Baking in Yellow

I just can't get over how yellow my baked goods are coming out lately - it's such a striking difference when I first put my laying hens out in their pasture pens after being cooped up all winter (if you've never heard of a chicken tractor or pastured poultry, you're really missing out!) Just look at these babies!

Pancakes, muffins - everything comes out with a yellowish tint (and I use whole wheat flour, so it's darker than normal - but you can still tell!) I took this picture when I was making Poppy Seed Torte (which is a huge family favorite, although almost no one else has ever heard of it). It's basically a graham cracker crust, with a poppy seed-infused vanilla pudding middle and a meringue top. The middle is supposed to be green. This time it ended up a very very yellowish green! ;)

Here's the recipe (in case you were interested - this is SO yummy, if you can get over the fact that it's green!)

Poppy Seed Torte
Easy Nutty Crust:
1 cup flour (whole wheat is fine)
1 cup ground walnuts or pecans (I generally use NT-style crispy nuts)
5 Tbsp butter
Mix this together until it has a crumb-like consistency (like a graham cracker crust), then press into the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan.

Filling:
2 Tbsp butter (melted in the saucepan)
3 cups milk
1/2 cup flour (I use sprouted whole wheat, or just regular whole wheat, and it works fine)
1/2 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup honey
5 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
Cook, stirring frequently until thick (watch out - it will stick to the bottom and burn if you're not careful!) Pour over crust.

Topping:
Beat together the 5 remaining egg whites and 1/4 cup honey until stiff. Spread over filling.
Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes.
Store in the refrigerator and serve cold.

This is a modified version of what I grew up with, which had sugar rather than honey in the filling and meringue. We often requested it instead of birthday cake when we were kids - it was such a special treat! Now that I'm in charge, we will often have this for breakfast (yes, I'm rather unorthodox in my breakfast choices!) My kids think it's extra special because we grow and harvest the poppy seeds ourselves from our flower garden (last year it was my six-year-old daughter's special job to cut off the poppy seed pods and shake out the tiny black seeds into a jar; whenever I tell her we're making this, she always lights up - we're using "her" seeds!) I find it even more special because those pretty pink flowers we harvest the seed from are the ancestors of seeds that were gifted to us by a dear friend years ago.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday.