Mohnkuchen (German Poppy Seed Cake)

Known in Germany as Mohnkuchen, this traditional German poppy seed cake is made with a short crust base, a creamy poppyseed filling, and topped with buttery streusel. This cake has quickly become one of my new favorites to have with an afternoon cup of coffee.

Poppyseed filling from scratch or from a packet?

If you live in Germany or are lucky enough to find it at a German grocery store, you will have access to poppyseed filling from a packet or can and it’s great. However, if you’re like me and don’t have easy access to it, we make it from scratch but don’t worry it’s easy, only uses a few ingredients and comes together in no time.

Where should I buy poppyseeds?

I recommend buying poppyseeds in bulk, if you buy them in spice jars they can be quite expensive. I like to find mine at health stores in the bulk section or from a bulk store.

Do poppyseeds need to be ground before baking with them?

In order to really taste poppyseeds, they usually need to be ground up or cooked to help release the flavor. In this case the recipe cooks the poppyseeds in the filling and therefore I find that they don’t need to be ground up for but you always can if you prefer.

What if I don’t have a 7″ springform pan?

If you don’t have a 7″ pan, I recommend sizing up to an 8″ pan and checking the mohnkuchen 10 minutes early for doneness. If you scale down to a 6″ pan, the crust will go up the sides of the pan but it will still work.

Additional Recipes to try:

• Mohnstrudel – German Poppyseed Strudel
• Germknödel – Austrian Sweet Dumplings
• Baked Lemon Cheesecake

Tips for making Mohnkuchen

• Don’t over mix the crust. Because you are going to press it into the springform pan, it does not need to hold together as a solid piece of dough – it just needs to be fully mixed.
• Don’t walk away from the poppyseed filling as it is cooking, it will thicken quickly and you don’t want the milk or poppyseeds to burn on the pot.
• If you’re in a hurry the mohn filling doesn’t need to be fully chilled but it shouldn’t be hot anymore.
• Allow the poppy seed cake to come to room temperature before putting it in the fridge to set fully.

Ingredients

• Butter: room temperature butter is used in the crust of the mohnkuchen and in the streusel.
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla adds flavor and enhances the sweetness of both the crust and the streusel.
• Egg: This recipe uses one standard large egg from the grocery store in the filling.
• AP Flour: All purpose flour is what most people consider to be “normal” flour it can be bleached or unbleached.
• Granulated Sugar: Granulated sugar is white standard sugar and adds sweetness to the crust, the filling, and the streusel.
• Quark: a type of German cheese, quark is a common addition to baked goods in Germany. If you can’t find any you can make your own quark. I haven’t tested it but I believe you could substitute it with mascarpone, sour cream, or ricotta.
• Milk: Any milk will work to cook the poppyseed filling.
• Poppyseeds: Poppyseeds make up the majority of the filling so you will need quite a bit. I recommend buying them in the bulk section.
• Semolina Flour: Semolina or Cream of wheat will work for this, it is used to thicken the poppyseed filling and retain the moisture in the filling.
• Lemon Zest: Lemon zest is added into the poppyseed filling to enhance the poppyseed flavor.

How to make Lemon Cheesecake

Poppyseed Filling

• Preheat the oven to 350º F and place a rack in the center of the oven.
• In a sauce pot, whisk together the milk, sugar, and poppyseeds. Place over medium heat and cook, whisking regularly until thickened and bubbling.
• Once it starts to bubble, sprinkle in the semolina while whisking. Continue to cook until thick, switch to a rubber spatula to stir until necessary.
• Remove from the heat and pour the poppyseed filling into a shallow dish, stir in the lemon zest.
• Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Stir in the quark, followed by the egg, and stir to combine.

Streusel

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and sugar. Then add in the butter and vanilla.
• Use a fork or your fingers to rub the butter into the dried ingredients until fully combined and no dry bits remain.

Make the crust

• Press a large square of parchment paper into a 7″ springform pan and crease the excess along the edges so that it lays flat.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the butter, sugar, and vanilla. Use the paddle attachment to beat the ingredients together on medium speed until combined.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add in the flour.
• Mix once more until no more dry ingredients are visible.

Assemble & bake

• Pour the mixed crust into the lined springform pan. Press the crust into the the base of the pan and just barely up the sides.
• Be sure that the corner where the sides and bottom meet isn’t too thick. You can do this by pressing the back of your pointer finger into the corner once the crust has been pressed into the whole pan.
• Carefully pour the filling into the pressed crust. Crumble the streusel over the top.
• Bake the mohnkuchen for 30 minutes, then rotate the pan 180º and bake for another 10-20 minutes until golden brown.
• Once baked, remove the mohnkuchen from the oven and leave to cool on a rack until it is room temperature. Then, move it to the fridge and allow it to set fully before removing the springform pan.
• Leave to set in the fridge for at least 4 hours or up to overnight. Top with a dusting of powdered sugar before serving.

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