Poppy Seed Tante Cake

-CREAM CHEESE ICING-
-temperature
11 oz Cream cheese; at room
-temperature
2 Sticks butter; softened
1 Vanilla bean; split
-lengthwise
3/4 c Confectioners’ sugar; sifted

From: arielle@taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva)

Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1993 06:52:33 GMT
This is a white cake made only with egg whites, so it constrasts nicely
with the black poppy seeds. From The Best of Food & Wine Collection.

Slit the vanilla bean lengthwise and cut off the tips. In a small
saucepan, scald the milk with the vanilla bean.

In a small bowl, combine the scalded milk, vanilla bean and poppy seeds.
Let cool to room temperature. Scrape the inside of the vanilla bean into
the milk mixture and discard the pod.

Preheat the oven to 325F. Butter a 9 by 2 inch round cake pan. Sift
together the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter on high speed until light and
fluffy, two minutes. Gradually add 1 cup of the sugar and continue to beat
until very light and creamy, about 5 minutes.

Sift in one-third of the flour mixture; stir to combine. Beat in half of
the milk-poppy seed mixture. Repeat 2 more times with the remaining dry
ingredients and milk.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy. Add a
pinch of salt and continue beating until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes.
Beat in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time, increasing the
speed to high before adding the last 2 teaspoons. Beat until the meringue
is stiff and shiny, about 1 minute. Fold one-fourth of the meringue into
the cake batter. Fold in the remaining meringue.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or
until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the
pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and let cool,
right-side up, on the rack.

Using a long serrated knife, trim off the crusty top of the cake. Slice
the cake horizontally into 3 even layers; set aside the middle layer to use
as the top. Place the bottom layer on the inverted cake pan. Spread 3/4 cup
of the Cream Cheese Icing over the bottom cake layer. Repeat with the
second layer. Top the cake with the middle layer. Frost the sides of the
cake with a thin layer of icing. Refrigerate for 10 minutes, then refrost
the sides with enough Cream Cheese Icing to cover completely.

If desired, use a pastry bag fitted with a #2 star tip to pipe a decorative
border of icing around the top edge of the cake.

Cream Cheese Icing: In a medium mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese until
light and fluffy. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the
butter until well blended, about 4 minutes.

Scrape the seeds from the inside of the vanilla bean into the mixture;
discard the pod. Sift in the confectioners’ sugar and continue to beat on
low speed, scraping the bowl frequetnly, until well blended, about 2
minutes. Refrigerate until ready to use, but do not let harden.

REC.FOOD.RECIPES ARCHIVES

/CAKES