Chocolate Poppy Seed Cake - Romanian Tosca

Poppyseed layer:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F. Line the baking dish with parchment paper.
2. Separate 8 eggs. Set the yolks aside for the buttercream.
3. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Slowly add the sugar and continue beating until the egg whites are stiff and glossy. Fold in the poppy seeds.8 egg whites + a pinch of salt + 200 g granulated sugar/ 1 cup + 150 g poppy seeds/ 1 ¼ cups
4. Add dry ingredients: Mix flour and baking powder in a small bowl. Fold them into the egg white-poppy mixture.50 g all-purpose flour/ ⅓ + 1 tablespoon + 1 packet baking powder
5. Bake the Tosca cake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let it cool completely in the baking dish. In the meantime, make the vanilla buttercream.

Vanilla buttercream:

1. Pudding mixture: Place the egg yolks and the sugar in a saucepan and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla pudding powder (or corn starch and vanilla extract) and whisk very well to prevent getting clumps.8 egg yolks + 150 g granulated sugar/ ¾ cup + 300 ml milk/ 1 cup + 2 tablespoons + 1 packet vanilla pudding powder
2. Cook pudding: Heat the mixture gently while whisking constantly until it begins to thicken. It will take about 10 minutes, but please whisk continuously, or it will clump. Cover the pudding with plastic foil directly over the surface; this way it will not form a “skin."
3. Room temperature: Let the vanilla pudding reach room temperature. Take the butter out of the fridge and let it reach room temperature as well.300 g unsalted butter/ 1 ¼ cup
4. Make buttercream: Cut the soft butter into small cubes. Gradually add the butter cubes to the vanilla pudding and mix well to incorporate.
5. Spread the buttercream evenly over the cooled base in the baking dish.

Biscuit layer:

1. Soak biscuits in coffee: Brew a cup of strong coffee. Dip the biscuits one by one into the coffee, but don't let them get soaked; they should be just barely wet. Arrange the biscuits on top of the vanilla buttercream.200 ml strong coffee/ ¾ cup + about 24-26 simple butter biscuits

Chocolate glaze:

1. Melt chocolate: Finely chop and place it in a small heatproof bowl. Add the chopped butter and the heavy cream. Melt the chocolate on bain-marie, stirring often until everything is melted and mixed.200 g dark chocolate/ 7 oz + 100 g unsalted butter/ ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon + 100 ml heavy cream/ ⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons
2. Spread chocolate glaze: Let the chocolate glaze cool for a few minutes and pour it over the biscuits while still warm. Spread it evenly on the cake and place the cake in the fridge for at least half an hour until the glaze sets.
3. Cut the cake into small squares while still in the tin. Carefully lift the squares out of the baking dish and serve.