Poppy Squares

Preheat oven to 340 °F (170 °C).

Cream the butter with the confectioner’s sugar, salt, and vanilla sugar.

Add the egg yolks.

Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks with the granulated sugar.

Carefully fold the egg whites, poppy, and hazelnuts into the egg mixture.

Butter and flour a baking frame.

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or use a deep cake pan) and fill with the poppy batter.

Bake for about 45 minutes.

Remove from oven, cut around the edges of the frame, overturn onto a sugared baking sheet, and pull off the parchment paper.

Cut the poppy cake in half horizontally.

For the cream filling, beat the eggs with vanilla pulp in a bain-marie until creamy.

Add honey and continue beating.

Add water to the gelatin and dissolve in warmed apple brandy, then mix into the egg.

Stir in the melted chocolate and let cool slightly.

Carefully fold in the cream that has been not completely whipped.

Brush one poppy cake base with apricot marmalade and spread half of the cream on it.

Set the second cake on top, brush with apricot marmalade, and spread the second half of the cream on top.

Chill for 2 hours.

Cut into 2x2 in (5x5 cm) squares.

For the chocolate glaze, bring the cream briefly to a boil and melt the chopped up chocolate in it.

Let cool somewhat and then cover the cake squares with it.

Let the glaze dry a bit.

Melt the white chocolate and place in a cone of parchment paper.

Decorate the squares with fine stripes.