Poppy seed cake with meringue

If you’re looking for a truly special poppy seed cake, you simply must try this one with meringue :). A quick and easy shortcrust base is topped with a moist, fruit-and-nut-filled poppy seed layer, all finished with a generous layer of meringue – crisp and lightly cracked on top, yet delicate and marshmallowy in the centre. It’s this contrast that makes the cake such a pleasure to eat and really sets it apart from traditional poppy seed cakes. The meringue works beautifully here, just as it does in a Pavlova, adding a lovely lightness to the cake. Highly recommended!

Note: Because of the meringue topping, it’s best to leave this cake until the end of your Christmas baking. Ideally, bake it the day before Christmas so that the meringue retains its best texture.

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry:

• 100 g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 65 g butter, at room temperature
• 40 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Rub all the shortcrust pastry ingredients together with your fingertips until the dough starts to form a crumble. Tip into a 23 or 24 cm springform tin lined with baking paper. Press the dough evenly over the base and pre-bake at 180ºC for 15 minutes.

Ingredients for the poppy seed filling:

• 200 g poppy seeds
• 1 large egg, separated
• 30 g butter
• 25 g light brown sugar
• 75 g runny honey
• 30 g raisins
• 30 g candied orange peel
• 30 g walnuts or pecans, chopped
• ½ tsp almond extract

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Cover the poppy seeds with boiling water, leave to cool, then drain thoroughly. Grind twice using a meat grinder fitted with a fine poppy seed attachment. Alternatively, cover the poppy seeds with boiling water and simmer for 20 minutes, then drain off the excess water, leave to cool and grind twice using a meat grinder fitted with a fine poppy seed attachment. You can also use ready-ground poppy seeds, which are widely available in shops. This makes things considerably easier, as you don’t need to grind them yourself. Simply cover them with boiling water, leave to cool and then squeeze out the excess water very thoroughly, for example using a linen tea towel.

Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat with the sugar and honey. Add the egg yolk and continue beating. Add the soaked (and thoroughly squeezed) ground poppy seeds, raisins, candied orange peel, chopped nuts and almond extract and mix until combined.

Whisk the egg white until stiff and gently fold into the poppy seed mixture. It’s best to do this just before baking, so that the egg white doesn’t deflate or release water.

Ingredients for the meringue:

• 4 egg whites, from large eggs
• a pinch of salt
• 200 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp potato starch

All ingredients for the meringue should be at room temperature.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and start whisking. Once they begin to foam slightly, add the salt and continue whisking. When the egg whites are stiff, gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time, whisking thoroughly after each addition. You should have a thick, glossy meringue. Add the sifted potato starch and gently fold in with a spatula.

Additionally:

• a handful of walnuts or pecans, chopped

Method:

Spread the prepared poppy seed filling over the pre-baked shortcrust base. Spread the meringue over the top and scatter with the chopped nuts.

Bake at 140ºC for about 1 hour, until the meringue is crisp and lightly cracked on top. If necessary, extend the baking time by another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Store the poppy seed cake with meringue at room temperature.

Enjoy!