Judy Rosenberg of Rosie's Bakery

The name is complicated, but the cake is a straightforward butter cake embroidered with chocolate and poppy seeds, a surprisingly complementary combination. This is a great dessert for the meal following the Yom Kippur fast, or with a cup of tea or coffee any time.

Food Editor's Notes: This cake is perfect if you love chocolate, but don't want something too rich or gooey. It has the look and texture of a coffee cake, but a totally different taste - chocolaty, but with the slightly nutty and crunchy contribution of the poppy seeds (which are indistinguishable from the grated chocolate in the final product, so even non-poppy seed lovers may be won over).

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup plus 4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, coarsely chopped by hand
1 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, grated
1/4 cup poppy seeds
Confectioner's sugar for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch bundt pan with butter or vegetable oil.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a small bowl.
Beat the butter, 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the vanilla, and cinnamon in a medium-size mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until blended, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer once or twice to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Add the egg yolks to the butter mixture and beat on medium speed until blended, about 10 seconds. Scrape the bowl once during the mixing and again at the end. The batter will not be smooth at this point.
Fold in one-third of the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula. Then fold in half the buttermilk, another third of the dry ingredients, the remaining buttermilk, and the remaining dry ingredients. Do not fully blend in the ingredients after each addition until the end.
Beat the egg whites in another medium-size mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until frothy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and continue beating until the whites form soft peaks. Stir one-third of the whites into the batter to loosen it, then fold in the rest of the whites with a rubber spatula. Fold in the chocolate chips, grated chocolate, and poppy seeds.
Scoop the batter into the pan and distribute it evenly. Bake the cake on the center oven rack until it is golden and a tester inserted in the center comes out dry, about 1 hour.
Let the cake cool completely in the pan. Sift confectioner's sugar over the top before serving.
Makes 12 to 16 servings.

Judy Rosenberg opened the first Rosie’s Bakery in Cambridge, and now has additional stores in Chestnut Hill and Boston’s South Station. Rosie’s Bakery has won so many Boston Magazine Best of Boston citations that it is now enshrined in their Hall of Fame. Judy is also the author of Rosie’s Bakery All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed, No-Holds-Barred Baking Book, winner of an IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award, and Rosie’s Bakery Chocolate-Packed, Jam-Filled, Butter-Rich, No-Holds-Barred Cookie Book.

Poppy Seed Chocolate Chip Cake
ShalomBoston.com