Cherry Poppy Seed Cake

The second I saw this photo/recipe on foodgawker I knew I had to make it. I saw the post on Tuesday and then made the cake on Saturday. That's a very quick turn around for me.

It helped that I had an occasion to bake for: friends' engagement/album release/going away party. That's a lot going on at once, isn't it? All those things guaranteed a good party.

 

It was such a lovely night that I barely had time to snap an iPhone shot of the last piece of cake before handing it to my roomie.

This cake is so lovely, especially for summer seeing it's somewhat light in consistency and uses cherries. I added a nice whipped cream that helped bring out the flavors of the poppy seeds and the cherries.

 

I highly recommend making this cake. Or, if anything, if you see it at a party, make sure to get a slice!

Cherry Poppy Seed Cake (adapted from Eat Me!)

Ingredients:

150 g butter (room temperature) (around 11 Tablespoons)

150 g brown sugar

250 g flour

10 g baking powder

4 eggs

100 g poppy seeds

1 t vanilla extract

50 ml milk

pinch of salt

1 kg cherries (pitted) (Erika's Extras: I used cherries from the produce aisle, not from a jar. Also, I found that I would have preferred more than the 3 cups worth of cherries.)

To serve: 

1. Preheat oven to 180C/260 F. Lightly butter a spring form pan.  

2. In a bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Separately sift flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt and gradually add to the batter. Add vanilla, poppy seeds and milk. Combine until completely mixed. 

3. Pour the batter into the pan. Cover with cherries. Firmly press the cherries into the top of the batter. 

4. Transfer to the oven for 30-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick (etc) comes out clean. Serve a cake with a dollop of whipped cream.

Vanilla  Whipped Cream (from Black Forest Trifle)

8 ounces cream cheese

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups heavy cream

 

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and almond extract with an electric mixer. Beat until smooth. Add in heavy cream, incorporating a little at a time to prevent splattering. When all the cream has been added, turn the mixer to high, and beat until soft peaks form.

Bake well and prosper!

Orange Poppy Seed Cookies

I haven't blogged in forever it seems. But I have a good reason. (drum roll please) I MOVED!

Don't worry. I'm still in NYC. I just happened to have moved to Queens. (Yes, Queens is a part of NYC. It's one of the 5 boroughs.)

For those of you who don't know much about NYC, it's like I moved from "You've Got Mail" to "Julie & Julia." (Also, Sesame Street is filmed near my new place.)

Astoria is the neighborhood I live in and it is SO much more lively than where I lived on the Upper West Side. It has a young and diverse feel and so far fits me just fine.

As do my roomies. Yep, I moved in with two girls after living alone for two years. It makes me feel young again. Is that weird? Well, it does. Also, the larger kitchen is a nice perk. Compared to my kitchen in a wall in my last apartment, this kitchen is GINORMOUS!

So, I was busy packing and then cleaning and painting and unpacking. I didn't unpack my kitchen stuff until Sunday (a whole week after I moved in.) My roomies were of course wondering when I was going to bake. I'm glad to report that my first round of baking in my new digs turned out great. One of my room mates had worked long hours yesterday. She told me this morning that coming home to these scrumptious cookies made her day yesterday. Which made my day.

Orange Poppy Seed Cookies (adapted from Moogie & Pap)

Ingredients for the cookies:

2 c. all-purpose flour

3 T. poppy seeds

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 c.  & 2 Tbsp. sugar (I added the 2 T extra sugar because my dough wasn't as sweet as I wanted it to be.)

2 large egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. finely grated orange zest

Ingredients for the orange sugar:

1/3 c. sugar

1-1/2 tsp. orange zest

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until creamy. Beat in the egg yolks. Mix in the vanilla and orange zest. With the beaters on low speed, mix in the flour mixture just until the dough starts to come together. Using your hands, work the dough into a ball.

4. To make the orange sugar, whisk the sugar and orange zest in a small bowl. Set aside.

5. Pinch off small clumps of dough and roll into balls about 1" in diameter. Place on the prepared cookie sheets, about 1-1/2" apart. Press down on the balls with your fingers to form rounds that are a scant 1/2" thick. Sprinkle the orange sugar onto the top of each round, pressing down gently so the sugar adheres.

6. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden and tops feel mostly firm. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.

7. These cookies keep very well. Layer between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

Bake well and prosper!

Clementine Poppy Seed Loaf

It's snowing in NYC for the gazillionth time this winter. Yes, yes...snow is pretty. However, it's starting to affect my brain AND my kitchen. Seeing so much snow must have made me make such a mess with sugar during this recipe. I was obviously trying to recreate a snow scene on my counter. Um, yeah.

Well, as I say, "If it's a mess, it's a success!" This bread was no exception. I loved the clementine flavor. Something about the orange look of the bread and the citrus flavor made me feel like it WASN'T cold outside. I also discovered that this bread is especially awesome when toasted with cream cheese on top. And, unlike Reading Rainbow, you DO have to take my word for it. Or make it yourself.

Clementine Poppy Seed Loaf (from Turntable Kitchen)
2 cups of flour

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of poppy seeds
1 cup of sugar
pinch of salt
2/3 cup of fragrant, extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of clementine zest (from 3 clementines)
3/4 cup of clementine juice (from the same 3 clementines you zest)
3 large eggs

1. Butter a 12×4 inch loaf pan and preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, sift the the flour, pinch of salt and baking powder.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugar, zest, vanilla extract and olive oil. Whisk on high speed until combined, then beat in the eggs, one at a time.
4. Add 1/3 of the dry mix, mixing on low speed, then add half of the clementine juice and continue mixing. Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by the rest of the clementine juice. Once combined, add the last of the flour mixture and the poppy seeds and mix one last time until all of the flour is fully incorporated.
5. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 40 – 50 minutes (until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

6. Let cool in the pan slightly before slicing and serving on its own, or with a scoop of ice cream).

Bake well and prosper!