Russian Three Wishes Cake

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Three Wishes Cake: Raisin, Nut and Poppyseed Loaf

 from Olga's Flavor Factory

8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), softened
½ - 1 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk*
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup raisins
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
¼ cup nuts

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan with butter or baking spray.

  2. In a large bowl of a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until pale yellow and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.

  3. Add the eggs, one at a time.

  4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until evenly mixed. Add half of the dry ingredients to the creamed batter, followed by half of the buttermilk and vanilla and so on until you've added it all to the batter.

  5. Divide the batter into 3 even parts. You will be adding the raisins, poppy seeds and nuts to each part of the batter.

  6. Add the raisins to the first part and spread it out evenly into the bottom of the prepared loaf pan. Add the poppy seeds to the second part of the batter and spread it out evenly over the first layer of batter. Finish by adding the nuts to the third part of batter and spread it out evenly over the poppy seed layer.

  7. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

  8. Let it stand in the loaf pan for 3-5 minutes and then take it out and set it on a cooling rack.

*If you don’t have buttermilk, add one tablespoon white vinegar to a cup of whole milk and let sit for at least a minute, to make buttermilk substitute.

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Olga also tells a sweet story about this loaf cake and the Three Wishes Keks.

Update note: Since making this cake, I have watched a lot of British Bake Off episodes and whenever I look at a picture of this cake I think -- oh no! the raisins fell to the bottom! Except that with this one, it is on purpose :) In fact if you've read through the recipe you even pour it into the loaf pan in layers to create the effect. 

But... having watched enough of the show, I know that if I wanted "well-distributed" raisins I would just coat them in flour before adding them to the batter, and voila, they would be suspended throughout the dough. 

The things you learn while binging Netflix during cold season! 

 

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