Poppy Seed cake with Dulce de Leche Buttercream
The Poppy Seed Cake with Dulce de Leche Buttercream combines all the things I love in a cake, poppy seeds, walnuts, dulce de leche and chocolate. The cake is very simple and easy to make that even a novice baker will succeed!
When I just got married, this Poppy Seed Cake was the first cake that became an instant favorite in our family and any time I would make any cake, my dad would always ask if it’s this Poppy Seed Cake. In fact the pictures in this post are from the first time I have made it (in 2009 :O)
Poppy Seed Cake Ingredients
What makes this cake so amazing is that it uses common pantry ingredients. Aside from the poppy seed and walnuts, you probably have everything else in the fridge.
The layers of the poppy seed cake are also very versatile and you can create a new flavor just by substituting the poppy seeds with one of these other Some of the ones I’ve tried were – hazelnuts, dried cranberries, tart cherries, chocolate chips (white or dark) or even dried blueberries!
In fact, the Black Prince cake I posted a couple of years ago is a variation of this Poppy Seed Cake and so is this Royal Russian Cake.
Do you like Dulce De Leche?
Check out these Recipes using the Dulce de Leche Buttercream:
- Markiza Cake – flaky cake layers, topped with meringue, walnuts and the buttercream
- Honeycomb Cake – Puff Pastry tubes filled with tart cherries and layered with Dulce de Leche Buttercream
Poppy Seed cake with Dulce de Leche Buttercream
The Poppy Seed Cake with Dulce de Leche Buttercream combines all the things I love in a cake, poppy seeds, walnuts, dulce de leche and chocolate.
Ingredients
Poppy Seed Cake
- 1 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup dried poppy seeds
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 4 tsp baking powder
Dulce de Leche Buttercream
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature (345 gr)
- 1 1/2 cans dulce de leche (1 can = 14 oz)
Chocolate Ganache
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup semi-sweet dark chocolate chips
Also:
- Chocolate Bar
- Vegetable peeler
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 F, with the rack in the middle. Line two 8 inch round baking pans with parchment paper, set aside.
Make the Poppy Seed Sour Cream Cake
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Whisk together 3 eggs and 1½ cups sugar until combined. Add 1½ cups sour cream, 4 tsp baking powder and whisk again. Lastly add 1½ cups flour, 1 cup poppy seeds and or/ 3/4 cup walnuts, and whisk until no flour lumps appear.
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Divide batter between prepared baking pans and bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
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Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Then flip upside down onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
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With a serrated knife split each cake into two even layers horizontally.
Make the Dulce de Leche Buttercream
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Whip 3 sticks room temperature butter for about 5 minutes or until light, fluffy and white in color, scraping the bottom of the bowl several times. Add 1½ can dulce de leche in thirds, minimally whipping after each addition.
Make the ganache
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Heat 1/3 cup heavy cream until almost boiling. Pour over 1/3 cup chocolate chips. Allow sitting for 2-3 minutes. Stir until smooth. Allow cooling until room temperature before using (this will thicken it and allow for an even pour).
Assemble the Poppy Seed Cake
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Reserve 1 cup of frosting for covering the outside of the cake.
Now, put a dab of frosting onto a serving plate and press one layer of the cake to adhere. Add 1/4 of frosting on top and spread into an even layer. Repeat with the rest of the layers and cover the whole cake with the reserved frosting. -
Pour the ganache on top of the cake, spreading it over the top surface and moving some of it towards the edges for a beautiful drizzle down the sides.
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Run a vegetable peeler down the rib of the chocolate bar right over the cake, covering the top in chocolate curls. If the curls break up too much, heat the bar in the microwave in 2-3 seconds increments until you're able to run the vegetable peeler and the curls no longer break. Do not heat the bar too long, or it will liquify rendering it useless.
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Can I use canned poppy seeds pie filling?
Hi Marina … I like your recipe and I want to bake it for my family but the problem we don’t eat eggs .. so is there any replacement for eggs?
Hi Nisha, Sorry, I do not know what you can replace the eggs with.
I heard chia seeds can be used as an egg replacement. I would recommend researching that but not sure how it will alter the taste of this delicious cake.
Can I bake this in 3 6inch cake pans? If so for how long? And same temperature?
Hi NK,
Yes, you can, but I can’t tell you the time since I haven’t done it myself. The temperature will be the same, the timing will be different. Just make sure not to fill it more than half way.
Hi Marina, can I add cream cheese to the frosting?
Hi Marina, can I also add cream cheese to the frosting?
Hi! This recipe looks great and I’m planning on making it tomorrow 🙂 question – did you grind the poppy seeds, or just use whole dry ones? Thanks!
Hi Sonya,
I used regular dried poppy seeds, not ground.
Can you use honey instead of poppy seeds? If so, how much honey would you recommend using?
Hi Rachel,
are you trying to just not use poppy seeds or do you want to include the honey somewhere in the cake? If you don’t want to use the poppy seeds, you don’t have to use them at all. You can use dried cranberries, or chopped walnuts or hazelnuts in place of poppy seeds, but I would not use honey. It would change the texture of the cake and I am not sure it will come out right.
Looks so yummy! I want to try baking this cake for Easter. Is it possible to split the cake into 3 pans instead of 2? If so, how long should I bake each for? And at the same temperature?
Hi Rachel,
Yes, you can easily bake it in 3 pans. I would reduce the baking time by may be 5-8 minutes, but that is just my guess since I haven’t done this. When I guesstimate the baking time, I start checking when I can smell the cake baking in my kitchen, and when the middle of the cake is puffed up. At this point, I insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean then the cake is baked through.
Hi Marina, my son is allergic to nuts, what can i use instead of poppy seeds and nuts? Thank you.
Hi Holy,
You can use chopped raisins, dry cranberries, or even tiny chocolate chips (not the regularly sized) in place of poppy seeds.
I sooo gotta try this recipe. I could eat dolce delache cake everyday. Do you make any video tutorials? Im a visual learner and find those helpful.
What size of pan/baking sheet do we use??
9 inch round 🙂
So excited to try this cake out for Easter this year!
Thank you! 🙂
Hi! I’m making the cake in advance and I’m just wondering how long do the cakes keep unfrosted? Also, do I need to refridgerate or freeze them? I’m making them tonight (Wednesday) and I’m planning on frosting them on Friday and eating on Saturday… Do you think the cake will turn out?
Hi Nadia,
You can freeze the cake, keeping it well wrapped to keep it’s freshness, then on the day of the assembly defrost and frost with the frosting (man that’s a lot of “frost” in a sentence lol). It will be wonderful for Saturday, just keep it covered until ready to serve so it doesn’t take on smells from other things in the fridge.
This cake looks so good my husband loves вареная згущенка! I was wondering if I can just put like 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup of poppy seeds cuz I don’t like them a lot!
Thanks 🙂
Hi Milana,
yes you can reduce the poppy seed amount in the cake for sure, you can even replace it with chopped walnuts or raisins, or chocolate chips (the mini ones), or even omit it altogether with great results. This cake is very versatile.
Marina, is there a certain way you made your cake batter? My korzhi turned out so flat. Or are they suppose to be kind of thin? This is not a biskvit type right?
I did use a 10″ pans, but I did increase everything by a quarter, so maybe my technique was off. Help.
This is not a biskvit kind of cake. It is more sense and not as fluffy, but it should have risen in the oven. Did it rise? Or did it stay the same? If it stayed the same then you might have forgotten to put the leveners.
Another thing – this cake needs to be baked as soon as it’s mixed. So you need to have 2 baking pans ready as soon as you end mixing the batter. If you baked your first layer and only then baked your second one, the second one might not be as fluffy as the first one.
Marina, this cake is so unique, I love it! 🙂
Thanks Roxana!
Hello, Can I use the round 10″ or 8″ springform to bake the cake?
Hi Elena,
I would use the 8″. The cake will be a bit taller than the pictured one since you’re using a smaller spring form.
If you decide to use the 10 inch, I would increase the amount of ingredients by 1/4. So if it calls for 1.5 cups flour, I would increase it to 2 cups and so on.