Earlier this year, 3-year-old Tokushima preschooler Kawamura Yuki was commended by police for pointing out large numbers of opium poppies growing in his neighborhood. Those were cleared out by the authorities, but culinary poppy seeds are, of course, completely legal and show up in many world cuisines, including here in Japan.
Upon reading that news, I was taken by the idea of drommekage, a Danish cake popularized in the swinging 1960s that seemed perfect for a mini makeover. What linked the recipes was that yet another youngster, 13-year-old Jytte Andersen, won a local baking competition in 1960 with a drommekage recipe that went on to be marketed by Danish dry goods giant Amo. It has since become one of Denmark’s most beloved cakes.
The two youths with big, bright dreams are a tenuous tie-in, but adding poppy seeds to the base cake both tastes and looks great, the speckled dots adding visual texture through the dough. Similar to the flavor of Anzac biscuits, the cake whisked me back to my own childhood in the way only taste and smell can, rounding-out a trio of happy kids.