A festive poppy seed cake with whipped cream, oranges, and chocolate glaze, decorated with marzipan stars. The preparation can be spread over time by baking the poppy seed layers in advance and completing the rest on the day of serving or the day before.
Ingredients
Poppy seed layers:
- Ready-made poppy seed mass, 850 g
- Eggs, 6
- Flour or gluten-free flour (e.g., millet or semolina or breadcrumbs), 6 tbsp
- Baking powder, 1/2 tsp
Filling:
- Oranges, 3
- Orange jelly, 1 packet
- Heavy cream (cold), 500 ml
- Mascarpone, 250 g
- Powdered sugar, 4 tbsp
- Vanilla sugar, 1 packet
- Optional: Cream stabilizer, 2 packets
Glaze:
- Dark chocolate, 100 g
- Vegetable oil, 3 tbsp
- Butter, 1 tbsp
Decoration:
- Marzipan stars
- Fresh orange
Preparation
Remove the eggs from the fridge in advance. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Beat the egg yolks until fluffy, then beat the egg whites separately until stiff peaks form. Mix the poppy seed mass with flour and baking powder. Blend with the egg yolks, then gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Pour the batter into 2 round baking tins (24 cm in diameter), or if you only have one tin, pour half of the batter into the tin.
Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. You can bake both tins at once or one after the other. Allow to cool completely.
Peel the oranges, removing the white pith under the skin. Segment the oranges between the membranes, doing this over a larger pot to collect the juice. Do not include the membranes. Cut the orange segments into smaller pieces.
Cook the orange pieces for a few minutes, stirring occasionally until only a few tablespoons of juice remain. Remove from heat, add the jelly powder, and stir until completely dissolved. Cool and chill until set.
Whip the cream together with the mascarpone, powdered sugar, and vanilla sugar until stiff. If using, add the cream stabilizer at the end.
Place the first poppy seed layer on a cake stand, spread 1/3 of the cream over it, then add the oranges and another 1/3 of the cream. Place the second poppy seed layer on top, covering the top and sides with the remaining cream. Refrigerate.
Pour the chocolate glaze over the cake (melt the chocolate broken into pieces together with the oil and butter). Decorate with marzipan stars and fresh orange slices. Store in the fridge.
Serving suggestion
Marzipan stars: Combine 50 g of marzipan, 100 g of powdered sugar, and 1 tbsp of lemon juice in a bowl or food processor. Knead by hand or blend, gradually adding lemon juice until the ingredients form a uniform ball. Roll out the dough on a board and cut out star shapes using a cookie cutter.
Tips
If available, add orange and amaretto liqueurs to the cake. Sprinkle the poppy seed layers with amaretto liqueur (3 tbsp per layer) and add 3 tbsp of orange liqueur to the oranges at the end of cooking. Rum or vodka can also be used, as preferred.
Instead of oranges and jelly, you can use 1 jar of orange jam (220 g). Simply spread it over the cream.
Homemade poppy seed mass layers need to be soaked, as they are less moist than those made with ready-made mass. Additionally, add powdered sugar either to the poppy seed mass or to the beaten egg yolks.
