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Remember the ugly/crookedy cake test that I shared on Instagram and Facebook? The cake tasted so good, I knew I had to perfect and share it. This Poppy Seed Sour Cream Cake is naturally moist and has so many layers of flavor.
The pastry cream is lightly sweetened and complements the subtle tang of the sour cream. Mmm mmm and more mmm. Top it off with the chocolate ganache and a heavenly mound of raspberries and you’ve got yourself a cake that’s gorgeous and delicious.
Recipe Tips:
Read through the recipe before you begin. Make the pastry cream first since it needs time to cool (p.s. it can be made a day in advance). Follow the order of the steps listed. Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure correctly!
Poppy Seed Sour Cream Cake Ingredients:
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups (16 oz) sour cream
2 cups all-purpose flour *measured correctly
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vinegar
1/3 cup poppy seeds
Custard Cream Ingredients:
9 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups heavy whipping cream
Ingredients for Ganache Recipe & Topping:
8 oz by weight (1/2 lb or about 1 1/3 cup of ) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup heavy whipping cream
6 oz package fresh raspberries for garnish
CLICK HERE for Chocolate Ganache tutorial
How to Make Custard Cream Filling:
1. In a medium sauce pan, bring 3 cups of heavy whipping cream just to a simmer.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together 9 egg yolks, 1 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla until very smooth. As soon as you see the cream starting to simmer, add hot cream slowly in a thin stream to the yolk/sugar mixture, continually whisking
(tip: don’t add cream too fast or eggs may curdle and if they do curdle, strain through a sieve).
Pour the custard mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium heat, whisking constantly until just barely starting to simmer and the consistency of condensed milk then remove from heat. DO NOT BOIL. Let cool to room temp and thicken before spreading onto cake layers (tip: can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated to speed up the process).
How to Make Poppyseed Sour cream Cake:
Preheat Oven to 375˚F. Butter and flour 2 non-stick 9-inch cake pans.
1. In the bowl of an stand mixer using whisk attachment on high speed, beat 5 eggs and 2 cups sugar until pale yellow and thick (5 min).
2. Stir together 2 cups flour and 1/3 cup poppy seeds then blend into egg/sugar mixture with a spatula.
3. Put 2 cups sour cream in a large measuring cup. Put 2 tsp baking soda in a ramekin and stir in 2 tsp vinegar. It will fizz up, then stir it into the sour cream. As soon as the sour cream is visibly rising (it happens fast), mix it into the cake batter with a spatula until no streaks remain. Divide batter evenly into prepared pans.
4. Bake 20-22 min at 375˚F or until tops are golden and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pans 5 min then transfer to wire rack and cool to room temp then slice cake layers in half with long serrated knife.
Assembling Poppy Seed Sour Cream Cake:
1. Place first cake layer on a cake stand, cut-side-up. Spread 1/3 of the pastry cream over the top. Repeat with remaining cake layers and cream. Keep the bottom of your second cake layer for the top of the cake (its flat surface is perfect for the ganache). Use a spatula to remove any excess custard from the sides. Refrigerate cake at least 1 hour before preparing ganache.
2. After cake has been refrigerated at least 1 hour, prepare chocolate ganache.CLICK HERE for Chocolate Ganache tutorial. Pour ganache evenly over cake in a circular motion moving outward, then use a spatula to spread evenly. Since the cake is chilled, the ganache will firm up quicker and be easily spreadable. Scrape any excess chocolate from the cake stand and wipe stand clean with a moist paper towel. Garnish with fresh raspberries then refrigerate cake 4 hours or preferably overnight for the custard to set so it would be easier to slice. Let cake sit at room temp about 30 min before serving.
Poppy Seed Sour Cream Cake with Custard Cream
Ingredients
Poppy Seed Sour Cream Cake Ingredients:
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups 16 oz sour cream
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp vinegar
- 1/3 cup poppy seeds
Custard Cream Ingredients:
- 9 large egg yolks
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream
Ganache Recipe
- & Topping:
- 8 oz by weight, 1/2 lb or about 1 1/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 6 oz package fresh raspberries for garnish
Instructions
How to Make Custard Cream Filling:
- In a medium sauce pan, bring 3 cups heavy whipping cream just to a simmer.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 9 egg yolks, 1 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla until very smooth. As soon as the cream starts to simmer, add hot cream slowly in a thin stream to the yolk/sugar mixture, continually whisking. Pour the custard mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium heat, whisking constantly until just barely starting to simmer and the consistency of condensed milk then remove from heat. DO NOT BOIL. Let cool to room temp and thicken before spreading onto cake layers (tip: can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated to speed up the process).
How to Make Poppyseed Sour cream Cake:
- Preheat Oven to 375˚F. Butter and flour 2 non-stick 9-inch cake pans.
- In the bowl of an stand mixer using whisk attachment on high speed, beat 5 eggs and 2 cups sugar until pale yellow and thick (5 min).
- Stir together 2 cups flour and 1/3 cup poppyseeds then blend into egg/sugar mixture with a spatula.
- Put 2 cups sour cream in a large measuring cup. Put 2 tsp baking soda in a ramekin and stir in 2 tsp vinegar. It will fizz up, then stir it into the sour cream. As soon as sour cream is visibly rising (it happens fast), mix it into the cake batter with a spatula until no streaks remain. Divide batter evenly into prepared pans.
- Bake 20-22 min at 375˚F or until tops are golden and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pans 5 min then transfer to wire rack and cool to room temp then slice cake layers in half with long serrated knife.
Assembling your cake:
- Place first cake layer on a cake stand, cut-side-up. Spread 1/3 of the pastry cream over the top. Repeat with remaining cake layers and cream. Keep the bottom of your second cake layer for the top of the cake (its flat surface is perfect for the ganache). Use a spatula to remove any excess custard from the sides. Refrigerate cake at least 1 hour before preparing ganache.
- After cake has been refrigerated at least 1 hour, prepare chocolate ganache.
- Click here for Ganache Recipe. Pour ganache evenly over cake in a circular motion moving outward, then use a spatula to spread evenly. Remove any excess chocolate from the cake stand with a moist paper towel. Garnish with fresh raspberries then refrigerate cake 4 hours or preferably overnight for the custard to set so it would be easier to slice. Let cake sit at room temp about 30 min before serving.
Notes
♥ FAVORITE THINGS ♥
Shown in this post: (nope, no one paid us to write this; just stuff we love):
* The Wusthof Serrated Bread knife is also great for slicing cake layers.
* OXO kitchen scale with pull out display – so handy!
* A well stocked kitchen needs measuring cups of all sizes 🙂
*Ofcourse the “workhorse”: KitchenAid Pro 6Qt
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
RUNNY CUSTARD?? NO PROBLEM
This is a really really good cake!! However, the dozen times I’ve made it my custard ALWAYS comes our very runny. I found the perfect solution. I actually now prefer it runny 😊. Once you make the custard, let it fully cool. I would recommend placing it the freezer for a few hours then WHIP IT!! Yup – it’s heavy cream based so whipping it (when it fully cooled) makes the custard fluffy and stiff. You can whip it by hand or use a standing kitchen aid – 5min. I just made it and it turned out perfect again. Highly recommend
Thank you for sharing that tip Alena!
Hi
I was wondering if i can only use 1/3 of sugar for the cream and for it still turned out ok, since we already used 2 cups sugar for the cake. That seems like a lot of sugar for one cake.
Hi Oksana, the overall cake doesn’t come out too sweet (we also don’t like our sweets overly sweet). I’m not sure how it would affect the custard forming with using only 1/34 of the sugar.
I am having trouble with the custard. Is it supposed to look a bit foam-y?
I did not boil it I cooked it on low until it got a little thick. Now I put it in the fridge checked on it and it’s a bit foamy.
Hi Eva, I’m not exactly sure what you mean by foamy since I haven’t had that happen. Did you cook “until just barely starting to simmer and the consistency of condensed milk then remove from heat”?
Hi Natasha, I love your site and your recipes- yum!! I’m just watching season 2 episode 2 of The Great British Baking Show Masterclass and Mary Berry makes a Creme Anglaise, which seems quite similar to the pastry cream you have here, and hers is meant to be slightly runny. I made this sour cream cake for a birthday a couple days ago as a ‘Boston Cream Pie’, so I left out the poppy seeds, and due to the reviews of trouble with the cream being runny, I used a pastry cream recipe different from the one you have here (Tartine book 3) that includes corn starch. I had no trouble with the firmness of the cream. This cake was a huge hit and I’m so glad I made it! (Also as an fyi, I used whole grain spelt for the flour and coconut sugar with your same measurements and it was delish!)
Thank you so much for sharing that with me!!