Makowiec (poppy cake)

[Jaga]

Guys,

are you familiar with makowiec - a cake made of poppies?

[Jaga]

Here is a recipe for a poppy cake:
acweb.colum.edu/users/agunkel/homepage/easter/mak.html

[suzanne]

I've never had Makowiec, but I love poppy-seed filling for cakes and pastries and it's really a shame that you don't see it in the US.

Is Makowiec a typical Christmas dish?

[Jaga]

Makowiec is very popular for Christmas indeed, but in different types - my family ate bread rolls with poppies - a kind of cake done from layers of rolls and poppies

[rdywenur]

Suzanne...we see it here alot. Either in a Polish bakery or a good Jewish bakery. It's always a specialty. Since big food markets have put the little bakeries out of business it might be a little searching around but they do exist.

[suzanne]

Rdywenur,
You're right, it can be found in the US - what I should have said is that it's hard to find and not widely known. Many people look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them about poppy-seed filling! Yes, you do really have to look around to find it in places like specialty bakeries.

I remember the first time, many years ago, I had a poppy seed pastry and was amazed that poppy seeds actually had a flavor of their own; I was just used to them being a decoration on bagels and rolls.

[gardenmoma]

It is possible to find a canned prepared poppy-seed filling in the baking ingredients section of some large grocery stores...here in MA usually the Stop 'n Shop. Too small to use as filling for a poppy roll, but just enough to use for smaller pastries.

You can also buy poppy-seed in quantity from internet sources like Frontier Coop [www.frontiercoop.com/] very reasonably.

I almost hate to tell you that we have a very good local baker (and his bakery) and these poppy-seed rolls, as well as prune, apricot and cherry ones sell very well at our local bazaars ($7-8 apiece - not bad). They really taste as good as homemade. Every time I think I'll experiemtn with one of my own, I end up buying one of his