About this recipe

✨

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Why you’ll love it

Ground poppy seeds, sour cherries, sparkling water, lemon zest, and powdered sugar make these Balkan cake squares soft, dark, moist, and beautifully homemade. 🍒

Ingredients

• Cake batter 🍰
• 🌾 260 g all-purpose flour (2 cups / 9.2 oz) gluten
• 🌑 160 g ground poppy seeds (1½ cups / 5.6 oz)
• 🍬 180 g sugar (¾ cup + 2 tbsp / 6.3 oz)
• 🥄 12 g baking powder (1 tbsp / 0.4 oz)
• 🧂 1 tiny pinch fine sea salt
• 🍋 6 g lemon zest (2 tbsp / 0.2 oz)
• 💧 300 ml sparkling water (1¼ cups / 10 fl oz)
• 🫒 120 ml sunflower oil or neutral oil (½ cup / 4 fl oz)
• 🌿 5 ml vanilla extract (1 tsp / 0.17 fl oz)
• 🍋 20 ml lemon juice (1 tbsp + 1 tsp / 0.7 fl oz)
• Cherry layer 🍒
• 🍒 300 g pitted sour cherries, fresh, frozen, or jarred and well drained (2 cups / 10.6 oz)
• 🌾 12 g all-purpose flour, for coating cherries (1 tbsp / 0.4 oz) gluten
• 🍬 15 g sugar, optional if cherries are very tart (1 tbsp / 0.5 oz)
• To finish ✨
• 🍬 20 g powdered sugar (¼ cup / 0.7 oz)
• 🍒 80 g sour cherries for serving, optional (½ cup / 2.8 oz)
• ☕ Black coffee or tea, optional for serving

Preparation

• Prepare the pan 🍰 Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 22 × 22 cm square pan (9 × 9 in) with baking paper and lightly brush the sides with oil.
• Mix the dry ingredients 🌑 In a large bowl, whisk flour, ground poppy seeds, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest for 30 sec, until the poppy seeds are evenly spread through the flour.
• Add the wet ingredients 💧 Pour in sparkling water, oil, vanilla, and lemon juice. Stir gently for 45 sec, just until the batter becomes dark, speckled, and smooth. Do not overmix.
• Prepare the cherries 🍒 Pat the sour cherries dry. Toss them with 12 g flour (1 tbsp / 0.4 oz) and optional sugar. This helps keep the cherries suspended in the cake instead of sinking to the bottom.
• Fold and spread ✨ Fold the cherries into the batter with 5–6 gentle turns. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
• Bake the cake 🔥 Bake for 34 min, until the top is set, slightly cracked, and a toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Do not overbake, because the squares should stay soft.
• Cool before cutting 🛋 Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 min, then lift it out and cool for another 25 min. Cut into 12 clean squares with a sharp knife.
• Finish and serve 🍒 Dust with powdered sugar just before serving. Serve with sour cherries, black coffee, or tea.

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