Poppy Seed Pie by Keli Cancala

 

I know that poppy seed is not something everyone likes but I think its glory can't be truly appreciated until you try a very good creation of it! It is an incredibly tasty ingredient.. I made some Hungarian poppy seed pie for a friend of mine who is in hospital and also for my husband/Madhu...he is English so he grew up on other falvours yet when it comes to this particular pie, he actually dances around the room :))) 

 
If you want to try making this pie then you kind of need a poppy seed grinder, because that can squeeze the seeds in a special way, so your filling will be smooth and pasty.. if someone is interested I found a guy who sells it internationally (his site looks a bit dodgy but he is a nice guy and I bought something from him before) ;) http://www.hungariandeli.com/Cookware.htm

Poppy seed pie recipe.
Pastry: 
300g pastry flour
150g butter (unsalted)
80g soft light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp sour cream
1 Tbsp yoghurt

Filling:
200g ground poppy seeds
130g honey
30g butter (unsalted)
120 ml milk
zest of 1 lemon
apricot jam ( I use sugar free)

For pastry mix everything with hand or food processor and put in fridge for 20 minutes.
For filling (without the jam) put everything in a pot and on very low heat mix them together for 5 minutes.
When all is ready then divide pastry into 2 and on floured surface roll out to rectangle (to the size of your baking dish which should be mid-small size, mine is 20cm x 25cm). When you roll, the edges of pastry might tear apart but you can just shape it back and keep rolling as it is a very workable dough! On baking paper and in 170 C preheated oven, bake the bottom half for 5 min. Cool for few minutes, then gently spread jam on pastry (not too thin or thick), then spread poppy seed filling and then cover it with the other half of the dough. bake for 20-25 minutes, when completely cooled hint with icing sugar and cut to squares.