Our contributor, Olivia Bogacki, is sharing a new cake recipe today…
Growing up in an Eastern European household, poppy seed cakes were a staple at family gatherings and especially holidays. Traditionally, you’d see them in the form of a yeast based cake roll and, sure enough, my mom brought one out just a few weeks ago as we wrapped up our Easter dinner.
That poppy seed flavour is nostalgic and comforting to me, so I wanted to translate that into the form of a layer cake. Often times you’ll see lemon and poppy seed paired together, which is a delicious combination, but I wanted the poppy seed flavour to stand on its own, so I paired it with a classic vanilla buttercream.
This poppy seed cake is fluffy and moist, speckled throughout and covered with a silky vanilla bean Swiss meringue buttercream. Meringue based buttercreams are a (tiny) bit more work than the traditional American buttercream, but they are so worth it! I love them. They are less sweet, and super smooth. If you haven’t tried one yet, the Swiss meringue method is the easiest one to start with. It involves warming up the egg whites with the sugar, then whipping them to stiff peaks before adding the butter.
To intensify the poppy seed flavour, I spread a couple tablespoons of poppy seed filling on each layer before topping it with the buttercream. This is totally optional, but I liked the additional hit of poppy seed as an homage to the traditional poppy seed cakes I grew up with. In hindsight, I probably could have added more so that the thin, dark layer of poppy seed filling would really stand out against the pale cake layers and frosting. Nevertheless, it was a delicious addition!
This poppy seed cake was a huge hit. Not too sweet, perfect texture, delicious poppy seed flavour. If you’re a poppy seed lover, this cake is for you!
POPPY SEED CAKE
a recipe by Olivia Bogacki
(makes one 6” 3-layer cake – 10 servings)
For the Cake:
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon poppy seeds
½ cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup buttermilk (room temperature)
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 6″ cake rounds, line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth.
- Add sugar and beat on med-high until pale and fluffy (2-3 minutes).
- Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition. Do not overmix.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pans. Smooth the top with a spatula.
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
For the Frosting:
5 large egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1 ½ cups unsalted butter, cubed (room temperature)
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
pinch salt
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.*
- Place bowl over a pan of simmering water to create a double-boiler. The bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. Whisking constantly, heat the egg mixture until it registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Carefully transfer the bowl onto the stand mixer.
- With the whisk attachment, beat the egg white mixture on high speed for 8 to 10 minutes. When done, the outside of the mixer bowl should return to room temperature and the meringue should look fluffy and glossy and hold a stiff peak.
- Swap out the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter, a couple tablespoons at a time and mix until smooth.
- Add vanilla bean paste and whip until silky and smooth.**
For the Assembly:
6 tablespoons poppy seed filling (optional)
- Place one layer of the cake onto a cake stand or serving plate. Top with 2 tablespoons poppy seed filling, spread evenly. Top with approximately 1 cup of the buttercream. Repeat with remaining layers and crumb coat the cake. Chill if desired.
- Frost the cake sides and top with a rustic swirl pattern.
Bakers Notes:
* Ensure there is NO trace of egg yolks in your whites and that your mixer bowl and whisk is completely grease free or your meringue may not stiffen.
** The buttercream may look like it’s curdled at some point. Keep mixing until it is completely smooth.
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:
Chocolate Funfetti Cake
Raspberry Earl Grey Cake
Lemon Meringue Cake
Honey Butter Cake
Strawberry Thyme Cake
I love poppyseed, but can I use a different size pan or pans? I don’t usually bake
with 6″ cake pans. Thank you!
Hi Joanne! You could make this same recipe in two 8″ round cake pans.
This cake is so gorge.
Thanks Lauren! 🙂
I really love reading this blog. I wish I can bake like all of you! Your cakes are so pretty and look really delicious 🙂
I’ve just pulled my layers out of the oven and my husband is already drooling! For years he has wanted me find a poppy seed cake like his mother used to make. I’ve tried several but this one seems to be much closer to hitting the mark! Using poppy seed filling to get more of that flavor sounds great. The layers are small though, 1″ thick (fresh baking powder, large fresh eggs, ingredients at room temp) and I think to serve 10 people they would have to be 10 very small people – like dainty ladies or wee ones. Thank you!!!
Hi Nancy! Hmm, I’m not sure why your layers baked up so thin… did you use 6″ pans? Regardless, I hope you love the flavour and that it reminds your husband of the cake his mom used to make!
Mine also baked up to about an inch per layer and were done around the 23 minute mark. I used 120 grams AP flour and 60 grams of cake flour since that is what I had on hand. I used my own lemon curd buttercream for icing and filling and it was excellent! Looking forward to making this again. Delicious! Smells and tastes kind of like cake donuts. Yum.
I forgot to mention that my layers baked in 18-19 minutes so be sure to test your layers early.
I just sampled the batter and the taste of this cake is amazing. I had to use a bundt pan – per a request from a family member. How long do you suggest baking it in a the real cast aluminum pan?
Can u use vanilla extract instead of paste
Sure, vanilla extract will work just fine!
Thank you, I too grew up with Poppy Seed Cake but my husband wasn’t a big fan of my mom’s recipe. It is a heavier cake than I imagine this one is so I’m anxious to try your recipe.
I’ve got to request on behalf of all your followers that you add conversions /equivalent’s to your recipes eg. not all of us use or have Vanilla Bean on hand & I nor many others do not bake in 6 inch pans. I believe the 8-9inch pan is most common, please include bake times for it…
DO NOT PUBLISH, SELL OR SHARE MY EMAIL ADDRESS
Thanks again
Thanks for the feedback Sue – hope you enjoyed the recipe!
Will this recipe also work for muffins or cupcakes? I would assume so but just thought I would ask.
Absolutely Tori, this recipe would make delicious cupcakes!
the cake looks fabulous..but would be most helpful if a print icon were available.otherwise is impossible to access it
Sorry Pilar. Right now, we do not have a print recipe feature in place.
The best way to print just the recipe is to use your print preview option and select just the pages with the recipe, excluding the writeup and ads.
I made this today. My layers baked to about an inch as well and were done in ~22min; I used Fat Daddio’s 6 inch cake pans (https://www.amazon.com/Fat-Daddios-Anodized-Aluminum-Inches/dp/B001334UNQ).
Just a small heads up – I noticed the frosting instructions didn’t mention when to add the salt. I added it with the vanilla bean paste.
Once the cake was assembled I thought that thickness was spot on with just the right amount of frosting to fill and decorate. It looks great and I can’t wait to try it with friends at a dinner party tonight!
I was also wondering when to add the salt? I’ve always just skipped that step, but was wondering why we need the salt and when to add it? LOVE this recipe I’ve made it at least 10-15 times!
This cake looks like something that would be a hit! I must try it for my next potluck! Thanks for sharing such an awesome recipe.
Hi I want to bake that cake for my sister’s Birthday, but I don’t have a 6 inch cake pan.
I would use an 7 inch cake pan. Should I better use a 7×2 or a 7×3 pan?
Thanks 🙂
How many cupcakes does one batch make?
Same thing happened to me – layers are only 1″ thick. Is it because no baking soda?
Hi! I made this cake but didn’t see where to incorporate the butter into the cake. Should the butter be added in step #2?
The butter is added in step #3 – “Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth.”. Hope that clears things up for you Sarah!
Hi do you not need to soak poppy seeds first?
No, no need to soak them.
Maybe I missed this – it’s my first time attempting this recipe. When it says to “Top with 2 tablespoons poppy seed filling” under the Assembly section, is this just poppyseeds or did I miss what mixture this is? Thank you, in advance for your feedback!
It’s a canned product – a poppy seed cake/pastry filling. There’s a link in the recipe above if you can’t find it in your local grocery store. It’s an optional addition if your cake is already in progress and can’t add it right now, your cake will still be delicious without it. =)
Can this recipe be doubled to make a 10” cake?
Would adding bananas clash? I’d really like to try a banana poppyseed cake!
Hello! I live at a high altitude and didn’t see any comments in your blog or above about adjusting ingredients for a high altitude. Did you have any notes for that?
Adjustments for 2 9″ pans and High Altitude to this awesome recipe. I live in Colorado, which is a mile high, so if you live higher or slightly lower than 5,280ft, you may need to adjust the high altitude part further.
(Note: HA=High Altitude)
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour —> For HA, add 2 tbsp
3 teaspoon baking powder —> For HA, change to 2 1/4 tsp
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon poppy seeds
3/4 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar —> For HA, subtract 1 1/2 tbsp
3 large eggs (room temperature) —> For HA, add 2 tbsp egg white for moisture (For me, 1 egg white was enough)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/12 cup (¾ cup + 1/3 cup) buttermilk (room temperature) —> For HA, add 2 tbsp
First let me say that poppy seed in any shape or form is usually a hit for me. I usually soak poppy seed for use in most recipes, however I am seeing most recipes now instruct to grind poppy seed and do not mention soaking. I am seeing this recipe calls for neither of these methods, I am wondering what the difference is and what you would suggest.