Czech Poppy Seed Bread

This recipe is courtesy of See Aimee Cook!

I loooove poppy seed bread. I always have, and I used to make muffins and loaves from the box mixes all the time. But I really don't like making things from boxes. So I decided to try out this recipe. I couldn't believe how fluffy my batter was, and how perfectly moist the bread turned out. This is incredibly good and I'll never go back to a box again!

Ingredients

1/2 cup poppy seeds

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup water

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 1/2 sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup flour (the original recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups flour, but I found that it made it too dry)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, cook the poppy seeds, honey, and water for 5 minutes on medium-low heat. Let cool.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cooled poppy seed mixture to creamed mixture, and egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in sour cream and vanilla extract.
3. In another bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
4. Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, beating well.
5. In a small bowl, beat together egg whites until stiff, then fold into batter.
6. Pour batter into a lightly greased 9-inch tube (or bundt) pan. Bake for 40 minutes (the original recipe says to bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. I baked mine for 30 minutes, checked it, then added on an extra 10 minutes. This cooked it perfectly. It's a good idea to cut the time in half, then add on 5 or 10 minutes as needed, checking after each time)
7. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. The bread will collapse a little; that's all right. Remove from pan and cool totally on a wire rack. Slice and sprinkle with powdered sugar!