain, dusted with powdered sugar, or with whipped cream.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, the poppy seeds are optional.
Simply rub 1-2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest into the sugar, before making the cake batter. You could also use orange zest instead of lemon, but I’d use less orange zest, since too much can be bitter.
Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
For a warm, just baked texture, reheat leftover slices of cake for 20-30 seconds at 50% power in the microwave.
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High Altitude Poppy Seed Irish Tea Cake
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup full fat sour cream, buttermilk or kefir
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Spray a Charlotte cake pan thoroughly with non-stick baking spray, or use your favorite "cake goop" to coat the pan.If you don't have a Charlotte pan, you can also just use a round 8-inch cake pan.
- Using an electric mixer (hand held or stand mixer), beat the sugar and butter on medium speed for 4 minutes, until fluffy.
- Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating each for 30 seconds before adding the next. Add the vanilla and the sour cream, beating until well combined.
- Separately, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds. Add the dry ingredients to the batter, and mix for about 15 seconds on medium low speed, until smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bang the pan firmly on the counter to settle the batter into all the grooves of the Charlotte pan.
- Bake the cake for about 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, and the top of the cake springs back when gently touched.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack to cool for 15 minutes. Then invert the cake onto the cooling rack, remove the pan, and cool for another 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Serve the cake plain, dusted with powdered sugar, or with whipped cream.
Sarah
This is delicious, love the cardamom flavor. I’ll definitely make it again and I will use your suggestion of orange zest next time.