Cubicle kitchen: Lemon Poppyseed Pound Chicks

Did anyone hunt for Easter eggs yesterday?  We had a mini-hunt in the living room for four Cadbury Cream Eggs and eight Lindt Chocolate Carrots.  All the fun without the dirt or the actual eggs.

And no Peeps.  Ever since I figured out how to make my own marshmallows, they just don't hold the same mystique they used to.  And to be honest, they were always sort of like candy corn to me.  One was festive, but I didn't really crave more than that.  But they still look darned cute, so when I found a Chicago Metallic Chick Silicone Mold in Target, I kind of had to.

You could probably half this recipe to just make a dozen chicks, but I made the full batch with cupcakes and mini baked donuts for the remainder to make sure I had enough to bring into the office.  I'll have to think of an excuse to make more bird baked goods, because the only problem I had with these was people's reluctance to eat something so cute!

Lemon Poppyseed Pound Chicks
Adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen: Lemon Poppyseed Pound Cake
Makes 12 Peep cakes and 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar 
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup poppy seeds, plus additional for sprinkling
• A few cups powdered sugar and a few tablespoons lemon juice for glaze (your needs will vary)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Mix in eggs, zest, juice, and extracts.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to wet ingredients, mixing until combined.  Mix in poppy seeds.
4. Fill cake mold according to directions.  I filled a plastic bag with batter and cut the tip off to pipe it in 3/4 of the way.  If desired, remaining batter can be used to fill about a dozen cupcakes and be baked at the same time.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes (the cupcakes will take less time).  Allow to cool before attempting to remove from mold.
6. When cakes have been released from the mold, place them on a wire rack set on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Mix powdered sugar with lemon juice to get a glaze consistency.  Drip and spread the glaze over the entire top of each cake, sprinkling with additional poppy seeds.  Allow glaze to harden before serving.