Poppy Seed Orange Cake

Ingredients

• 1 Springform (26 cm Ø)
• 4 eggs
• 80 ml water (lukewarm)
• 80 g sugar
• 1 tsp grated orange zest
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp ginger
• 80 g flour
• 80 g poppy seeds (finely ground)
• 600 g orange pulp
• 20 ml orange liqueur
• 1 tbsp Maple Syrup
• ½ tsp grated orange zest
• 1 pinch ginger
• 150 g mascarpone
• 100 g apricot jam
• 50 g whipping cream
• 1 tbsp finely chopped pistachios
• 2 oranges

Instructions

1. 1.

   Grease the bottom of the springform.

2. 2.

   Separate eggs. Beat yolks with lukewarm water until frothy, add sugar and stir until creamy. Mix in orange zest, cinnamon, and ginger. Whisk egg whites to stiff peaks, then fold alternately with flour and poppy seeds into the yolk mixture, gently folding in each addition. Pour batter into the form and bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes, covering the surface if needed toward the end. Let the sponge cool in the form (at least 4 hours).

3. 3.

   For the filling, dice orange pulp and catch the juice. Whisk mascarpone with the juice, maple syrup, orange liqueur, cinnamon, and ginger until smooth; fold in orange cubes.

4. 4.

   Release the sponge from the form and cut horizontally into two layers. Spread apricot jam on each layer’s interior. Spread the mascarpone-orange mixture on the lower half, place the upper half atop it. Before serving, whip cream to stiff peaks and spread over the cake’s surface and edges. Reserve some cream and pipe 16 dots around the cake with a pastry bag.

5. 5.

   Peel oranges thickly with a knife, remove all white membranes, and cut along the inner membranes to create fillets. Arrange 16 orange fillets in a circle on top of the cream dots and sprinkle with pistachios.