POPPY SEED SQUARES

Use a 25-cm. x 30-cm pan.

Makes 24 squares. Poppy filling:

200 gr. (1 cup) white sugar

200 ml. (1 cup) 3% milk

55 gr. butter

½ tsp. lemon zest

Pinch of cinnamon

200 gr. (2 cups) ground poppy seeds 80 gr. (1 cup) ground walnuts

Dough and crumble:

100 gr. (½ cup) sugar

150 gr. butter

Pinch of salt

1 egg

250 gr. (1½ cups) white flour, sifted

To prepare the poppy filling, add the sugar, milk, butter, lemon zest and cinnamon to a pot and heat over a medium flame. Bring to a boil while mixing every once in a while.

Once the mixture boils, turn off the burner, add the poppy seeds and mix. Turn the flame back on low, and then after a minute, turn it off again.

Add the walnuts and stir. Let cool.

To the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook, add the butter, sugar and salt. Mix well. Add the egg and mix well. Add the flour and mix until crumbly. Keep mixing until dough forms a ball.

Take a quarter of the dough and wrap it in plastic wrap. Roll out the other three-quarters on a work surface and then cover it with plastic wrap, too. Put them both in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.

Roll out the ¾-flat piece of dough so that it’s the size and shape of the pan and about 1 cm. thick. Place it in your pan.

Spread the poppy filling on the flattened dough. Use a vegetable grater with large holes to grate the remaining dough on top of the poppy filling. Bake for 40 minutes in an oven that has been preheated to 180° until cake has turned golden brown. After it has cooled down, cut into squares.

Level of difficulty: Medium. Time: 90 minutes. Status: Dairy.