4 C. Butter
1 C. Sugar (or 3/4 C honey, or 3/4 C maple syrup)
2 Eggs
2 C Flour
2-1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
1/2 C. Milk
1/2 C. Water
1/3 C. Poppyseed
2 T. Rose or Orange Flower Water (or 1/2 tsp. Almond Extract)
1/2 C. Golden Raisins, dredged in flour (Opt.)
Heat oven to 350o F. Grease & flour 2 9"x5" loaf pans Cream butter & sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, mix together all dry ingredients, except raisins and poppyseeds. In a measuring cup mix milk, water & flavoring. There should be just over 1 cup liquid. Add dry mixture and liquids alternately to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. Add poppyseeds & blend thoroughtly, then add the raisins and stir them in gently by hand (to prevent the flour-coating from coming off which will send all the raisins to the bottom of the cake!) Pour batter into prepared pans and bake appx. 1 hour 10 minutes (till the edges pull away from the sides of the pan, and a skewer stuck in the center comes out clean). This is a very densely textured cake, not like the standard white-cake type of poppyseed cake.