Poppy seeds are a staple ingredient at the Jewish Bakery. Poppy seed recipes have always been popular, whether it is mohn bars (mohn is the German word for poppy), sweet breads, bagel toppings, and of course, Hamantaschen.
Today, we are expanding our poppy seed recipe repertoire with a tall, tender, moist, and citrusy cake.
This impressive light and airy cake is a walk down memory lane. My mom has been baking a parve chiffon cake every weekend for Shabbat for three decades. And the use of vegetable oil vs. butter and orange juice vs. milk makes this cake dairy free.
How to bake a Poppy Seed Cake?
There are three critical factors to the success of this recipe. The first one is the temperature of the ingredients; the ingredients must be at room temperature. I like to measure all ingredients about 1-2 hours before and allow them to reach room temperature.
The second is the meringue; it has to be at a medium peak. Medium peak meringue is light and airy with as high volume as stiff meringue. But, when you dip the whisk or your finger in it and point it towards the ceiling, its tip will create a soft and curvy shape. My tip is to stay put when whipping the meringue and pay attention to the changes. Once you have a thick, opaque meringue, stop the mixture and do the ceiling test. If it is too thin, keep mixing and do the test every 10 seconds.
The third, but not least, is that we do not grease the pan. So make sure you either use a tube pan with a removable bottom or a 9x13 pan lined with parchment paper at the bottom without greasing the sides. When the pan is grease-free, it allows the cake to cling to the edges of the pan and rise tall and high.
Pay attention to these three elements, and you’ll master not only this recipe but all chiffon and angel food cake recipes.
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs separated.
- ½ cup 120ml vegetable oil
- ½ cup 120ml fresh squeezed orange juice
- Orange zest from two medium size oranges
- 1 ⅔ cup 200g cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup 75 ground poppyseeds or ⅔ cup (100g) whole dry poppyseeds
- 1 ¾ cup 350g granulated sugar
Nutritional Facts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F. Have a 9-inch tube pan ready to use.
- Mix the egg yolks, vegetable oil, orange juice, and zest in a large bowl.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, poppy seeds, and 1 ¼ cup (250g) sugar in a separate bowl.
- Pour the flour mixture over the yolk mixture and mix to incorporate. Make sure not to over-mix.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, whip the egg whites over medium-high speed until frothy, about 1 minute.
- Gradually add the remaining sugar and whip on high speed until you have a medium peak meringue.
- Fold the meringue into the yolk/flour mixture, pour it into the ready-to-use pan, and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and immediately turn the pan upside down. Some pans have feet, but I like to use a condiment/dressing salad bottle inserted into the tube of the pan and allow the pan to lean over it.
Video
Notes
You can replace the orange zest and juice with lemon zest and juice.
Use a tube pan (angel food cake) with feet and do not great the sides or bottom.
You can also use a 9x13-inch pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper, and do not grease the sides of the pan.
To bake an orange cake with no poppyseeds, remove the poppyseeds and reduce the sugar amount to 1 ½ cups (300g).
