• Preheat an oven to 175°c/155°c fan (350°f/310°f).

Ingredient Prep

• Place the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer (with the whisk attached) & set aside.

  Make sure that the bowl is clean & dry before using!
• Next, place 190 grams of the caster sugar into a separate mixing bowl then zest in the 2 lemons. Massage the zest into the sugar with your fingers then set to one side.
• Juice the zested lemons then measure out 2 tbsp of the juice.
• Sift the plain flour, salt & remaining 100 grams of sugar into another mixing bowl & set aside as well.

Cake Mix

• Whisk the egg whites on a low speed for a minute or two, until frothy then add in the cream of tartar & lemon juice.
• Continue whisking the egg whites, on a medium speed until they form soft peaks. This will take 3-4 minutes.
• With the mixer still running on medium speed, add in the lemon sugar a tbsp at a time. Turn the speed up to medium-high & keep whisking until the egg whites form medium peaks. This will roughly take 4-5 minutes.
• Next, add both of the extracts & half of the sifted flour into the egg whites then gently fold in with a rubber spatula, until just combined. Add in the remaining flour & the poppy seeds then fold again, until incorporated.

  Be careful to not over mix the batter here! The flour should just be incorporated.
• Pour the cake mix into a 10" angel food cake tin, gently spreading it out into an even layer then run a thin metal skewer (or knife) through the centre of the batter, to remove any air pockets.

Baking & Cooling

• Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, until the top is a deep golden brown & a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Once cooked, remove the cake from the oven & immediately turn it upside down to cool, either standing on the tin’s legs (if it has any) or by balancing the centre on a ramekin. Leave to cool upside down until completely cold. This will take several hours.
• Once cool, run a thin, flexible knife (a filleting knife works well!) around the edges of the cake, to release it from the tin then invert out onto a plate/cake stand.
• Use a sharp serrated knife to cut the cake into portions, using a sawing motion so not to squish each slice. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.