Poppyseed Cake with Custard Filling by jej

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Poppyseed Cake, with Custard Filling

Submitted by: jej
Last Updated: 12/22/2005

This cake went to more "end-of-the-year" elementary school picnics on Memorial Day in the 1940s than you could shake a stick at!!

We kids loved this cake, and so did our friends. Mother whipped up at least 3 (9x13s) of them for this wonderful event every year, frosting each one with a puffy white "Seven-Minute Frosting." Then she drew lines on the top of each frosted cake with dark melted chocolate, which, in turn, had a knife drawn through -- first one way, then the opposite. This made a beautiful design on each 'sea of white.' Three empty cake pans came home from those picnics. Mother got the recipe from her friend, Myrtle. I've no idea where Myrtle found it.

1/2 cup poppyseeds
1 cup milk
1-1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup shortening (Mother favored Crisco)
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
3 egg whites

1. Soak poppyseeds overnight in the milk in glass, ceramic, or stainless steel container. (I recall that we scalded the milk first -- especially if time was short. Then the seeds might sit in the scalding milk for an hour or two, after which the cake was made.)

2. When ready to make cake, preheat the oven to 350F. and grease cake pans. If planning to remove the cake from the pan to fill and/or frost, as with the layers, cut waxed paper to fit the bottom of the pans. Grease the waxed paper. I have also made this cake in 2 8x8x2"square cake pans -- and made them into a square layer cake..

3. Cream the sugar and shortening together.

4. Add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk/poppy seeds, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

5. Beat the egg whites stiff (but not dry) and fold in last.

6. Bake in 3 layer cake pans or in large (9x13) loaf cake pan at 350F. until cake tests done. Layers will bake more quickly than the large loaf pan. Cool large loaf in the pan. Remove the layers from the pan shortly after taking from oven; cool on wire racks.

7. If frosting large loaf pan, spread with 7-Minute Icing or other white icing of choice. May shave chocolate over top, or make spiderweb effect radiating from center of cake with melted chocolate.

8. If making a layer cake, follow instructions below.

CUSTARD FILLING for 3-Layer Cake

This custard filling alone is reason enough to make this cake with layers!! It is that delicious!!

3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch (mix together with sugar before adding milk)
1 cup milk
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla

1. After mixing cornstarch with sugar, add milk and stir well. Cook until thickened.

2. Beat egg yolks well. After mixing some of cooked mixture to the yolks, add the yolks to the cooked mixture. Cook only slightly to thicken and cook the yolks. DO NOT BOIL.

3. Remove from heat; add the vanilla, and mix well. Cool.

4. Place the lower layer on cake plate upside-down. Spread the filling over the first two layers, and place the top layer on the cake.

5. Cover the assembled cake with plastic wrap to prevent drying until ready to frost.

6. Cover top and sides with white icing. In our family, this was always a 7-Minute Icing. You may have another white frosting of choice. If desired, decorate with a spiderweb effect, using melted unsweetened chocolate.

7. If making a square 2-layer cake, slightly less custard may be needed.

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