Ukrainian honey poppyseed cake

Perhaps a taste of what is special to many Ukrainians will strengthen our connection with them.

Three years ago, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, I published a recipe for Ukrainian honey cake with poppyseeds. Since then, the war has had a devastating toll on Ukraine, its infrastructure, and, of course, its people, with 12.7 million Ukrainians in need of humanitarian aid within the country, 3.6 million people displaced within the borders of Ukraine, and 6.8 asylum-seekers and refugees from Ukraine in other parts of the world, according to the latest U.N. High Commission on Refugees data.

This week, President Donald Trump brought joy to his pal Vladimir Putin, and shocked the rest of the world, when he announced Ukraine had started the war with Russia, I guess, by invading themselves (not exactly sure how one does this, but, gosh, I’m no expert in war). He went on to claim that Ukrainian President Zelensky was a “dictator without elections.”

Dmitri A. Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian security council and a former president of Russia, thought this was the jolliest news, as he wrote on X: “If you’d told me just three months ago that these were the words of the US president, I would have laughed out loud.”

My father’s family came from a shtetl in what is now Poland, on the border with Ukraine. At the time it was all Austro-Hungary. My grandfather fought in the Ukraine-Galician army during World War I. But you don’t need to have any family connection to Ukraine to feel profound sadness and anger about what is happening there and what our government has chosen to do about it.

Obviously, cake won’t fix any of it, but perhaps a taste of what is special to many Ukrainians will strengthen our connection with them. Honey poppyseed cakes are popular all over Ukraine, and I suspect there are as many recipes as there are loving grandmas.

My version is quite delicate, yet rich with a buttery honey flavor. I use orange zest to brighten up the flavor of the cake, but if you only have lemon, that will work beautifully, too. The recipe contains corn starch, which helps give the cake it’s delicate texture. That said, it’s a pathetic state of affairs when a cake has a stronger structure than our diplomatic relationship with Ukraine.

If you have a family recipe for poppy seed cake, feel free to share it in the comments below. It would be nice to create a collective of them, where people can search through to find the one that tastes like they remember.

Ukrainian Honey-Orange Poppy Seed Cake

What You’ll Need:

A 9-cup (@9-inch x 3-inch or 2 liter) Bundt pan

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (5 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons corn starch

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1/2 cup (4 ounces) granulated sugar

¼ cup (3 ounces) honey

12 tablespoons (6 ounces) butter, softened

1 teaspoon orange zest

3 large eggs, room temperature

Glaze ingredients:

¼ cup (3 ounces) honey

1/3 cup (80 ml) orange juice

What You’ll Do:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Butter the bundt pan very fastidiously. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon sugar over the buttered surface, knocking the pan to ensure the flour and sugar are evenly distributed. Tap out any excess.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, corn starch and poppy seeds.

4. With a stand or hand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, honey and orange zest until pale and fluffy, scraping the bowl a few times. I’m not kidding when I say pale and fluffy. Be patient. It will take about 2 minutes.

5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. And yes, you know what I’m about to say: Scrape down the sides of the bowl between each addition.

6. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just incorporated. (Scrape, scrape, scrape.) Raise the speed to medium and continue mixing for another 10 seconds or so until the mixture is smooth. Then one last touch: Give the entire mixture a 5-second whirl on high speed to help emulsify the mixture. The result will be a tender cake. Promise.

7. Spoon the mixture into the prepared bundt pan, trying not to let too much fall into the hole in the middle of the pan, as always happens when I do it.

8. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick poked into the cake comes out clean. If the cake browns before the middle is cooked, cover loosely with aluminum foil and lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

9. Let cool on a rack for about 10 minutes. Place a wire rack over the top, and invert the cake. Say encouraging things to the bundt pan to ensure your cake releases easily. Let cool.

10. Prepare the glaze: In a small sauce pan over low heat, simmer the honey and orange juice for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has reduced and thickened slightly. It should have the consistency of caramel.

11. Poke holes in the top of the cake with a toothpick and spoon over the glaze.

Please leave comments, recipes, memories below.

Welcome to all my new followers at The Contrarian. It’s an honor to be part of this group. For those who don’t already know me, I am a journalist, but also a trained chef and podcaster. I host The Secret Life of Cookies podcast where I interview notable people (from Senator Barbara Boxer to E. Jean Carroll to The Contrarian’s own Joyce White Vance) and we talk about what’s going on in politics, culture, and the world—all, yes, while baking. And, of course, I have a Substack.

---

---