Wildflower Poppyseed Cake
The civility of gardens has always bemused me. Perfect little mounds of perfect little flowers, shrubberies trimmed into neat little circles. Transitioning from country life to city life I would notice all of these little details, as I was used to open meadows and wildness and the purposeful disorganization of nature. To me, flowers were best experienced scattered through a meadow, or in bright yellow patches on the side of a hill. They grew where they landed and dotted the world with brushstrokes of color that belonged to the earth itself.
I still have a penchant for the wilder yards in my neighborhood. The ones that look like they are somewhere between the manicured perfection of upper class streets and the wild proliferation beyond the touch of man. It is there that I find my delight in discovery, there that I get a little glimmer of home.
If I were a flower, I’d be a wild one. Barefoot and scrappy, clinging to rocks to climb or stream banks to jump from. The way I live is structured, but in a way that leaves room for those spontaneous full moon dance parties and trips to places I love, when I’m able to.
I’ve always loved real flowers over buttercream roses, real flavors over the ones from a bottle, real colors without the need for artificial dyes. Nature has already provided us with such beauty, such flavor, such glorious colors, why do we so instinctively reach for the jars of fake frosting and artificial red velvet cake mixes?
Sometimes, a ring of pressed wildflowers is all the adornment a cake needs to show its wild elegance. Especially when that cake is filled with the flavors of pineapple weed (a wild relative of chamomile) and plenty of poppyseeds. Goji berries give the icing a natural orange tint and a hint of sourness to counteract the sweetness. You can’t find that in any old bakery.
This is a cake for the barefoot dancers, the wild ones that aren’t quite tethered to the specific conduct of high society. Kick off your boots and meet me under the moon. I’ll bring this cake and we’ll eat it as we dance. No need for plates, or forks, or clothes…
Come my wild sisters. Let us be what we are meant to be tonight.
Pineapple weed doesn’t have chamomile’s delicate white petals, but it does have the most bewitching scent of sweet pineapple and herbs. The flowers are domes of light green or yellow and the foliage is delicate. While chamomile is known to be relaxing, pineapple weed’s main attribute is its incredible flavor.
The poppyseeds in this cake are my homage to my ancestors. In Eastern Europe, poppyseeds are made into a thick black paste that’s used to fill pastries destined for special occasions. Ever since I tasted that paste, I’ve had a much deeper connection to poppies and their ephemeral beauty. Big, dramatic blooms hold the most beautiful patterns inside, that eventually turn into poppy seed pods, as beautiful a form as the fresh poppies themselves. I imagine my foremothers shaking out each seedpod into a bowl to collect enough for their special treats. The taste of poppyseeds immediately makes me feel at home, at least in an ancestral way. They remind me of all of the wild women - much more wildflowers than wallflowers - that carried on our line to put me on this earth. The more I learn about my family history, the more I see strong, independent, creative women who don’t settle simply into the lives laid out for them. I see brilliant, strong minded women going after what they believed and expressing themselves in ways unbecoming to a “proper society woman”. I’m proud of that heritage, and proud to be yet another barefoot rebel, building my own path through these mysterious woods. I left the main trail long ago and not once have I looked back.
Goji Berry Frosting
Ingredients:
½ c. goji berries
½ c. water
1 c. room temperature butter or shortening
3-4 c. powdered sugar
¼ tsp. Fine sea salt
1 tsp. Almond extract
Directions:
Heat the water to boiling and mix it with the goji berries. Let sit for 20 minutes. Blend well in a food processor and press through a sieve to remove any seeds.
Beat the palm shortening with 1 c. of powdered sugar and the salt. Add the goji berry puree and mix again. Add the final powdered sugar to reach a spread-able consistency. If the texture is a bit lumpy, add more powdered sugar and then use lemon juice or water to thin the frosting back out to a spread-able texture.
Wild Chamomile and Poppyseed Cake
Ingredients:
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
¼ c. neutral oil
1 ½ c. granulated sugar
3 eggs at room temperature
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. almond flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp. Baking soda
¼ tsp. Salt
¾ c. yogurt, room temp
2 Tbs. lemon zest
¼ c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 Tbs. poppy seeds
3 Tbs. finely chopped fresh pineapple weed (wild chamomile)
½ c. apricot jam, for filling
Edible pressed flowers, for decorating
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare 3 (4”) cake pans with parchment bottoms, then grease and flour.
Place the butter, oil, sugar, and eggs into the bowl of an electric mixer and mix until light and fluffy.
Meanwhile, whisk together the flour,, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix the yogurt with the lemon zest and lemon juice.
Add ⅓ of the dry mixture to the mixing bowl and stir until combined. Add half of the lemon yogurt mixture and mix to blend. Keep alternating mixtures, beating just to combine between additions. Add the poppyseeds and pineapple weed and mix until they are evenly dispersed. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done (test by inserting a toothpick in the middle. When it comes out clean, the cakes are done.)
Remove the cakes from the oven and brush them with warm apricot jam. Allow to cool, then layer them by piping a layer of buttercream between them.
Once the cakes are stacked, stick them in the freezer to set up before you do a crumb coat. Let that set up too. Frost the cake in its final coat of frosting, then decorate with pressed wildflowers.
Like wildflowers;
You must allow
Yourself to grow
In all the places
People thought
You never would.
-E.V.
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Join me for a little winter night magic as we bake this cake full of rich seasonal flavors and black cocoa!