ANOTHER Poppy Seed Cake – NOW Gluten Free

Two years ago my dear friend Trudy made a poppy seed cake that made it to my BLOG. She and I are great poppy seed fans and even have a deli we have designated “The Poppy Seed Store”. Our eastern European tastebuds must have been similarly trained as this store is filled with meats, buns, cans, teas but most important of all – POPPY SEED EVERYTHING! (Other people call the store International Sausage House.) (now closed sadly-2019)

I have been living gluten-free for over seven months and have experienced a huge improvement in health. Trudy, kind as she is, developed a new recipe for poppy seed cake and it’s gluten-free. Hard to believe but it is the best poppy seed treat I have ever eaten. It may or may not be true but she and I (over time of course) may have consumed the entire cake ourselves.  Here’s the recipe.

Cake:

1 cup butter (softened)

1 cup sugar

32 ounces (900 grams) ground poppy seed filling ( 1 can)

(Ally prefers the can pictured on the right as it seems to have citrus peel in)

POPPY SEED FILLING

2 egg yolks and 6 egg whites (4 eggs would probably work fine)

1 Tablespoon grated lemon rind

1/2 cup sour. Cream and 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cup almond meal and 1 cup brown rice flour

1 t soda

1 t salt

Glaze:

1 cup icing sugar

2 to 3 Tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F Carefully grease and flour 12 cup Bundt or 10 inch tube pan and set aside

Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy Add poppy seed filling and beat until blended Beat in egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition Add sour cream mixture and beat just until blended In a small bowl, blend flour, almond meal, baking soda and salt Add flour mixture to poppy seed mixture gradually beating well after each addition

In a separate bowl, beat whites with electric mixer until stiff peaks form Fold whites into batter and spread in prepared pans

Bake 60 minutes to 75 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan Cool 20 minutes on rack. Slowly drizzle glaze over cake allowing it to soak in a bit before adding more.

Gluten Free Poppy Seed Cake

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Celebrating with Friends – an Important Tradition

I am fortunate to have several groups of friends that take the time to celebrate each other’s birthdays. My dear friend, Ally, is one who often does the cooking and entertaining. She is a warm and thoughtful host as well as an artistic chef. As she is fond of experimenting, she designed this cake for our friend, Frieda. Easy to make, delicious, moist, and not too heavy or rich, this one is a definite winner. When reproducing it, the only thing I did differently was soak the poppy seeds overnight in the lemon juice, in the belief that slightly swollen, they wouldn’t stick to my teeth. Research about soaking provides two different answers: either they become more digestible or the soaking helps to extract the opium. I must confess I sleep very well after eating this cake…hmmm…

Poppy Seed Angel Food

Ally writes: (I am so in love with poppy-seed I really do think of it as "food for angels" rather than mere cake
so I left off the word 'cake'). This is embarrassingly easy to make. Unless of course you are one of those
"I make everything from scratch" people and don't use the angel food cake mix.
The recipe:

1 package of angel food cake mix
1 1/8 cup water
1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) lemon juice
2 to 3 tsp grated lemon rind and 1 tsp for garnishing cake later
Mix according to package directions. Lastly, g-e-n-t-l-y stir in:

3/4 to 1 cup of poppy-seed

lemon curd - set aside for topping

Bake according to package directions, which for
Duncan Hines was 350 degrees for 38 to 48 minutes. I found
38 minutes to be perfect so do check early. After the cake had cooled by
hanging upside down on a bottle as directed, I spread just the thinnest layer
of lemon curd on the top and down the tube of the cake (to keep it moist). This
is probably an unnecessary step but I wasn't sure when the cake was going to be
eaten. Lastly, I sprinkled about a teaspoonful of grated lemon rind on top to add
a little colour. Enjoy.
P.S. If you are not fond of this does it mean you are not an angel?