Poppy Seed Waves

This cake is a variation on the Danube Wave I made in 2013. It also is made with a German buttercreme, which is much lighter and less sweet than the American version.

Ingredients:

9x13 inch (30x40 cm) Pyrex dish or deep baking sheet

Some grease

For the batter:

150 g poppy seeds

250 ml milk

250 g all-purpose flour

3 leveled teaspoons baking powder

150 g sugar

4 eggs

150 g butter or margarine

150 g sour cream

For the topping:

3 tablespoons rum

1 package vanilla puddings (or JELL-O Cook and Serve)

4 tablespoons sugar (only for German pudding powder, JELL-O already contains sugar!)

500 ml milk

150 g soft butter (at room temperature)

150 g sour cream

Glaze:

200 g chocolate

1 tablespoon coconut or other vegetable oil

Preparation:

1. Add poppy seeds and milk to a stovetop pot. Bring to a boil while stirring, then let simmer or remove from heat until seeds have softened and the milk has evaporated.

2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F). Grease Pyrex form or baking dish.

3. Mix flour and baking powder, then sift into a bowl. Add all remaining ingredients except for the poppy seeds and using an electric hand mixer whisk until a smooth batter has formed. Lastly, stir in the poppy seeds.

4. Pour batter into Pyrex dish or baking sheet and bake at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F) for about 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. While cake is still hot, soak cake with rum.

5. Prepare vanilla pudding according to the manufacturer's instructions. To prevent a milk skin from forming, put a sheet of plastic wrap directly on top of the pudding's surface. Do not refrigerate!

6. To prepare the buttercream make sure that butter and pudding are both at room temperature. If one of the two is too cold the butter will curdle, Whisk butter until soft. Slowly add pudding to butter, one tablespoon at a time. Make sure the pudding has been mixed in before adding another tablespoon. Lastly, stir in sour cream. Spread buttercream evenly on cake and chill for at least 30 minutes.

7. Chop chocolate, add oil and slowly melt chocolate in a bowl on top of boiling water. Spread chocolate on top of buttercream. Refrigerate cake until ready to be served.

Comments:

1. I use semisweet chocolate for the glaze. Preheat the knife with hot water to prevent the chocolate glaze from cracking!