Makowlec - Polish Poppy Seed Swirl Cake

This Friday night we are going our Polish friends place for dinner and I volunteered to bring the desert. This is a really really nice cake, not too sweet, and 'different' because the 'cake' part of the dish is actually a sweet bread - not unlike Pan de Meurtos (Mexican 'dead bread' used during the day of the dead festivals in November).

The only problem with this recipe is that you really need a meat grinder to grind the poppy seeds. I've done it once before without the aid of a meat grinder and food processors, bar mix sticks, mortar and pestle... none work NEARLY as effectively as a meat grinder. I can now say this with confidence owing the my awesome mother who bought me one for my birthday. True to our style its not electrical, which will be great post 2012 when we have no electricity ;)

And so on to the cake!

The grinder at work!!

Ground poppy seeds looking..... appetizing...

I purposely made 6 smaller cakes, given there will be 6 of us for dinner, although it is normally one big cake.

Rolling up the cigar (note the awesome light of our kitchen...sigh)



All rolled up ready for baking :)





Makowlec - Poppy Seed Swirl Cake

 

There should also be a wee drizzle of lemon icing on the top of this, but I don't have any icing sugar and I am too impatient to wait till I have some to take photo's :)

Thanks Everyone!!

                                            UPDATE:  Macowiecs - the recipe!!

My polish friends advised me that this is correct spelling, and its pronounced Mik-ov-i-ets.

Argh! Why or why did I forget to post the recipe!? Oh well here it is albeit VERY late... This cake may take a while to make but it is WELL worth it  :D

It also makes a fair amount! So if you only want 4 or so portions, I’d half everything.

Dough:

2tsp or 7gm dried yeast

2tsp caster sugar

½ cup luke warm water

3 ½ cup plain flour

100g caster sugar (extra)

¼ cup sour cream

2 eggs

1tsp vanilla extract

1tsp lemon rind

Oil to grease

1 ½ cup icing sugar

2-3tbs icing sugar

100g melted butter

1.     Combine yeast, sugar and ½ the milk in a bowl and let sit for 10min, covered in a tea towel (this is to activate the yeast)

2.     Combine flour, extra sugar and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the yeast misture, butter, sour cream, egg, vanilla, lemon rind and milk

3.     Combine and when it all comes together, turn out onto lightly floured surface, cover with empty bowl and let sit for 15-20min. (this helps the development of gluten strands)

4.     Knead for 10 min. (although the dough shouldn’t stick to the bench and leave dough behind, you don’t want so much flour it slides over the bench either. A bit of traction will help the kneading process and development of gluten strands, which will make the dough rise and prevent collapsing when cooking)

5.     Set the dough aside, either cover with tea towel, or with cling wrap until doubled in size – usually about 45min, but can be 1 ½ hours or more depending on the air temperature – faster in summer, longer in winter. (clean and lightly grease the bowl you use for proofing before adding dough, then lightly grease cling wrap – this prevents rising dough from sticking to bowl or tea towel)

Many breads are proofed twice. If you have time, gently knock back the dough once risen, then let the dough double in size again.

I’ve written the amounts as per the recipe I translated, but I have ALWAYS found that it makes twice as much filling as I need, and so I normally half all filling quantities.

Filling:

500g Poppy seeds

¾ cup sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

2tbs butter

1 egg

¼ cup honey

1tsp lemon rind

¼ cup chopped walnuts

¼ cup chopped almonds

½ cup raisins (I hate raisins so I just exclude them)

2 egg whites, stiffened

6.     Place poppy seeds in a saucepan, just cover with milk, bring to the boil and let simmer for a few mins. Drain the poppy seeds and then grind into a paste using a meat mincer (Trust me! Food processors, bar mixers, mortar and pestle – none of them will actually crush the poppy seeds – I’ve tried them all!)

7.     Food process the nuts and add to ground poppy seeds

8.     Melt butter in a pan and add the nut/poppy seed mix and sugar. Simmer on a low heat for 10-15min

9.     Let cool a little and fold in egg, honey, peel raisins and egg whites. Let cool completely

Assembly:

10.   Turn out dough and roll into a rough rectangle (or divide into portions and then roll into rectangles – be sure to keep dough you’re not working with covered to prevent it drying out)

11.   Paste on filling, leaving a 2cm boarder. Roll and tuck edges in underneath

12.   Place on a baking tray (greased or with baking paper) and cover with a tea towel, let rise for approx 1 ½ hours

13.   Bake in a 350 degree F  (about 180 C) oven for 40-50mins

14.   Combine icing sugar and lemon juice to taste, to make an icing. If serving cold, let the bread cool before icing, if serving warm, drizzle icing over before serving.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake

This cake turned out really well - at least I think so - I have yet to impose it upon my friends!

It was SO nice to get back in the kitchen and make something new and sweet, especially after a seemingly endless amount of assignments, exams and general drama. So here it is:



Before it went in the oven



The final product

Having never done a baked cheesecake before, I have no idea whether I nailed it or not. But it tastes good! lots of pockets of raspberry explosions, and the hazelnut in the base really adds another 'dimension'. If you have never done a baked cheese cake or you find your having issues with it, check out Diana's Deserts. There are some great recipes and heaps of good tips - and not just for cheesecake!

So here is the recipe then - I made up a lot of it on the way and tested my judgement, but I think everyone should do this to get the end result that they want.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake:

Base:

approx. 140g of 'nice' biscuits - you can use 'digestives' or any other biscuit you want. Select the biscuits based on the flavour you want and the sweetness.

approx. 60g of hazelnut meal - again, use any nut meal of your preference, or alternatively, use 200g of biscuits and no nut meal

approx. 60 - 100g butter (melted)  

Filling:

500g Cream cheese - room temp

75g Caster sugar

3 large eggs - room temp

2tbsp of lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

1/4tsp salt

3cups sour cream - room temp

300g GOOD white chocolate (I use Green & Black's Organic Chocolate)

300g Frozen Raspberries

a little extra sugar

 Oven Temp: 325F or 162C

 Time: 45min to 1 hour

1. Preheat oven. Blend biscuits and nut meal in a food processor till fairly fine. Add melted butter until you a mixture that is damp, but not wet. You want to be able to press it into the baking tin without it being either too liquidy, or too dry (it won't stick together nicely). Press it into a 10cm springform pan, over the base, partially covering the sides. Set aside

2.  Cream the cheese and sugar until smooth. Add lemon juice, vanilla and salt, mix until combined. Add sour cream and cooled melted chocolate ***. Add eggs, one at a time until fully incorporated. Pour into cake pan

3. Blend raspberries in a food processor until smooth. Add sugar to taste. Sugar takes the edge off the tartness of the raspberries, but it is easy to go too far and make it too sweet. I leave the seeds in because they are filled with so much good stuff - although it is a cheesecake we are talking about - and a lot of people don't like the texture of the seeds; push puree through a fine sieve to get rid of the seeds. Alternatively add the raspberries in whole without blending into the mixture and pour into the pan.

4. Pour the raspberry puree over the cake in a circle, or any other pattern you'd like - then get a skewer, or tip of a knife and drag it through the puree and mixture to create any number of patterns :)

5. Alot of people advise baking the cake in a water bath (if using a springform tin, cover the outside a few times with alfoil to prevent water leaking into the cake). This slows the rate of the baking process and helps the cake cook more evenly. I don't have a pan that will fit my cake pan in so I just dropped the temp a bit, and put a pan with water in it on the shelf below (no idea if this actually did anything). Bake for 45min.

6. The cake should still be a bit wobbly in the middle, although a skewer will come out moist, but fairly clean when inserted - the cake is 'done'. Turn off the oven leaving the cake inside to cool (keep the oven door closed). After an hour or so, remove from the oven and cool for another 6 hours in the fridge before serving.

** Melting Chocolate: You can use the microwave but I've never gotten good results from this. Best bet is to melt it in a metal bowl, over a saucepan of simmering water (ensure water and bowl don't make contact). Use a metal or plastic spoon (wood will absorb some of the moisture). Continually take it off the heat and stir - the bowl and chocolate will retain heat and continue to melt/cook the chocolate once removed from the heat. This ensure you melt your chocolate perfectly and it is normally cool enough to add straight to the mixture without waiting for it to cool down.

That it! Enjoy!