Poppy Seed Cake
Yay for cake!
Here we are again at Wednesday which means cake time around here 🙂 In case you are just visiting for the first time, I have been baking my way through a vintage cake book and it has been super fun. Through the summer it was a little annoying when I wanted to be outside playing but now that the Fall is here (at least it feels like it is – I know it isn’t actually Fall) I am back in the swing of the things.
I am so excited about this cake. I have always loved poppy seed cake but typically it is made in a bundt pan and very lemony – which I love. This puts a little spin on it though and is made into a layer cake with a sort of marshmallow-y frosting. I hate marshmallows but the frosting was truly delicious, I totally loved it.
It was a tricky icing to make though. The instructions listed the wrong temperature to heat it to so at first I followed the instructions, but it did NOT turn out. So I went back and did it how I thought it should be done and it turned out very well. It does come out sort of runny at first and I had a hard time getting it to stay on the cake, but after a few minutes of sitting it started to get a little harder and then it stayed on wonderfully. So don’t get scared if your cake looks like this:
At this point I just sort of scooped the stuff up from the bottom and smoothed it up over the holes and eventually it all worked out.
The cake itself was light, fluffy, flavorful and simply wonderful.
I could have eaten the entire cake. It’s a good thing I made a six inch so I didn’t have it around as long.
I will definitely make this cake again.
- ¾ cup milk
- ½ cup poppy seeds
- 2¼ cups sifted cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup butter, soft
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon grated lemon peel
- A few drops of almond extract
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 4 egg whites
FOR THE FROSTING - 2 cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup water
- 2 tablespoons white corn syrup
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (about 4) egg whites
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- Preheat your oven to 350Ëš and prepare 2-8 cake pans (I used 2-6" pans and had enough batter to make a 3 layer and we ate the 3rd layer for breakfast. Tasted just like a Costco poppyseed muffin!). To prepare the pans, smear with soft butter and then cut out a circle of parchment that fits the bottom and press it into the pan. Set aside.
- Stir the poppy seeds into the ¾ cup of milk and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, lemon peel and extracts.
- Gradually add the sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Beating until smooth between additions, alternately add the flour mixture and the poppy seed mixture.
- Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and then gently fold them into the batter.
- Turn the batter into the prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes.
- Allow to cool in the pan about 15 minutes and run a knife around the edge and carefully invert and place on a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
TO MAKE THE ICING - You will need a candy thermometer and a saucepan with a lid.
- In the saucepan combine the sugar, water, corn syrup and salt.
- Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved then put the lid on the pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- At the end of the 5 minutes, uncover the pot and place the thermometer in, boil until it reaches hard ball stage, about 260Ëšf. While boiling, use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush over the crystals that form on the sides of the pan.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then with the mixer running, slowly drizzle the sugar mixture into the egg whites.
- Once all the sugar is added beat on high for about 2-3 minutes until rounded peaks form, it should hold its shape somewhat.
- Beat in the vanilla and almond extract and frost the cake.
- This frosting will not spread after about an hour so do not make ahead of time.
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