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Sheet Cakes, Cakes

Poppy Seed Semolina Streusel Sheet Cake

by Lisa

Trained pastry chef

Poppy seed and semolina sheet cake with a yeast dough base and a thick layer of streusel

4.8 (22)out of 5, 22 ratings

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Prep
10 min
Bake
50 min
Total
1 hr
Makes
14

For 1 baking sheet or a deep baking pan.

Notes:

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Using poppy seeds instead of the ready-made poppy seed filling, or replacing the semolina with poppy seeds? As far as I know there is no rule of thumb for this, so this is how I would go about it: To replace the poppy seed filling with ground poppy seeds (blue poppy seeds, ground first for fillings; in the US and the UK, poppy seeds ground in a spice grinder): soak 7 oz (200 g) ground poppy seeds in ⅓ cup (80 ml) hot milk and ¼ cup (50 g) sugar before using them. To replace the soft wheat semolina with poppy seeds: I would swap the semolina for the same amount of poppy seeds. If the mixture is still far too soft, stir in a little more poppy seeds bit by bit and keep cooking. If any of you have tried this, please leave me a helpful comment.

Ingredients

Makes 14

Yeast dough

  • 3 ¼ cups400 gall-purpose flourIn German recipes plain flour means soft wheat flour Type 405 unless stated otherwise. In the US use all-purpose flour; in the UK, plain flour.
  • ½ cubefresh yeast½ cube = 21 g. German recipes use either a 42 g cube of fresh yeast or a 7 g packet of dry yeast; one cube equals about two packets. In the US use active dry or instant yeast (one ¼ oz / 7 g envelope replaces half a cube of fresh yeast); in the UK, fast action dried yeast (7 g sachet per half cube), or fresh yeast from a supermarket bakery counter.
  • ½ cup125 gmilkwarm
  • 6 tbsp80 ggranulated sugar
  • 1large egg
  • 4 tbsp60 gunsalted butterGerman butter is unsalted and has about 82 percent fat. In the US use unsalted butter (European-style unsalted butter is closest); in the UK, unsalted butter.
  • 1 pinchsalt

Filling

  • 4 ¼ cups1 lmilk
  • 2 cups500 mlwater
  • 1 cup200 ggranulated sugar
  • 1 cup plus 1 tbsp180 gsoft wheat semolinaFine semolina from soft wheat, used for puddings and cakes. In the US use farina (cream of wheat); in the UK, semolina.
  • 5 tbsp40 gcornstarchA fine starch, usually made from corn, used to thicken creams and lighten cakes. In the US use cornstarch; in the UK, cornflour.
  • 1 packetpoppy seed fillingDr. Oetker. A ready-to-use sweet filling of ground poppy seeds. In the US use canned poppy seed filling from the baking aisle or an Eastern European shop; in the UK, poppy seed filling from a Polish or Eastern European shop.
  • ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp200 gheavy creamGerman cream for whipping has about 30 to 32 percent fat. In the US use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream; in the UK, whipping cream (double cream also works but whips faster, so watch it).
  • 3large eggs
  • 2 sticks plus 2 tbsp250 gunsalted butter

Streusel

  • 2 ⅓ cups300 gall-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup plus 2 tbsp180 ggranulated sugar
  • 1 stick plus 6 tbsp200 gunsalted butter
  • 1 pinchsalt

Method

Yeast dough

  1. Put the flour in a bowl, make a small well in the center and crumble the yeast into it. Cover the yeast with a little of the sugar and the warm milk. Let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes until the yeast is slightly foamy.

  2. Add the remaining ingredients to this starter and let your stand mixer knead everything on the lowest speed for 10 minutes.

  3. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rest in a warm place for at least one hour.

Filling

  1. Bring the milk, water, poppy seed filling and sugar to a boil in a large pot. Mix the soft wheat semolina with the cornstarch, add it to the liquid and bring everything back to a boil. Stir regularly.

  2. Whisk the eggs and cream together and add them to the hot liquid. Let it bubble for at least 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

  3. Once the mixture has thickened and come to a boil, take the pot off the heat and stir in the butter. Cover with a lid.

Streusel

  1. Work the butter, sugar, salt and flour into streusel in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Assembly

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) convection (fan).

  2. Punch down the yeast dough and roll it out to the size of your baking sheet (a German baking sheet is about 16 × 14 inches / 40 × 35 cm; a US half sheet pan, 18 × 13 inches, works too) or your baking pan.

  3. Spoon the poppy seed filling on top and spread it out evenly.

  4. Scatter the streusel over the filling and put the cake into the preheated oven right away.

  5. Bake for 40 minutes.

  6. Let it cool completely before eating. While the cake is still hot, the filling is very wobbly and soft. That changes as soon as the cake has cooled, and even more so if you eat it chilled.