This is a classic German Poppy Seed Cake (and my personal favorite), perfect for a nice sunday afternoon with family and friends. It’s fast and easy, but anything but boring! Its soft and fluffy bottom, moist and dense layer of poppyseeds and the crunchy crumbles on top… what a delight!
The recipe calls for quark, a very typical German dairy product which you will not be able to get in the States and in other countries around the world. Which is too bad! But, you can use drained yogurt or even drained Greek yogurt instead. Just make sure to drain it overnight to get as much liquid out as possible.
German Poppyseed Crumble Cake
Author: Melina Thompson
Serves: 12
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE DOUGH:
- 150g quark
- 6 tablespoons milk
- 6 tablespoons canola oil
- 75g (1/3 cup) sugar
- 300g (2,5 cups) flour
- 1 tablespoons baking powder
- hint of salt
FOR THE FILLING:
- 350ml milk
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 40g (4 heaping tbsp) wheat semolina
- ½ vanilla bean
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 200g ground poppyseed
- 2 eggs
- a hint of cinnamon
FOR THE CRUMBLES:
- 100g (3/4 cup + 1 tbsp) flour
- 50g (1/4 cup) butter (room temperature)
- 50g (1/4 cup) sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
- First of all you need to prepare the short pastry for the crumbles because it needs to sit in the fridge for about an hour. Simply combine the butter, sugar and flour in a bowl and knead it to a dough. Form a ball and put it in the fridge.
- Then it's time for the quark-dough. Whisk the quark, milk, oil, sugar and salt till it's all mixed together and turns creamy. Then, sift in the flour with the baking powder and knead to a soft dough.
- Now the poppyseed filling: Heat up the milk and the butter in a pot till the butter is melted and the milk is about to boil. Pour in the semolina, the sugar and the inside of the vanilla bean and bring to a boil. Quickly remove it from the stove and let the mixture soak for 5 minutes, in the meantime preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F.
- Now you can pour in the ground poppyseeds and cinnamon. When the poppyseed filling is cooled down a little, crack the eggs and stir them in till it's all well combined.
- All ingredients for the 3 layers are prepared, now you need to grease a 26cm / 10 inch spring form pan and spread the quark-dough on the bottom. Top it with the poppyseed mixture and crumble the short pastry evenly on top. Ready, steady, bake! For about 25-30 minutes, depending on your oven. When the crumbles turn golden, the cake should be done. Let it cool for a minute and then remove the spring form pan. The cake will need about 45 minute to completely cool down, then - if you want - you can sprinkle it with sifted powdered sugar. And... it's ready to eat!
O.M.G. This looks soooo good! I have been craving something with a poppyseed filling and this looks to do it. What is quark though?
It is soo good 😉 Quark is a typical German/Austrian dry kind of cheese or cream that you get in every German grocery store, but as far as I know you can get it in some stores in the US as well, Whole Foods might have it. If not you can substitute it with drained natural yoghurt (not the creamy one though). Just put it in a kitchen towel and drain over night – I think that might work as well.
Put a large coffee filter in a strainer that you have placed over a pan or bowl to catch the drips. . Put in 16 oz plain greek yogurt. Refrigerate overnight.
You have quark!
I did that also, thanks…worked like a charm!
Thank you! We have Whole Foods here (I’m in NJ). I will look tomorrow for it … I am craving this cake so bad and just have to have to have it.
Another English speaking person in Germany! Yay. 🙂 Your pictures are absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to see what else you post.
I really dislike poppyseeds but this cake looks really good. And definitely way better than the ones in the bakery. As for draining natural yogurt, that’s how I make Greek yogurt. So maybe storebought Greek yogurt would work as a substitute.
Cake looks great! I too have never been a big fan of poppyseed, but the cake looks so great that I may just have to try it and perhaps the poppyseed will not overpower! Thanks for sharing it!
you can also “create” quark by slowly heating buttermilk until the curd and why separate. They drain off the liquid in a paper towel lined sieve.
I need amounts not in weights. We don’t have a scale in this household. Never did.
Can you make this with premade poppy seed filling?
I am a half Bavarian girl raised in London and often miss the taste of German cakes eaten while spending summer holidays with my grandparents. This cake takes me right back to those times and I cannot wait to make it for my Bavarian mother. Fortunately, quark is readily available here and is a permanent fixture in my fridge!
I tried this recipe for my German father in law. He was delight, even though we do not understand each other, with this cake. It reminded the cake that his Oma used to make for him. I did make some adjustment to the recipe, I used Greek yogurt instead of quark. I just subscribe to Melina’s recipes. Let keep uniting the world one dish a time! and bon appetite!
What else can can i use i stead of poppyseeds?
Love your recipe !
You can use Lekvar Prune Butter instead of poppy seeds…we make it that way every Christmas and call it Prune Cake.
Enjoy!
1½ cups prune butter
3 tablespoons 10XXX sugar
¾ teaspoon lemon juice
Just made this tonight. My daughter and I love it. I couldn’t find quark so I consulted Cook”s Thesaurus and substitued a combination of 2 parts ricotta and 1 part sour cream for the quark. Also, I used 2 cans Solo Poppyseed filling instead of making the filling from scratch. 2 cans was almost a little too much poppyseed, but we love it so much it felt we will continue in this direction.
Hi, is it going to work if I substitute wheat semolina for fine semolina?
Mia I’m sure that will work!
What type of flour is it? plain or self raising? also is the sugar castor sugar?
thanks im from Australia
Hi Anna, I’m in Oz too, and my reading of the recipe leads me to think the flour is plain flour. Remember that US and UK tablespoon measures are different to ours – our tablespoon measures 20 mls, while both theirs measure 15 mls. I’m assuming this recipe uses US measurements. I’m also inspired to try it! Have been looking for poppyseed recipes for a while. Good luck with your trial! Cheers, Amanda
Oh, I also think the sugar is castor, and if not, I’d use it anyway…
My quark dough turned out a bit chewy and bread-like – not sure why. I don’t suppose anyone has any relevant advice? Thanks!
Oh, fixed it 🙂 I think I overworked the dough the first time.
I had this Poppy seed cake when I was in Lanzarote this May (2017) and it was beautiful. So glad I’ve found the recipe to have a go myself, thank you
I made this today, and it was amazing! My mom and grand mom were fantastic bakers, very “old school” European…this tastes like a cake from their kitchen. What a great site you have, and I sign up for a select few. Thanks for this, I’m anxious to try more recipes!
I’m so glad Christine, I’m happy to hear that! Love this recipe, too 😉
this is amazing. I have been looking for a solid, delicious poppy seed coffee cake for a while and I found it. So yummy, I love the poppy seed filling.
Sometimes quark is labelled as “farmer’s cheese” in the USA and in Canada it is sold as “baking cheese”, “pressed cottage cheese”, or “fromage frais”. If you cannot find it dry curd cottage cheese can be used
I just made this cake and it tastes delicious, albeit very heavy and filling. It looks exactly like the one pictured on this page, but my finished product is huge. I used an 11 inch spring form pan because 10 inch spring form pans are not commonly available in my area of the US. I’m glad I used my 11 inch vs. 9 inch spring form pan because the 11 inch is plenty high.
The only thing about my cake that I wonder about is the baked quark dough part. I baked the cake a good 10 minutes longer than the longest recommended time. That’s usually required, because my oven seems to bake a bit slow, but it is sort of not exactly cake-like. The dough is clearly baked and looks baked, but has a very slight chew about it. Is this the way it is supposed to be? Maybe because of the quark? Or did I probably do something wrong?
During university I had a German friend who was there doing an exchange year. I asked him what he missed most and he said Mohnstreusel, so I made your cake and he loved it. Four years later, I live in Germany and am making the same cake for his parents who are coming to visit us in our new apartment. The way to a man’s heart really is through his stomach!
It’s a great recipe but I have a suggestion – the dough got so nice and fluffy while I made the filling, and it was a shame to have to squash it a bit when I spread it in the pan. It might be better to pour it in the pan as soon as it’s made. Also, I would use a tad more filling since it’s so good!
I plan to make this soon and was wondering if anyone tried using olive oil instead of canola oil?
If so, how was the cake?
This is delicious. My base was still doughy in the center although I cooked it 10 mins longer until the topping was golden. How can you tell when it’s cooked? A skewer would come out gooey anyway because of the filing.
So excited to make this! I don’t have wheat semolina, can I substitute for bread flour?