Vegan poppy seed marzipan cake with delicious apple filling

Ingredients for 12 servings:

• 675 g flour
• 600 g sugar
• 750 ml water
• 12 tsp baking powder, approx. 2 – 3 packs.
• 3 ½ packets of vanilla sugar
• 20 tbsp oil
• 100 g poppy seeds, ground
• 1 packet of vanilla pudding powder
• 1 pack of pudding powder (cream pudding powder)
• 575 ml soy milk (soy drink)
• 190 g margarine
• ½ cup vegan cooking cream, e.g. oat cooking cream, as a substitute for sour cream
• 500 g apples, 3 pieces, sour
• 100 ml apple juice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ bottle of rum flavoring
• 400 g marzipan or 1 marzipan blanket

Instructions

Working time approx. 2 hours; Rest time approx. 4 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 6 hours 30 minutes

Preheat the oven to 180°C. For the base, beat 675g flour, 525g sugar, 750ml water, 12 tsp baking powder, 20 tbsp oil, and 3 packets of vanilla sugar with a mixer until smooth. Pour the batter into a 26cm baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes (test with a skewer). Allow the base to cool thoroughly, then cut it in half twice to make three layers. If necessary, trim off the top to create the rounded edges that will form during baking. For the poppy seed filling, bring 375ml soy milk and 50g sugar to a boil. Remove from the heat and whisk in one packet of vanilla pudding powder. Bring back to a boil and stir in the poppy seeds, sour cream substitute, and 65g margarine. Allow the poppy seed mixture to cool. For the apple filling, cut the apples into small pieces and briefly sauté with 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 packet of vanilla sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, the rum flavoring, and 60 ml of apple juice until soft. Stir half a packet of cream pudding powder into 40 ml of apple juice until smooth and mix into the compote. Simmer the filling for another 1-2 minutes over low heat and then let it cool. Now assemble the cake. Spread the poppy seed filling on the first layer and let it set a little. If necessary, reserve a little of the mixture to fill the gaps. Now place the second layer on top and fill any gaps with the remaining poppy seed mixture. Apple compote is then added to the second layer. Once the third layer is in place, the cake should be placed in the refrigerator to allow everything to set nicely (e.g. overnight). The next day, or after a few hours, make the buttercream. Make a pudding with 200 ml soy milk (not rice milk!), 1 tbsp sugar and the remaining half sachet of cream pudding powder and let it cool. Let 125 g margarine warm to room temperature and then beat with 1/2 sachet of vanilla sugar until fluffy. Then gradually fold in the cooled pudding, tablespoon by tablespoon, until you get a smooth mixture. Chill the buttercream. Spread the buttercream all over the cake so that no part of the pastry or filling is visible. Spread the buttercream evenly and smoothly and chill the cake again if necessary. Now roll out the marzipan or marzipan layer and carefully lift it over the cake. Smooth it out and trim away any excess marzipan. Roll out the marzipan thicker or thinner as you like. I used 500 g but I still had quite a bit left over from cutting it away. For decoration, you can color the excess marzipan and shape it into shapes, or save a little buttercream and apply it to the outside of the cake. Don’t refrigerate the poppy seed and apple filling overnight, as this will cause them to cool and become difficult to pour onto the cake.