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Poppy Seed Filling


Lindacakes

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I had a hankering for poppy seed cake, the one on the Solo poppy seed filling can.  So I made one.  And it was good.  But there was this ever-so-slightly off taste to it that I attributed to the poppy seeds.  A canny taste?  Bad batch of poppy?

 

And I realized I could likely make much better poppy filling myself.  Except that I don't know how.

I know where to get poppy seeds and grind them, I just don't know how to turn that into the equivalent of the Solo filling.

 

Anyone out there know?

 

 

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I like to bake nice things. And then I eat them. Then I can bake some more.

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Here are two different ones. They are both from Baker's Weekly Complete Recipes, 1937. (out of copyright)

 

Poppy Seed Filling

 

2lbs Poppy Seeds

2qts Water

1lb Sugar

2lbs Cake Crumbs

½lb Melted Butter or Shortnening

4 Egg Yolks

½oz Ground Cinnamon

Grated Rind of 1 Lemon

 

Boil seeds in water until soft. Drain off excess water and grind fine. Then add other ingredients. If too stiff, soften with a little milk.

 

 

German Poppy Seed Cake Filling

 

7oz Flour

1pint Milk

2lbs ground Poppy Seeds

4 Eggs

6oz chopped Nuts

8oz Raisins

1lb powdered Sugar

8oz Butter

grated rind of 1 Lemon

 

Cook Flour and Milk to a stiff paste. While still hot, add the other ingredients, the Eggs and Lemon rind being added last.

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Since Solo is corn syrup, seeds, sugar and water, you could experiment with making a syrup and cooking the seeds until the consistency seems right. 

 

Here are a few recipes from a Viennese baking book:

 

Poppyseed  filling for strudel - bring 3/4 c milk and 1/2 c sugar to a boil, add 3 c ground poppyseeds and simmer a few minutes, stirring, until seeds have expanded.  Remove from heat and add a little melted butter and the zest of 1 lemon.  Add 2 bars or squares grated semisweet chocolate if desired.  Spread poppyseed filling over yeasted strudel dough and scatter with raisins.  Roll up like a jelly roll, let rise then bake.

 

If you're after a cake, you could try this one with ground poppyseeds instead of the paste -

plain poppyseed torte/einfache mohntorte

beat 4 egg yolks with 1/2 c sugar until light and fluffy

combine with grated zest 1 lemon, pinch of cinnamon, pinch of clove

Beat 4 egg whites until stiff but not dry, gently fold into batter along with 2 cups ground poppyseeds

bake in a buttered, floured 9" pan at 350F 30-40 minutes

when cool, slice into two layers and spread 4-5TB apricot jam in the middle

cover with chocolate icing or confectioners sugar, as desired.

 

 

mmmm, now I want to bake something with poppyseeds!

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I'm posting this because it does have a recipe but also the story is hilarious.   Hamentachen Filling - Poppy Seed

Please read it through to the end.

 

The thing is that I recommend Kosher recipes for things like this because there is no use of corn syrup - honey is the usual sweetener, and I happen to like the flavor of the versions made by the numerous Jewish cooks I have known over the many decades I have been enjoying these foods.

 

I have a recipe for poppy seed cake, I will have to search for it.

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Recipe for Poppyseed Cake      The original recipe, as written out by Aunt Vera in 1964, was a bit sketchy in that she did not use regular measuring cups - she used coffee or tea cups and I took the time to actually measure the capacity of the ones in her kitchen, while she was demonstrating the cake-making technique. Later I did the weight conversion and even later did the metric conversions. 

German-style Poppyseed cake – from Aunt Vera Odekirk, my stepfather’s sister.

1 cup butter -  8 ounces  or  226 grams.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour,  17 1/2 ounces or  500 grams.
1/2 cup poppyseed  2 1/2 ounces  or  80 grams
1 cup buttermilk or equivalent – 8 ounces or 226 grams.
2 teaspoons almond extract
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups sugar, 15 ounces  or  425 grams
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda  (bicarb)
1/2 teaspoon salt – (if using kosher flake salt use 3/4 teaspoon)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon -  (15 to 20 grams, measurement is not critical)  Optinal may use a "sweet spices blend" or cardamom

PREP:    First gather and measure all the ingredients.  

Grease and flour a standard Bundt pan or 10-inch tube pan.  .Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 176 degrees C.

In a dry skillet, over low heat, gently toast the poppyseed for about a minute.
Mix the poppyseed into the buttermilk and add the almond extract.  Set aside.

Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl and blend with a whisk.  Set aside

Mix 1/4 cup (55 grams) of the sugar with the cinnamon.  Set aside.

METHOD: Make sure mixer bowl and beater(s) are clean, dry and free of any traces of oil.
Place the 4 egg whites in the mixer bowl and beat on high speed until foamy.
Continue beating and while mixer is running, add 1/4 cup (55 grams) of the sugar.
Beat until whites hold a stiff peak but remain glossy.
(DO NOT OVERBEAT!)  Transfer whites to another clean bowl. (Unless you have another mixer bowl.)

Place the butter and 1 1/2 cups ( 315 grams)of the sugar in the mixer bowl and beat on high until light and fluffy.  
Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating until each is completely blended.
With the mixer running on low speed, gradually add the buttermilk mixture and mix until well blended.

Add  1/4 of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until blended, continue adding the flour mixture in increments until completely blended on medium speed.

Remove the bowl from the mixer.

With a wide, flat spoon or rubber spatula, fold the egg whites gently into the batter until well blended.

Ladle or pour half the batter into the prepared pan.   Scatter half of the sugar/cinnamon mixture onto the batter.
Pour the remainder of the batter into the pan.   Add the rest of the sugar cinnamon mixture, sprinkling it evenly over the batter.

Insert an icing spatula or thin-bladed butter knife into the center of the batter and while turning the pan, draw it in an S-shaped pattern completely around the tube.  

Place the cake on center rack in preheated oven and bake for 70 minutes.
Test at 60 minutes.  If the cake springs back when lightly touched, it should be done, if a depression remains, continue baking for the additional ten minutes.

Remove from oven and cool in the pan for fifteen minutes.  Invert onto cake plate.  If the cake does not immediately come free, place a towel moistened in ice water over the pan and shake the pan gently.  

Traditionally, this cake was never iced.  It was served plain but with fruit preserves and thick cream on the side to be added if desired.

It was also served with whipped sweet butter and spiced apple compote.
 

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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The article was hilarious.  I want to put my face in that bowl of poppy seeds.  

 

I will try the German poppyseed cake, thank you for the recipe.  It is quite similar to the Solo recipe, which does not include buttermilk, which I love.

 

I've gathered a little treatise on poppy seeds together.  There's a nice recipe in Craig Claiborne's An Herb and Spice Cookbook.

 

Here's the grinder, it's such a beauty --

 

Otto's Hungarian Import Store

 

http://www.hungariandeli.com/Cookware.htm

Edited by Lindacakes (log)
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I like to bake nice things. And then I eat them. Then I can bake some more.

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I like the site from your link.  I have a very nice fairly new poppyseed grinder but I also have a very old one, which I treasure.  It was given to me by an elderly neighbor (when I was in my 30s) from Poland because her children were not interested in traditional baking and I had helped her (along with a couple of other women) to make the huge sheet of thin dough for strudel - I can't remember what she called it.

Also the smaller sheets for chrusciki and a pastry she rolled and made into a ring - filled with apples and poppyseed I can't recall that name either.

She also taught me to make the egg dumplings I still prepare (rarely because they are very fattening) that are plopped into chicken soup or bigos - hunter's stew.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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