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Put this poppy seed cake at the top of your to-do list. It’s a winner! The hint of rum, salted pistachios over chocolate ganache, the (not overly sweet) fluffy frosting and super soft and moist cake layers make this an amazing cake.
This was my sister Anna’s Birthday cake. I sneakily figured out that my poppy seed cake roll was her favorite. I then decided to turn that very popular recipe into a delicious beauty of a cake. Everyone at her party gave rave reviews.
The base of this cake is a European sponge cake called Biskvit, which is the best because it holds moisture really well and you can bake and freeze the cake layers months in advance. Biskvit can be used for just about any cake you can dream up. I tweaked my usual recipe a teensy bit and ended up with some seriously fluffy cake layers. As usual, I included step-by-step photos so you can easily master this recipe, like a BOSS.
Ingredients for Biskvit Poppy Seed Cake:
6 eggs + 2 egg whites, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup cake flour (make cake flour with 2 ingredients!)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup dry poppy seeds
*Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure correctly
For the Rum Cake Syrup:
1 cup very warm water
4 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/3 cup golden rum (I use Bacardi) or 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (if you must)
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cold heavy whipping cream
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened at room temp
3/4 cup granulated sugar
To Decorate the Poppy Seed Cake:
1/2 recipe chocolate ganache (click for recipe)
1/2 cup shelled pistachios, chopped
6 oz fresh blackberries
How to Make The Poppy Seed Sponge Cake:
Watch the video before you get started:
Prep: Preheat Oven to 350˚F and line bottoms of two (9-inch) cake pans with parchment paper (do not grease pans).
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer (this is the one I have), beat 6 large eggs plus 2 whites with whisk attachment 1 min on high speed until foamy. With mixer on, gradually add 1 cup sugar and continue beating on high speed 8-10 min until thick and fluffy.
2. Whisk baking powder into flour then sift flour in two additions into batter, folding gently with a spatula between each addition, scraping the bottom of the bowl to ensure you don’t have hidden pockets of flour. Fold in 1/4 cup poppy seeds until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Do not over-mix or you may deflate the batter.
3. Divide batter evenly between 2 prepared cake pans (perfectionists: feel free to weigh the cake pans). Bake at 350˚F for 23-28 min (mine took 25 min), or until top is golden and springs back when poked slightly. Once out of the oven, remove from pan by sliding a thin spatula around the edges then transfer to a wire rack, peel back parchment paper and cool to room temp. Slice cake layers in half (I use this bread knife).
How to Make Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
1. Beat cold heavy whipping cream on high speed with whisk attachment for 1.5 to 2 min until stiff and spreadable then transfer to a separate dish.
2. In the same mixing bowl (no need to wash it), beat together 2 pkgs cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar on medium speed until smooth, scraping down the bowl a couple times, then increase to high speed and beat 2 min until fluffy. Using a spatula, fold in whipped cream.
Make your ganache now since it needs about 15 minutes to cool and become a pourable consistency.
Assembling the Poppy Seed Cake:
1. Combine syrup ingredients and stir until sugar dissolves. Place the first base layer onto a cake platter. Brush 1/4 of the syrup onto the cake then spread with frosting. Repeat with remaining layers. Wipe cake plate clean then Frost the sides and top with just enough to smooth out the cake.
2. Transfer 3/4 cup frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star Wilton 1M tip (These are are the 3 tips I pretty much only use).
3. Put remaining frosting on sides to get a solid white edge. Keep frosting on top to a minimum since you’ll be covering it with ganache anyways. Refrigerate cake. Once ganache is a pourable consistency, pour it over the top of the cake allowing excess ganache to pour off the sides then refrigerate 10 min to set. Pipe frosting around the borders of the cake, top with blackberries and chopped pistachios as shown.
Poppy Seed Cake with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
For the Poppy Seed Cake Layers:
- 6 eggs + 2 egg whites, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cup cake flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 cup dry poppy seeds
For the Rum Syrup:
- 1 cup very warm water
- 4 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup golden rum, I use Bacardi or 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (if you must)
Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups cold heavy whipping cream
- 2 packages, 8 oz each cream cheese, softened at room temp
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
To Decorate the Cake:
- 1/2 recipe chocolate ganache, found on natashaskitchen.com
- 1/2 cup shelled pistachios, chopped
- 13 fresh blackberries
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat Oven to 350˚F and line bottoms of two (9-inch) cake pans with parchment paper (do not grease pans). In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat 6 large eggs plus 2 whites with whisk attachment 1 min on high speed until foamy. With mixer on, gradually add 1 cup sugar and continue beating on high speed 8-10 min until thick and fluffy.
- Whisk baking powder into flour then sift flour in two additions into batter, folding gently with a spatula
- between each addition, scraping the bottom of the bowl to ensure you don’t have hidden pockets of flour. Fold in 1/4 cup poppy seeds until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Do not over-mix or you may deflate the batter.
- Divide batter evenly between 2 prepared cake pans. Bake at 350˚F for 23-28 min (mine took 25 min), or until top is golden and springs back when poked slightly. Once out of the oven, remove from pan by sliding a thin spatula around the edges then transfer to a wire rack, peel back parchment paper and cool to room temp. Slice cake layers in half.
How to Make Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Beat cold heavy whipping cream on high speed with whisk attachment for 1.5 to 2 min until stiff and spreadable then transfer to a separate dish.
- In the same mixing bowl (no need to wash it), beat together 2 pkgs cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar on medium speed until smooth, scraping down the bowl a couple times, then increase to high speed and beat 2 min until fluffy. Using a spatula, fold in whipped cream.
Make your ganache now since it needs 15 minutes to cool and become a pourable consistency.
Assembling the Poppy Seed Cake:
- Combine syrup ingredients and stir until sugar dissolves. Place the first base layer onto a cake platter. Brush 1/4 of the syrup onto the cake then spread with frosting. Repeat with remaining layers. Wipe cake plate clean then Frost the sides and top with just enough to smooth out the cake.
- Transfer 3/4 cup frosting to a piping bag fitted with a large star Wilton 1M tip.
- Put remaining frosting on sides to get a solid white edge. Keep frosting on top to a minimum since you'll be covering it with ganache anyways. Refrigerate cake. Once ganache is a pourable consistency, pour it over the top of the cake allowing excess ganache to pour off the sides then refrigerate 10 min to set. Pipe frosting around the borders of the cake, top with blackberries and chopped pistachios as shown.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Make this poppy seed cake for your sweetheart this weekend. Have a lovely Valentine’s Day my friends!
Hi, Natasha! Do you think “Myers’s rum” (original dark) would work ok for this cake? Or no? That’s the only one I have.
Hi Rita, I think it would work 🙂
Hi Natasha
I plan to make this cake during the week and need it for Saturday. Would it be OK if I make it on Thursday night, or would it go bad by Saturday?
Hi Anna, I think that would work fine to make it Thursday night then refrigerate until Saturday, but you might want to add fresh berries for decor the day you’re serving.
Hi Natasha-
I’m planning on making this cake for a work baking contest so I need to perfect it before bringing it in. I wanted to inquire about the mixer. I don’t have a stand mixer but only a hand mixer. Do you have any tips for hand mixers? Would I normally mix longer with a hand mixer then the times you have on the recipes? Any tips would help majorly.
Thanks so much!
Best,
Diana
Hi Diana, it depends on the recipe, but in general I do mix longer when using a hand mixer. You would probably want to beat it at least 10 minutes with the hand mixer if it is a good strong electric hand mixer.
Wonderful! Thanks so much!
Hello Natasha,
First of all, this cake is amazing! The best cake I’ve ever made or tried.
Second, my aunt asked to make this cake for a wedding (200 pieces). She also wants them to be big and squared. I found Wilton 12×18 pans and was wondering if you can help me with he recipe measuremts or any suggestions that you have on how to make it work.
If you’d like to you can email me at epetrashishen12@georgefox.edu or call/text at (503)347-8495.
Thank you so much again!:) looking forward hearing from you!:)
Hi Esther, you’ll just have to experiment. It’s hard to say when I haven’t tried it in that size before. My instinct is to say 1 1/2 of the recipe but again, without testing it that way, I can’t say for sure.
Hi Natasha, my friend made this cake and it was delicious, so I decided to give it a try.. so I just baked the cakes and they are super thin but that’s probably due to my cheap mixer. However, the cakes smell like fried eggs :/ I’m clueless why.. Is there anything I can do to minimize the smell, any tricks?
Thanks!
Hi Riat, if the eggs and sugar are not beaten sufficiently (and it sounds like a mixer problem), then the cakes won’t rise and will be eggy. The cake relies on the whipped eggs and sugar for volume – it acts as the leavening which makes the cake rise in the oven but if they are not beaten per the instructions (with a reliable stand mixer), they will end up flat. To minimize the smell, you really just need to beat the eggs and sugar longer and at high speed. That will make all the difference! 🙂
Hi Natasha,
If I wanted to bake this cake in a two 8-inch pans, would that work also?
Hi Esther, I think it would work but your batter will probably reach the very top of your cake pan.
Hey Natasha
Thank you for the recipe turned out really good. I changed it a bit. I added cacao to the flour and made it a chocolate cake and for the ganache I did
1 cup sugar
3 tbs cacao
8 tbs milk
Boil it for 15-20 min mixing it
And then add 113 gr of butter
Turned out super good
Thank you for sharing that with us! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
If I want to do half of this recipe, how many eggs and egg whites do I use?
Hi Inna, are you planning to bake in a single 9-inch pan and have a 2-layer cake? I’d cut the ingredients in half exactly, so 3 eggs and 1 white.
Wow I am so thankful for you and so proud of myself!!! I love sweets but mostly of my tryings to bake something turn out.. well… my dog appreciates it 🙂 I had a big temptation to buy a cake for my son Birthday Party in the Russian store and save my nervous system, but i gave a try to this cake, and everybody loved it!!! I love that all of the recipes I tried from your website turn out great!!! all 4 salads I made for the party were from here and cake, and cupcakes and rice with mushrooms pilaf, I am so happy to discover Your kitchen, so Finally i can save my time and easily find a recipe that actually turns out great not only for me and my pets 🙂 Thank You very MUCH!!! You’re a blessing to me! Even my hubby, who doesn’t like to try new foods was happy with your vegetable marinated salad, actually, like everybody else 🙂 Thank You very much!
Hi Ilona! Yours is seriously my favorite review 🙂 I’m so thankful for you also! Thank you for trying my recipes and making them for the people you love. I’m so happy this was a big success for you! 🙂
This is my new favorite cake! The rum gives it such a kick of flavor! Love it! Thanks for the awesome recipe!
I’m so glad you love it! Thanks Dana 🙂
Hi, I was wondering if I can make the chocolate ganache using white chocolate chips? Or does it have to be the semi sweet chocolate chips for it to come out right?
I think the proportion of white chocolate chips to cream might be slightly different. I haven’t tried it that way so I can’t say for sure. Sorry I can’t be more help with your question.
I made this cake twice and my mom can’t get enough of it! I plan to use the cake batter and icing and turn them into cupcakes. Could you give an guestimation on how many normal sized cupcakes this could make? Many thanks~
I’m so happy you both love it! To be honest, I’m not sure this would be great for cupcakes. The batter has no fat in it and I think it would stick to cupcake liners or a muffin tin pretty badly. If you do go ahead and test it, let me know how it turns out 🙂
Are the pistachios optional, or do they add a lot of flavor to the cake? Made it last night & will decorate today! It’s my dad’s birthday on Sunday and If I don’t bring dessert no one else does lol, so I started making the honey cake finished all the layers and last night at about 7:00PM I was browsing around your blog and there I was 10 minutes later making this cake as well! Can’t wait to try it!
Also I used whisky instead of rum! Since that’s what I had on hand. So I’m very nervous about that, but my friend said they taste very very similar. Keeping my fingers crossed
Oh ok, I just don’t have experience with whisky really but do let me know how it goes! 🙂
The pistachios are nice but not totally necessary. You can replace them with something else either fruit or nuts.
Hi Natasha,
If we freeze the layers, how do we thaw them? Do we just let it sit? Or pit the syrup on right away?
Let them thaw either at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Once it’s thawed, apply syrup and continue with the cake per the recipe 🙂
Another quick question: What tool did you use to spread the cream?
I used a small icing spatula: http://amzn.to/1oPburb
wowww… very nice recipe. Thanks for sharing it.
You’re so very welcome 🙂 I’m glad you like it!
Hi Natasha –
Last time I used chai seeds, not poppy seeds, and turn very good, but i made рулет not a cake, really wanna try this cake. Thanks a lot for your hard work . . .
do you mean chia seeds? I haven’t tried baking with those so I can’t say for sure hot it would affect the texture of the recipe.
Made this cake for company at my house. Everyone loved it. I usually don’t try new recipes on guests but with natashas kitchen there is no worrying that something won’t taste good. 😋😋
Thank you Diana, what a compliment 🙂 and thank you for the nice review.
That looks really good and the decorating is on point.
Thank you 😀.
Hi Natasha!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Really excited to make it however, would love to use the rum syrup but my sister and I are pregnant. Can you make suggestions on how to make the rum syrup without the alcohol (really don’t want to use lemon juice since I think the rum syrup in such cakes is awesome). Thank You!
Hi Lira, I can’t really think of anything besides a simple water/sugar syrup or water/lemon/sugar syrup if you aren’t using alcohol. You could use some kind of clear juice for a little more flavor. You could also use less of the rum so you just get a hint of it without any effect.
Hello Natasha, im planning to make this tomorrow 🙂 I have original bacardi rum, do you think its ok? or should i buy the one you suggested?
thanks
I think that will work fine. Slightly different in flavor but still good. 🙂
where can i buy Bacardi gold rum??
Unfortunately the only place to get rum or any liquor is the liquor store. They aren’t typically sold in grocery stores.
I make this cake with Bacardi rum all the time! Absolutely delicious!