Easter Poppy Seed Chiffon Cake

Happy Easter everyone. It is so nice to be able to get together with family and friends. Let’s make the most of it. As I write this, the ground is still covered in snow, but we know that and any unexpected time the snow will melt away and reveal the bare ground, ready and waiting to be reborn. The seasons tell the story of the death, rebirth, growth and harvest every year. Seeds that seem lifeless will be planted and spring forth into life. What a miracle it is that each seed, though it appears dead, springs to life from an invisible life source that is stored within it. As we enter the Easter holy week, it is a time to contemplate the reason that we have Easter. It is that Jesus, the very son of God, died a painful death on a cross as the ultimate sacrifice, and in three days he rose back to life, so that anyone who truly believes this miraculous event, and is not ashamed to confess that he believes in Jesus, will go to heaven. We celebrate that our ticket to heaven has been bought and paid for, we only need to receive it by believing. By believing we become carriers of this very precious seed.

I look forward to seeing the pussy willows and then the green leaves start to bud and unfold. Newborn bunnies, baby chicks, calves, colts, and lambs are all part of spring. Our niece just had a sheep that had four baby lambs. What excitement. Easter food traditions have me thinking of ham, scalloped potatoes, potato salad, fresh salads, and desserts like cheesecake, angel food cake, poppy seed cake and chiffon cake. Deviled eggs are a great way to use up colored eggs.

Poppy Seed Chiffon Cake

1/2 cup poppy seeds, soaked in hot

water, and drained

10 egg whites at room temp for 30

minutes

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup safflower oil or canola oil

1 cup water

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups cake flour

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Put the poppy seeds in a small bowl and cover with hot water and soak for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. This is a three-bowl cake. Carefully separate the whites from 10 eggs that have sat out at room temperature for 30 minutes. In the first bowl, a large one, place the 5 egg yolks and with an electric mixer, beat the oil into the eggs a teaspoon at a time. Add the vanilla and slowly add the water to the egg yolk mixture while beating. In a separate bowl sift together the cake flour, 1 cup of sugar, the salt and baking powder. Add the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture a quarter at a time. Continue beating until well blended. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar. Continue to beat until very soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat, all the while ensuring that the egg whites are at the soft peak stage (the peak flops over). Gently stir one-third of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter, until just blended. Gently fold the remaining egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter, add the poppy seeds. Pour into a tube pan and bake for 60-70 minutes. Invert the pan while cooling and allow cooling completely before removing from the pan. Frost with a slightly thinned vanilla buttercream icing. It would be pretty to garnish the cake with fresh wild rose petals, which by the way are edible.