Japanese poppy seed cake – a cake made from poppy seeds, without wheat flour, with dried fruits and apples. Topped with chocolate icing and decorated with almond flakes and orange peel. A traditional recipe for Japanese poppy seed cake, an original recipe from grandma’s notebook, the only true and best one!
Ingredients
Poppy Seed Mixture:
- 500 g ground poppy seeds
- 1 liter milk
- 200 g butter or margarine
- 7 – 9 eggs
- 400 g powdered sugar
- 5 tablespoons semolina
- 600 g apples (e.g., Reneta)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Approx. 200 g dried fruits (e.g., 50 g each of orange peel, apricots, prunes, and raisins)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- A few drops of almond extract
Chocolate Icing:
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) 18% cream (from a carton)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 bar of chocolate
- Almond flakes, orange peel for decoration
Preparation
- If using ground dry poppy seeds, place them in a large pot, pour milk over them, cover, and cook over medium heat for about 25 – 30 minutes, stirring frequently (until the ground poppy seeds absorb all the milk and swell). Let it cool.
- If using whole dry poppy seeds, cook them in milk for about 1 hour. Then drain and grind them twice through a meat grinder (using the smallest sieve).
- Remove the butter from the refrigerator, chop it, and let it warm to room temperature. Separate the egg yolks from the whites and also let them warm to room temperature.
- Cream the butter with powdered sugar until fluffy (about 8 minutes on high speed).
- Gradually add the egg yolks one by one, beating well between each addition (still on high speed).
- Continuing to beat, add the ground poppy seeds and semolina alternately, one tablespoon at a time.
- Add the apples – peeled and grated using a larger grater, then add the baking powder, finely chopped dried fruits, honey, and almond extract. Mix everything thoroughly.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Gently fold them into the poppy seed mixture in 3 batches.
- Line a large rectangular baking pan (at least 25 cm x 40 cm) with parchment paper, pour the batter into it, smooth the surface, and place it in an oven preheated to 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit). Bake for about 50 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, let it cool, and spread with the icing: in a saucepan, heat the cream until boiling, remove from heat, add butter and chopped chocolate. Stir until melted.
- Cut the cake into slices and decorate with dried fruits.
