Poppy Seed Cake with Pears

Ingredients

• 400 ml red grape juice
• 400 ml apple juice
• 1 organic orange (zest)
• 1 star anise
• 0.5 cinnamon stick
• 800 g pears (6 small pears)
• 1.1 l milk (1.5% fat)
• 70 g honey
• 200 g butter
• 120 g spelt semolina
• 200 g ground poppy seeds
• 1 tbsp Cornstarch
• 100 g whipping cream
• 3 eggs
• 600 g spelt flour (type 630 + 2 tbsp flour for handling)
• 170 g raw cane sugar
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 120 ml rapeseed oil
• 200 g Low-fat quark
• 0.5 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

1. 1.

   Boil grape and apple juice with orange zest, star anise, and cinnamon stick. Peel, halve, core the pears and add the halves to the liquid. Simmer for 2–3 minutes over medium heat, then remove from the stove and let cool in the liquid.

2. 2.

   Meanwhile, bring 1 l milk with honey and 50 g butter to a boil for the poppy seed mixture. Mix semolina with poppy seeds and stir into the milk. Boil and simmer for 3–4 minutes over medium heat. Whisk starch with cream and 2 eggs, then stir into the poppy‑semolina‑milk mixture. Let it rise once, remove from the stove, and cool while stirring occasionally.

3. 3.

   For the dough, whisk 350 g flour with 70 g sugar and baking powder. Mix remaining milk with oil, quark, and remaining egg until smooth; add to the flour mixture and knead into a smooth dough. Grease a baking sheet with butter and dust with flour.

4. 4.

   Roll out the dough on a floured surface, transfer to the baking sheet, press evenly flat, and form a small edge. Spread the poppy seed cream over the base. Top with well‑drained pear slices (reserve the liquid for another use).

5. 5.

   For the streusel, rub together remaining flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter between fingers until crumbs form. Sprinkle over the cake and bake in a preheated oven at 200 °C (180 °C fan; gas: level 3) for 50 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven, let cool slightly, dust with powdered sugar, and cut into pieces.