If you're of Polish descent like me, and you love poppyseeds ...

[Diamond_Dog]

Then you have to try this cake!

I was looking for a poppyseed cake recipe a few weeks ago to make at Christmas time. I came across this one from Claire Saffitz which looked really good. However, I had a hard time finding the poppyseeds in the stores. Maybe everyone was buying them for Christmas baking, or it was just one of those things that is hard to find these days, I dunno. My son who lives near Akron came to the rescue and brought me a jar of them he found locally.

Well, the cake making got postponed to New Year’s since Covid decided to attack all of us in this house right before Christmas. In a way, it’s better I made it for today, because we had so many sweets and other goodies around at Christmas. And this cake was a great dessert to go with our pork and sauerkraut dinner. It has a real “old world” flavor with the poppyseed that I just love. Like something you’d only find in an Eastern European bakery sitting atop a white doily. Lol. I think this may be a new tradition for New Year’s Day dessert!

A note, I usually don’t make substitutions the first time I make a recipe, but due to poor planning when I was mixing it up, I realized I didn’t have enough canola oil, so I used half canola oil and half coconut oil. Not sure if it changed the flavor much, but it came out delicious. Maybe next time for presentation purposes, I will sift some powdered sugar over the top.

Claire Saffitz video

Written Recipe
https://neperfect.com/2021/05/08/poppy-seed-almond-cake/

Mine

[fierywoman]

1. I don't know if it's still true, but there used to be a thing about

Last edited Sun Jan 1, 2023, 06:05 PM - Edit history (1)

poppy seeds being hard to find because some governmental agency thought you could get some sort of drug-like effect from them.

[Diamond_Dog]

2. Wasn't there an episode of Seinfeld

about someone eating a poppyseed bagel and they failed a drug test ?

[fierywoman]

7. Something like that! Seems nutty to me ...

[hippywife]

11. That part is true.

https://www.winchesterhospital.org/health-library/article?id=156998

Until December 1, 1998, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) had set the cut-off concentration level for opiate urine tests at 300 ng/ml for the Federal Workplace Drug Testing Program. But this standard urine screening was not able to reliably differentiate between poppy seed eaters and opiate users based on concentration levels of opiates. That’s because eating a poppy seed bagel will produce an opiate level of approximately 250 ng/ml three hours later, and ingesting three teaspoons of poppy seeds can result in a level of 1,200 ng/ml six hours later.


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6513924/

Unwashed poppy seeds are widely available online through private websites or via well-known sellers such as eBay and Amazon. These seeds can be used to produce a tea that contains an opioid content sufficient to produce psychoactive effects and to cause withdrawal symptoms when discontinued abruptly, yet their sale and distribution is legal in the United States. Clinicians may not be aware of poppy seed tea and some individuals may use it habitually or as an analgesic. There is a paucity of literature on this topic, although a few cases of poppy seed tea intoxication and dependence have been reported. A clinical case is presented here.

[fierywoman]

19. Fascinating!!!! I've wondered for DECADES what this was all about.

Thank you for the info!

[Diamond_Dog]

22. Thanks, hippywife!

[niyad]

3. That looks wonderful. The next time you need poppyseeds, check out Penzey's.

They carry both white and blue poppy seeds. And, as many on DU know, Bill Penzey is a truly remarkable progressive. www.penzeys.com.

Savory Spice also carries them, as does my local King Sooper's (Kroger).

[Diamond_Dog]

9. Thanks, niyad!

I never thought of Penzey’s. I have heard great things about that company.

[MiHale]

4. My Busia used to make this...

with a poppyseed filling.

Thanks for the memories.

Happy New Year!

[Diamond_Dog]

10. Happy New Year to you, too, MiHale!

I am glad I brought you a good memory!

[moniss]

5. Looks wonderful and

thank you for keeping the baking tradition going. When I go to the grocery store (the super-mart, uh-huh) (thanks Sonny Bono) and look at the baking aisle it is not exactly busy with customers. But the packaged cookie aisle and cold case with cakes and pies made many days ago from who knows where are always busy. My grandmother never bought things ready made. Except for crackers and if she had known a recipe for them she would have made them herself. Homemade food is always the best.

[Diamond_Dog]

12. You are so right, moniss!

I think it must skip a generation bc my mom never baked anything but my Grandmother (her mother) did. Grandma’s poppyseed rolls were to die for. Like cinnamon rolls except the filling was poppyseed filling. Ever look at the list of ingredients on those so-called bakery goods at the store… you can’t even pronounce half of them.

[moniss]

20. Many years ago

my Grandmother told me that when you look at old recipes that called for lard you should not substitute with shortening or butter. She told me that the result won't be awful but it won't be the same/as good. I even remember her saving fat from frying/roasting in a big coffee can. She would pour it through a strainer. It would solidify as it cooled and then she would put foil on top with a rubber band around to hold it and put it in the fridge. She would use it in various recipes. The great thing about so many of those women from that era was that many of them didn't use written recipes for their cooking/baking. It was all from "as taught" memory and good general knowledge of cooking/baking and then a little trial and error. I can remember when the churches and communities would want to do a local cookbook and they would approach these women to contribute a recipe. The most often heard phrase was "I don't have anything written down I just make it". Sometimes though they would take the time to work through it and write out a recipe. Just think of the knowledge of great food that we have lost over the last 100 years or so.

[demigoddess]

31. glad to hear this. I make a lot of my recipes from just eating what my mother made

when I was a kid. No recipe except in my head. My son calls my potato salad best one ever. And there is a recipe for "sukiyaki" that was in the Army Times in the 50s and I never saw it written down. We just ate it.

[central scrutinizer]

6. The poppy seeds need to be ground

There’s a recipe in “Treasured Polish Recipes for Americans” for making poppy seed filling. Or you can buy a can of Solo Brand poppy seed filling. I’ve got a Corona flour mill that I use for grinding the poppy seeds. Then you add milk, sugar, honey and cook on the stove top until it thickens. It freezes well so I usually make a big batch

[Diamond_Dog]

13. I remember my grandmother doing exactly that.

She’s make the poppyseed filling the day before. I seem to remember a grinder she had but I don’t know what happened to it. What do you make with your filling?

[central scrutinizer]

15. Poppyseed cake

There’s a recipe (at least there used to be) on the label of Solo brand poppyseed filling. I saved one label and stuck it in my copy of Treasured Recipes…

I found it online

https://www.solofoods.com/recipes/cakes/solo-poppy-cake

[Diamond_Dog]

16. Thank you!

I bookmarked this to my tablet. Looks delicious. Sour cream, yum.

[central scrutinizer]

23. If you don't have the "Treasured Recipes..." cookbook

It’s essential. Plus it has Polish proverbs sprinkled throughout. “The wolf grows no fatter on messengers.”

[Diamond_Dog]

25. That book sounds like something I need to seek out!

Thank you for the recommendation!

I don’t go all in for all Polish dishes (I can’t stand beets …. and no to jellied carp) but it’s always interesting to learn about what kinds of dishes my ancestors may have prepared.

[central scrutinizer]

26. We have a pierogi party every fall

Make 300+, half sauerkraut/mushroom, half potato/cheese.

[Diamond_Dog]

28. Yummmm!

[moniss]

21. I've

seen this used much like buttercream frosting.

[yellowdogintexas]

8. Central Market had to lock up the bulk supply of poppy seeds

because folks would empty the jug as soon as it was filled up.
Turns out these folks were steeping it and drinking the "tea".

So now you have to request someone to get the jar out for you.

I don't know if that liquid has any pain killing or muscle relaxing ability but that is beneficial.

[Diamond_Dog]

14. Oh no. Thanks for the info, yellowdogintexas!

[hippywife]

18. From the NIH:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6513924/

Unwashed poppy seeds are widely available online through private websites or via well-known sellers such as eBay and Amazon. These seeds can be used to produce a tea that contains an opioid content sufficient to produce psychoactive effects and to cause withdrawal symptoms when discontinued abruptly, yet their sale and distribution is legal in the United States. Clinicians may not be aware of poppy seed tea and some individuals may use it habitually or as an analgesic. There is a paucity of literature on this topic, although a few cases of poppy seed tea intoxication and dependence have been reported. A clinical case is presented here.

[sprinkleeninow]

17. Slovak here. Poppy seed and nut rolls. Also Christmas Eve Vilija (vigil supper) with poppy seed &

cabbage bobalki!

Oh, and thanx for this recipe.

A happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to you and yours!

[Diamond_Dog]

24. And same to you sprinkleeninow!

[usonian]

27. It's poppy seed muffins, in "The Shower Head"

http://seinfeldscripts.com/TheShowerhead.htm

Man (also seated at the counter): Excuse me. I couldn't help overhearing. I notice you're eating a poppy seed muffin.
Elaine: Yeah, I eat these muffins all the time.
Man: Well, you know what opium is made from...
Elaine (as though receiving a revelation): Poppies!

[Old Crank]

29. Love poppy seed cake

All types including lemon poppy seed cake.
Here in München we have a serious poppy seed cake. Mohnkuchen.

https://delightbaking.com/german-poppy-seed-streusel-cake/

[Diamond_Dog]

30. I'll say that's serious cake!

I love lemon with poppyseed too.

Thanks for sharing, Old Crank!

I was lucky enough to visit München back in the ‘80s. Loved it!