During christening, it was a common practice that a so-called “porodni BABA” (midwife) who took care of the newborn. Was given some kind of favor, and because it was most often a Bundt cake, it came to be called BABOVKA. In our case, it is specifically a poppy seed Bundt cake. Poppy, nowadays considered a superfood, has been used in the Czech cuisine for decades. So it is not a surprise that there are many food combinations which include traditional poppy seeds.

Bundt cake is not an exception. As for the English name, it originated from German, where it is called BundKuchen, formed by joining the two words Bund (federation) and Kuchen (cake). A Bundt pan generally has fluted or grooved sides. It’s most defining design element is the central tube which leaves a cylindrical hole through the center of the cake.

Bundt cake is a perfect dessert for every occasion. It is simple, elegant, delicious, and most importantly, everyone can do it. A thing which can also make the baking process more pleasant, is that there are many types and designs of Bundt pans. So it is up to you which one to choose as your favorite. As anything can be baked in the Bundt – style cake pans, there are countless variations of this traditional dessert and every generation finds its favorite one.

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Ingredients

1 cup milk
1 cup ground poppy seeds (use an electric coffee grinder for grinding the poppy seed)
1/2 cup oil
2 cups Wondra instant flour
2 eggs
4 – 5 tsp baking powder (1 packet)
4 – 5 tsp vanilla sugar (1 packet)
a pinch ground cinnamon
a pinch salt
a handful Wondra instant flour
margarine or unsalted butter

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F, grease the Bundt pan with margarine and sprinkle it evenly with the Wondra instant flour in the bottom of the pan.

Now separate the whites and yolks of the eggs. Sift the Wondra instant flour into a large bowl, mix it with baking powder, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of cinnamon. Keep slowly beating.

Pour all the milk in, add the ground poppy seeds, vanilla sugar, oil, and the egg yolks. Now use an electric or wooden spoon and whisk it until fluffy and smooth, taking care not to knock out the air you have carefully whisked in.

In the end, beat the egg whites to soft peaks and gently fold them into the main bowl.

Pour the dough into the Bundt pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the Bundt cake comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

If you want, you can glaze the cake with chocolate frosting.

This post was created by volunteers. You may help and support Czech-American TV by clicking here.