Mohnkuchen – A Poppyseed Treat
On a beautiful Friday, I found myself back at the bakery getting a hands-on demonstration on how to make local Mohnkuchen (tr. poppyseed cake). I was presented with an under-baker’s “grandmother’s recipe” as the pastry chef’s recipe is meant to feed a village. As the three of us worked through the reduced version, it became clear from the heated discussions that there is no one right way to make this treat. As best I could, I took note of when the shouting was loudest in order to indicate where deviations from this recipe could be made.
The Poppy Seed Mixture
This part of the recipe is best put together the night before making the cake as you will want to allow the mixture to “set” and become thicker. We ended up combining our mixture with some of the bakery’s reserve mixture. We used approximately 400 grams of lightly ground poppy seed; although, we added more when the mixture appeared too fluid.
In a small pot, add 1 liter of milk and 400 grams of sugar and bring to a boil.
Once this mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat and add 6 tablespoons of semolina flour and stir like a German pastry-expert woman is shouting at you. (Note, you may also add a bit more semolina flour to increase firmness.)
Transfer to bowl and add the poppy seed and about 125 grams of butter.
Add a handful of raisins and chopped almonds. Also add about two cups of applesauce. Let cool.
The Dough
We combined 250 grams of “Quark”, 150 grams of sugar, 500 grams of flour, 1 egg, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, and 1 packet* of baking powder. “Quark” is a generic term for a fresh cheese; it translates as cream cheese, but it was much more light – more like a creme fraiche than a ricotta. *I have no idea how much 1 packet of baking powder is, but it looked like it was less than one tablespoon worth (perhaps 2 teaspoons). (Note we ended up using 2 eggs as the dough was too hard.)
The Topping
The egg-based topping is made by combining 500 grams sour cream with “a good amount of sugar”, 3 tablespoons flour and some vanilla sugar (which I would probably just substitute with vanilla extract). Three eggs are also needed: separate and add the yolks to the above, whisk the whites until stiff and then add to the above.
Forming the cake
Roll out the dough and pierce to avoid bubbles. Apply a thick, healthy layer of the poppy seed mixture. Finally, add the egg-based top.
Bake
The instructions, given at this point, was to “bake at a high temperature until done”. I circumnavigated this “feel” by reading the temperature from the oven (230°C or 425°F) noted that we baked it for about 40 minutes. When the bottom was brown and the top was a deep brown, the cake was ready.
Profi-Tip: when removed from the oven, the poppy layer was still a bit fluid when the top was tapped. The cake does need to cool, possible overnight or in the fridge, before consuming.
Cut into generous portions, enjoy with some coffee, and plan on failing tomorrow’s drug test.
