Polish Poppy Seed Cake (Makowiec)

Side view of Polish poppy seed cake cut in half on top of blue plate.

Polish poppy seed cake consists of yeast-based pastry and a layer of sweet poppy seed mixture rolled together to form a log. This cake is traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Polish

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 45

Proofing 2 45

Total Time 3 40

Servings servings

Calories 268kcal

Author Monika Dabrowski

Equipment

Blender
Rolling Pin
Large baking sheet

Ingredients

For the dough

1⅔ cups all-purpose/plain flour (7.41 oz) plus a little more for dusting
1 teaspoon instant yeast
¼ cup+1tbsp milk lukewarm
3 tablespoons sugar
2 egg yolks room temperature, reserve the whites
½ stick+1tsp butter melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

For the poppy seed filling

¾ cup+1tbsp poppy seeds (4.23 oz)
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons sugar
⅓ cup+1tbsp raisins (1.76 oz)
¼ cup candied orange peel (1.41 oz) chopped, or mixed citrus peel
1 teaspoon almond extract
Zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons almond flour/ground almonds
1 egg white room temperature

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to its lowest temperature.
Start by making the dough. To a large bowl add the milk, sugar, pinch of salt and yeast and stir thoroughly (using either a wooden or silicone spoon). Add the egg yolks, vanilla extract and melted butter stirring all the time until thoroughly combined.
Gradually add the flour stirring until it’s no longer visible and the dough starts to form (it will be quite soft).
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes until it is smooth and glossy (the dough shouldn’t feel dry but it shouldn’t stick to your fingers either – if it does add about 1 teaspoon of flour, no more).
Dust the dough very lightly with flour, place in a bowl and cover with a cloth. Switch the oven off (very important!), place the dough in the centre for about 2 hours until doubled in size. After 1 hour turn the oven on again to its lowest temperature for 2 minutes then switch off (do not open the oven door).
In the meantime make the poppy seed filling. Place the poppy seeds in a saucepan, add a generous amount of water, cover and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes stirring often. Remove from the heat, drain and rinse the poppy seeds in a fine-mesh sieve under cold water. Drain as thoroughly as you can.
Place the poppy seeds in a blender and process for about 10 minutes stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently. The poppy seeds should become a little sticky.
In a saucepan melt the butter, add the honey, sugar, poppy seeds, raisins, orange peel, zest and almond extract and cook over a low/medium heat for 10 minutes stirring often. Set aside to cool completely. Once cooled stir in the ground almonds, then beat one egg white until very firm and stir in as well. Set aside.
Assembling the poppy seed cake recipe. Remove the dough from the oven and place on top of a lightly floured surface. Roll out into a rectangle approx. 4-5 mm/⅕’’ thick (approx. 25x33 cm/10’’x13’’) and brush with a little egg white (do not use the entire egg white).
Cover the middle of the pastry with the poppy seed mixture approx. 2½ cm/1’’ away from the edges. Roll the pastry to form a log folding the ends under.
Wrap the makowiec roll loosely in parchment paper twice (leaving about 1 cm/⅓’’ of space between the roll and the paper). Do not tuck in the ends.
Place the log (with the end bit down) on top of a baking sheet in a warm place to proof for 45 minutes (I like to keep it on top of my stove). In the meantime preheat the oven to 330 F/ 170 C/ fan-assisted 160 C/ gas mark 3.
Bake the makowiec cake in the centre of the oven for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, set aside for 5 minutes then place along with the paper on top of a rack to cool completely. Remove the parchment.
To make the icing stir together 4 tablespoons of icing sugar with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice until smooth and drizzle over the cake. Scatter some candied orange peel or orange zest on top. Allow to set before cutting and serving the cake.

Notes

I recommend weighing the ingredients (especially for the dough) rather than using measuring cups.
The dough should be quite soft and almost creamy in texture (I do not recommend adding extra flour as your cake may not be as soft).
It’s important to allow the dough to double in size before making the cake. I like to proof it in a warm oven (as per recipe instructions), but if you have another warm place in the house you can use that. If using the warm oven method don’t forget to switch it off before placing the dough inside.
The poppy seed mixture can be prepared ahead and once cooled, refrigerated (overnight). Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before making the cake.
If you roll out the dough quite thinly (approx. 4-5 mm) the poppy seed mixture will be well distributed throughout the cake.
Freeze this poppy seed roll (without the icing) in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight and decorate with the icing at least 30 minutes before serving.

Nutrition