Poppy seed, marzipan and plum yeast cake

Poppy seeds, marzipan and plums are a match made in heaven, especially when wrapped in soft, fluffy yeast dough! This beautiful spiral cake is inspired by the Bosnian kolač, meaning cake, and it’s guaranteed to make an impression. The dough is filled with a sweet poppy seed and marzipan mixture, then shaped into a spiral with juicy plum halves tucked between the layers. Once sliced, it reveals a lovely pattern of poppy seeds and plums. It’s just as delicious as it looks and makes a wonderful centrepiece for an autumn table. I highly recommend giving it a try!

Ingredients for the yeast dough:

• 380 g strong white bread flour
• 20 g fresh yeast or 10 g dried yeast
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk, from a large egg
• 150 ml milk
• 80 g butter, melted and cooled
• 60 g caster sugar
• a pinch of salt

Mix the flour with the dried yeast. If using fresh yeast, prepare a yeast starter first. Add the remaining ingredients and knead the dough, adding the melted butter towards the end. Knead for long enough to make the dough soft and elastic. Place it in a lightly floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, which should take about 1½ hours.

Once risen, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle measuring 30 x 40 cm. Cut it lengthways into three strips, each 40 cm long (see the photo below). Spoon the poppy seed filling down the centre of each strip, then pinch the edges together to seal and form three long rolls. Arrange the rolls in a spiral inside a 26 cm springform tin lined with baking paper. Place the halved, stoned plums into the small gaps between the rolls, overlapping them slightly. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for another 30–40 minutes, until the dough has doubled in size. Just before baking, brush the dough with the beaten egg mixed with milk.

Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for approximately 35–40 minutes. I used the fan setting, but you can bake it without the fan, too. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.

Dust the poppy seed, marzipan and plum yeast cake with icing sugar before serving.

Ingredients for the poppy seed and marzipan filling:

• 80 g poppy seeds
• 50 g marzipan
• 80 g caster sugar
• a few drops of almond extract or flavouring

All the ingredients should be at room temperature.

Pour boiling water over the poppy seeds until covered. Leave to cool, then drain off the excess water. Grind the poppy seeds twice using a meat grinder fitted with a fine mincing plate. Alternatively, cover the poppy seeds with boiling water and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain off the excess water, leave to cool, then grind twice using a meat grinder fitted with a fine mincing plate. You can also use ready-ground poppy seeds, which are readily available in many shops and make the process much easier. Simply cover them with boiling water, leave to cool and then squeeze out the excess water thoroughly, for example using a clean linen tea towel.

Add the grated marzipan, sugar and almond extract to the prepared poppy seeds. Mix until combined.

Additionally:

• 700 – 800 g plums
• 1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp milk, for the egg wash
• icing sugar, for dusting

Method for bread machine users:

Place all the yeast dough ingredients into the bread machine in the following order: liquid ingredients first, then dry ingredients, and finally the yeast. Select the ‘dough’ programme (kneading and first rise). Once the programme has finished, remove the dough, knead it lightly, and continue according to the main recipe above.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Recipe adapted from coolinarika.com,