Poppy seed cake with vanilla buttercream icing
By: Rachel Allen From: Rachel Allen: Christmas Bake!
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Poppy seed cake with vanilla buttercream icing
- Prep time:
- 30 mins
- Cook time:
- 30 mins
- Serves:
- 8-10
This fabulously rich cake from Rachel Allen is best eaten with lashings of the vanilla buttercream
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Tips and suggestions
- Cooks Tips...
- This cake will keep for a few days but it can also be frozen un-iced.
Adapted from Rachel Allen, Bake (Collins)
Ingredients
- 150g Butter, at room temperature
- 100g caster sugar
- 3 Eggs, beaten
- 100g plain flour
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 75g poppy seeds
- 1 x quantity vanilla buttercream icing, see recipe included below
For the vanilla buttercream icing
- 75g Butter, softened
- 125g icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 170C/gas 3. Butter the sides of a 20cm cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.2. Cream the butter in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer until soft. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten eggs, beating well between each addition.
3. Sift in the flour and baking powder, add the poppy seeds and stir until well combined.
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, making a slight hollow in the centre with the back of a spoon. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until it is cooked in the centre and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
5. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to stand for five minutes before carefully removing it from the tin and transferring it to a wire rack to cool.
For the buttercream icing
6. Using an electric whisk, beat the butter until pale and soft, beat in the icing sugar and vanilla extract.
7. When the cake is cool, split it in half using a long-bladed serrated knife. Place one layer of the cake on a serving plate and spread over two generous tablespoons of the vanilla buttercream, then place the other half of the cake on top. Spread the remaining icing over the top and sides with a palette knife or table knife. The cake can also be kept whole, with the icing spread over the top and sides.
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Latest Comment
View all comments (9)After my previous disastrous attempts to make the icing suggested in the book & video, I eventually iced this cake with vanilla icing according to the recipe above. It's delicious. Best kept for a day before eating in my opinion as the poppy seed taste seems to mellow and improve.
I have the same comment regarding the icing. I made this cake last night from the recipe in Allen's book "Bake" and in there she recommends using a Vanilla Buttercream Icing made with milk, egg yolks, caster sugar and butter. I tried making this icing TWICE and it was a disaster both times. The first time the custard curdled and the second time, when I added a successful batch of cooled custard to the whisked butter everything went runny. I love vanilla butter icing (which I normally refer to as "buttercream") and I was really disappointed to waste the ingredients on trying the recommended icing recipe in the book, especially since I have now seen her recommend the butter/icing sugar version to go with this cake twice online!
My late Polish/Ukraine mum always soaked her poppy seeds in milk first to get out the bitter taste when making a strudel. Also when she made a cake like yours, Mum would use a food stick to grind the poppy seeds down first to stop them from getting in your teeth, It also made HER cake taste SO GREAT I can't wait yo make yor recipe as I mislaced mum's Original trcipe & now its too late to get it (as she only passed September 23, 2009)
There is video shows different method how to make ising. On receipt mentioned one but in the video she cooks different way. Maybe should I do only custard like she showed and add it to a mixture as mentioned in the receipt?
Great cake, very easy to make, I tried today and it was absolutly delicious. I have just a couple of questions could I add a cream cheese into icing? My icing was very waterly, how can I make sure it will be more like butter so I can apply it and it won't lick? What did I do wrong?
I love this cake. Although, I've never tried this recipe, I think I will look for it somewhere else, because frankly, it did not look very appetizing. Her technic in baking leaves a lot to be desired!
I just tried this recipe, the cake hasn't risen. I have made many cakes so I don't think it's my technique. Very disappointed.
....beat in the custard spoon at a time. cut cake in half, spread cream and sandwich and then spread rest of cream all over the cake. hope this helps.
150ml milk, 125g caster sugar heat till sugar disolved. In bowl mix 2 egg yolks. mix milk mixture to egg, return to pan, cook till coats sppon.Cool beat 175g butter with 1tsp vanilla extract, soft, beat in milk custart