Autumn came much too quick. This is Sophie's favorite season and although New York is still hot and humid we here have already crisp and nice weather. I love it! Everyone who comes to Vienna first wants to go see art and then heads to one of the famous coffee shops. Nothing like Starbucks, more like an extended living room for the Viennese. Most of us spend more time on weekends in such a place than at home. You sit, read your newspaper drink coffee with endless glasses of tap water, which by the way is better than any bottled water. And a visit of 2-3 hours is quite short. Most Americans cannot understand that concept and are always surprised of how we make use of such a location.
On my bucket list for this fall was this beautiful cake. The dough is entirely flourless and therefore gluten free. What I love most about is that it is really great in taste and texture. I hate it when poppy seed is dry but this one is well balanced, you will see.
For this recipe you do need a bit of patience and skill but look at this beauty! You need a small 15cm diameter cake mold, preferably with a loose bottom. Sophie bought for me a professional ring in Paris that adjusts to whatever size I need and the smallest setting is exactly 15 cm. Set the ring on a sheet of lining paper, twist the excess close around the sides and there you go, so that was one of my molds the other one I bought in winter and use for my No Bake Blueberry Cake.
Print Recipe
Preparation time 90 min
Oven temperature 170°C
Chilling time 2 hours or over night
You Need
200 g poppy seed, grounded
100 g hazelnuts, grounded
120 g dark chocolate, melted
1 tbsp rum
1 tbsp lemon juice
40g brown sugar
6 eggs, yolk and white separated
250g butter, room temperature
80g brown sugar
20g caster sugar
grated peel of ½ organic lemon
salt
Cream cheese frosting:
150 g softened butter
450 g cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla sugar or 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
a bit of a grated lemon peel
Mix poppy seed, hazelnut and melted chocolate in a bowl; add the rum, lemon juice and 40g brown sugar. In a separate bowl fluff the butter with the 80g brown sugar until real smooth (like mayonnaise). Add the 6 egg yolks one at the time. Add the lemon peel. Whisk the 6 egg whites; add the salt and the 20g caster sugar and whisk until peaks form. Butter 2 cake-molds 15cm max in diameter and preheat the oven to 170°C.
Now add with a wooden spoon the poppy seed-mix and the stiff egg white and incorporate in three steps. It is important that the mix is gently folded and the last part of egg white and poppy seed-mix deserves extra special gentleness. Fill half of the flourless dough into your prepared cake mold and bake at 170°C for 50 minutes on the lowest shelf of your oven. Let cool and cut each cake in 3 layers. Evenly spread on each layer 3 spoons of frosting, set the tower layer by layer together on your stand and with the help of a flat cake knife frost the entire cake. If you are unable to get it all even and perfect take the back of a spoon and pat the frosting so it gets all spiky and fun looking. Let cool before you decorate and serve.
Cream cheese frosting:
Beat butter until pale and fluffy. Add cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until just smooth. Put the bowl in the fridge while you cut the cake.
