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If you love poppy seed then you will absolutely love this poppy seed crumble cake! A crumbly shortcrust base, a creamy quark and poppy seed filling, finished with a crumble and flaked almond top – what’s not to love? It is basically a cheesecake in traybake form! This cake requires a little more effort (and baking bowls!) but is worth the time and will impress your friends and family!
What do you need to make this Poppy Seed Crumble Cake?
This Poppy Seed Crumble Cake is based on a recipe I found on a German website called “Das Knusperstübchen”, but I have adapted it to make it into a more UK-friendly, traybake recipe. I use a traybake tin from the Mary Berry collection at Lakeland, which is the perfect size for making traybakes to take to parties, into work or for bake sales!
To make the poppy seed crumble cake, you will need a spice of coffee grinder (I can recommend this one) if you want to grind the poppy seeds, as I haven’t found a ground version in the UK (if you do, let me know!). You can also use them unground, but the texture will be nicer if ground. The other main German ingredient in this recipe is quark, a dairy product somewhere in between sour cream and soft cheese – it’s very hard to describe! But you can find it in UK shops now, such as Lidl, Tesco, Morrisons, or ASDA, and it’s not only great for baking, but also tastes nice on bread with smoked salmon, or piled onto baked potatoes.
More German Baking Recipes
Having grown up in Germany, I have had a lot of exposure to German baking and have very much enjoyed baking things traditional to the country. There are loads more recipes for other German Baking Classics on my blog, so make sure to check out some of my favourites listed below:
- Black Forest Gateau | “Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte”
- Laugenbrezeln | German Pretzels
- Baked Chocolate Cheesecake | “Russischer Zupfkuchen”
- Seeded and Carrot Loaf | “Muntermacher”
- Strawberry Flan Cake | “Erdbeerboden”
- Marbled Traybake with Cherries and Chocolate | “Donauwellen”
- Beesting Cake | “Bienenstich”
- Enriched Dough Plait filled with Chocolate and Nuts | “Nusszopf”
- German Baked Cheesecake | “Käsekuchen”
- Bauernbrot | Classic German Bread Baking
- “Haselnussbrot” – Hazelnut Shortbread Biscuits dipped in Chocolate
- Chocolate-Orange Crescent Biscuits | Schoko-Orangen Kipferl
- Plum Crumble Cake | Zwetschenkuchen mit Streuseln
- Kirschlikuchen | Cherry and Chocolate Cake
- Neujahrsbrezel | Enriched Dough Plait for New Year’s Day
- Laugenzöpfe | German Breakfast Rolls
- Chocolate and Hazelnut Bundt Cake | Nusskuchen mit Nussglasur
Poppy Seed Crumble Cake
Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE DOUGH AND CRUMBLE
- 480g plain flour
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 200g butter
- 180g caster sugar
- 5-6 tbsp milk
FOR THE POPPY SEED FILLING
- 1kg quark
- 200g caster sugar
- 200mL double cream
- 4 large eggs
- 5 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or seeds from 1 vanilla pod)
- 150g ground poppy seeds
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
TO FINISH
- 100g flaked almonds
YOU WILL ALSO NEED
- 30x22cm traybake tin (I use this one)
- Coffee or spice grinder (I can recommend this one)
Method
- Start by lightly greasing and lining a 30×22 traybake tin with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 180°C or 160°C fan.
- To make the dough, add the flour, baking powder, butter, and sugar into a mixing bowl and use your fingertips to rub together until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add some of the milk, a little at a time, until the dough comes together (don’t make it too wet).
- Reserve 1/3 of the dough for the crumble topping, then tip the remaining dough into the prepared baking tin. Use your hands or the back of a metal spoon to push the dough into the baking tin in an even layer. Set aside until needed.
- For the filling, finely grind the poppy seeds in a coffee or spice grinder (if you do not have a grinder, you can omit this step, but the cake will have a rougher texture). Add the quark to a big mixing bowl and whisk for one minute until smooth. Mix in one egg at a time, whisking well between each addition, before adding the double cream and whisking until thickened.
- Gently fold in the 200g sugar, flour and vanilla until well combined, then divide the mixture between two bowls. Add the ground poppy seeds and 2 additional tablespoons of caster sugar to one of the bowls and mix until combined.
- Alternatingly dot the two mixtures over the prepared base to create a slightly marbled effect. Mix the flaked almonds with the reserved 1/3 of the dough and crumble over the top of the filling to finish.
- Bake the poppy seed crumble cake in the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes until the filling has set and no longer wobbles. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before carefully removing from the tin and slicing into 18 pieces to serve.
