Poppy Seed Cake

Preparation

1. 01

   Warm milk and dissolve yeast

   Warm the milk slightly (about 37°C). Dissolve the active dry yeast and 1 tbsp of the sugar from the dough portion in the milk and let stand for 10 minutes, until the mixture is lightly foamy.

2. 02

   Knead the dough

   Place the flour in a large bowl and form a well in the center. Add the yeast milk, remaining sugar, softened butter, egg, and salt. Knead everything with the dough hooks of a hand mixer until a smooth, elastic dough forms.

3. 03

   Let the dough rise

   Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place for 60 minutes, until it has visibly increased in size.

4. 04

   Soak the raisins

   Soak the raisins in rum and set aside.

5. 05

   Steep poppy seeds in milk

   Bring the milk for the filling to a boil in a saucepan, remove from heat, and stir in the ground poppy seeds. Let steep for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. 06

   Prepare poppy seed filling

   Melt the butter for the filling in a small saucepan. Combine the poppy seed and milk mixture with the melted butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, egg yolks, and ground almonds. Fold in the cooled, rum-soaked raisins.

7. 07

   Fold in egg whites

   Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold into the poppy seed filling to lighten it.

8. 08

   Preheat oven and prepare pan

   Preheat the oven to 175°C conventional heat. Grease a springform pan (26 cm) and dust with flour.

9. 09

   Line pan with dough

   Roll out the dough on a floured work surface into a round (about 30 cm in diameter) and fit it into the springform pan. Press up a small edge around the sides.

10. 10

    Spread filling over dough

    Spread the poppy seed filling evenly over the dough base and smooth the top.

11. 11

    Bake

    Bake the cake in the preheated oven on the middle rack for 50–55 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the filling has just set.

12. 12

    Let cool

    Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then release from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

13. 13

    Apply glaze

    Stir together confectioners' sugar and lemon juice to form a smooth glaze and spread over the completely cooled cake.