Anne Applebaum and Danielle Crittenden

Anne Applebaum and Danielle Crittenden · From A Polish Country House Kitchen

Poppy-seed cakes are ubiquitous in Poland, and are a traditional part of both Polish and Jewish (and indeed Central European) cooking. The most famous Polish poppyseed cake is the makowiec, which is eaten with special gusto at Christmas. The most famous Jewish poppy-seed cake is probably the traditional hamantaschen, the triangular pastry that is eaten at Purim. Since the former is tricky to cook at home, and the latter often come out hard and dry, we’ve decided, instead, to include a recipe for poppy-seed torte, which is perfectly straightforward and equally delicious. This recipe calls for soaking the poppy seeds in advance. While it is tempting to skip this stage—and possibly hard to find a strainer fine enough for them—it’s worth doing if you can, because it makes the seeds softer, so they provide less of a contrast with the cake. (The easiest way to strain the poppy seeds is to use a regular strainer lined with cheesecloth.) We’ve also noted that in Poland, poppy seeds are ground