This Mohnkuchen is no joke, when it comes to the poppyseeds. It will re-define what a poppyseed cake means. As I think it should! Poppyseeds are the main event. Mohnkuchen is the German name for it, and as with many German desserts, it’s loaded with almond flavor, and it’s not too sweet.
I remember learning in middle school about how poppyseeds can create false positives on drug tests. As in, to my understanding upon hearing this, if you eat a lemon poppyseed muffin for breakfast, then the drug test will say you do opiates.
In my middle school brain, I concluded that random drug tests were just going to be a standard, typical part of adult employment. I also envisioned I would have lemon poppyseed muffins available for breakfast a lot, and would need to be on my game.
Turns out, I have never taken a drug test, and I don’t foresee any current or future employer randomly screening me. More realistic was the lemon poppyseed muffin vision. But even that, it’s not like I’m constantly eating muffins for breakfast (contrary to what this blog may lead you to believe). The amount of lemon poppyseed muffins available to me has stayed about the same since childhood.
It’s amazing what you think adulthood will be like as a kid. Constant drug testing and muffins raining from the sky. These are the adult problems I was bracing for.
Anyways, in a super casual and convenient segue, the adult task I was not predicting at that age was the State Fair baking competition. This cake is for the International baking, cake category. I’m not sure if the judges will have heard of it, and whether that impacts expectations or judging. We are in new territory.
There’s also different kinds of Mohnkuchen – some of them almost cheesecake-y – so I am going to have to hope that the judge is not familiar with some other kind of Mohnkuchen, if they’ve heard of it at all.
But at least I know this cake is delicious. Incredibly light because of the 8 whipped egg whites folded in, and a healthy dose of almond flavor from the almond flour and extract. The texture and taste of the poppyseeds, and not too sweet with only a dusting of powdered sugar on top. Just… be careful of any drug tests, and have fun brushing your teeth afterwards.
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PinIngredients
- ⅔ cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 8 eggs, separated
- 1¾ cups ground poppy seeds
- 2 cups almond flour
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-inch springform pan.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until creamy and the color changes to a light yellow. This will take about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add in the almond extract.
- Gently fold the poppy seeds and almond flour into the butter mixture.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the powdered sugar and continue whisking until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold in about ⅓ of the meringue into the batter and mix well. Gently fold in the remaining meringue.
- Gently spoon the cake batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 50 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the outer ring and place the cake on the rack to cool completely.
- Dust with powdered sugar, and serve with whipped cream if desired.
Notes
Adapted from Quick German Recipes