The last time I had this treat was when I was still young. My grandma did not write any of her recipes down, so I had no idea how to make these poppy seed slices myself. The dough for the cake part of the recipe was a particular mystery. When I finally decided to replicate this treat the other day, I realized that the cake is actually nothing more that a simple non-yeast based flat bread, soaked in a poppy seed sugar syrup. I couldn't believe how easy the poppy seed slices were to make and they tasted exactly like my grandma's!
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
Additional flour
Butter
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup poppy seeds
Directions:
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add milk slowly and mix to form a ball. Knead and flatten by hand on a floured surface to form a circle about 1/2 inch thick. Prick with a fork all over.
Pre-heat a pan, well greased with butter. Cook the flat bread for about 5-7 minutes per side on medium heat, covered, or until golden brown and cooked through. Cool completely. Cut into bite-size squares and place them in a medium or large pot.
Meanwhile, finely grind the poppy seeds in a coffee grinder, place in a bowl. In a pot combine water and sugar. Bring to boil and cook for a few minutes until sugar dissolves. Pour the hot syrup over the ground poppy seeds and mix well.
Then pour the poppy seed sugar syrup over the flat bread slices. Mix gently to coat the slices evenly with poppy seeds. Cover with the lid and let the flat bread slices soak in the poppy seed syrup for a few hours until completely cool, soft, and soaked through and then at least an hour in the refrigerator (the slices taste even better if refrigerated overnight).
