I was exhausted on Tuesday, with a lot on my plate, so I told myself that I’d better leave another favourite ingredient for today. I hope you’ve had an excellent day from a culinary perspective!

Today: poppy seeds

What terrifies me the most when working with poppy seeds? That nobody would be there to help grind the poppy seeds (I’ve inherited a device from my grandmothers). J

Where do I get poppy seeds from? Romanian poppy seeds are my favourite – flavourful, crunchy, and tasty. It would be nice to try poppy seeds from Afghanistan or Iran, where poppies abound. In Iranian culture, however, cooking with this ingredient is forbidden.

Why do I love them? Poppy seed desserts taste differently from classical desserts. It is this bittersweet flavour that’s driving me crazy! The poppy seed oil is delicious, too!  

Baking pan: 34 x 24 cm

220g poppy seeds

150g sugar

2 eggs

220g flour

½ sachet of baking powder

a drop of vanilla extract

juice from half a lemon

100ml milk

120g butter (melted)

We have always used poppy seeds in our family. Marcel doesn’t understand it, so this year, for Christmas, I didn’t bake a poppy seed cozonac.

...but I did bake a poppy seed cake using a very old family recipe (I couldn’t let my love for poppy go).

Baking it is very easy!

At first, Marcel helped me grind the poppy seeds. J Here are the next steps—

Mix the sugar with the egg yolks; add the flour, baking powder, vanilla extract, juice from half a lemon, milk, melted butter, and poppy seeds.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and slowly mix the foam into the initial batter.

Pour the mix into the baking pan lined with baking parchment and bake for 23-25 minutes in the preheated oven, at 180°C.

When the cake cools, cut it into square slices. Mine were fluffy, flavourful, and... oozing of childhood.

Hope you enjoy them, too! Merry Christmas! ♥

Here is another cozonac recipe. The recipe of the dough is the same as in the case of the plain and walnut cozonac – and you can find it here. The only difference is the filling.

For 1 poppy seed cozonac you will need:

175g poppy seeds (ground)

70ml milk

40g sugar

Mix all the ingredients in a pan, on medium heat, and then spread half of the filling on each of the sheets. Work carefully and fast, the dough will become soggier.

The poppy seed cozonac is my favourite right after the plain one; it's the perfect reminder of the Easters I used to spend with my grandparents in Bod, year after year.

Happy Easter to all of you celebrating! ♥