Being one-quarter Silesian that I am, I am completely infatuated with Mohnkuchen, one of my absolute favorite desserts. Actually, anything filled with mohn, or poppyseed filling, is a must-eat-right-now for me — this includes Austrian Germknoedl, Jewish Hamentaschen, etc. It must be something in my blood…or maybe not, because I do inadvertently convert people who try it.
On my last trip to Berlin, I ate so much Mohnkuchen that if I had been tested for drugs, they would have institutionalized me on the spot. (you do know, poppy seeds are from the opium plant…) With no way to actually bring some home (you know, U.S. Customs), I decided to, at the very least, bring back a pack of Mohn-Fuelle (or poppy seed mix).
This meant, of course, that I’d have to find a decent recipe to put the poppy seed filling into. I found this and this online, which, along with this handy-dandy converter, allowed me to create the following recipe:

1 stick butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
dash vanilla
dash lemon extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
dash salt
3 tbs milk
poppy seed mix

For those of you lucky enough to get your hands on ready-to-bake poppy seed mix (they do sell an overly sweet version in the states in cans in the baking section), there is no need for a poppy seed mix recipe. Once I got a mohn-fuelle that needed only milk added — it was a 250g package, and I had to add 75g (or 5 tbs) milk to mix. If you want to work completely from scratch, say, from ground poppy seeds, then you will need to add some sugar and vanilla or lemon, as well as milk. One of the links above had more of that info, but in German. If you need a translation, let me know.

Beat the butter and sugar together till a bit fluffy, then add in the egg. Beat more, then splash in some vanilla and lemon extract for flavor. Pour in the flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix. It will be dry, so you will then need to add the 3 tbs of milk until the dough holds together.
Take any shape pan, medium sized (I used a 9″ diameter circle), and press half the dough down. Make sure the edges turn up a bit, to hold in the poppy seed mix. Pour in the poppy mix, then cover the top with strips of dough. Bake at 350 degrees til done.
Note:
On some ovens, the top will brown too quick while the bottom stays uncooked underneath the poppy mix. In this case, cover the top with aluminum and bake longer. Or, pre-bake the bottom layer (without poppy mix), so that it gets at least half-done beforehand. Be careful, though, because overbaking will make the cake part of the Mohnkuchen a bit dry.

Very easy to make - great as a desert or breakfast. What I do is prepare it at night after dinner - eat some hot as desert, then put in fridge overnight to have some cold in the morning with coffee…the best!

4 c milk
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c cornstarch (4 tbs)
1/4 c cornmeal
1 tsp vanilla
dash of salt
lemon rind
cinnamon

Pot on stove, pour in milk. Add in sugar, cornstarch, & cornmeal. Start mixing and don’t stop. Add in the dash of salt, a bit of vanilla, and the lemon rind. Keep mixing until the pudding starts to boil. Remove from heat, mix more, & allow to cool a bit. Pour into bowls. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

adapted from:

Goya package majarete ingredients - uses sugar, cornstarch, & cornmeal
El Colmadito’s rice majarete recipe - a rice pudding adding coconut milk
Que Pasa’s rice majarete recipe
Pastry Sampler’s Vanilla Cornstarch Pudding
Welcome to DR’s corn pudding recipe - uses cream of corn
and other recipes actually using corn to make corn pudding

I chose to make my recipe simple, using cornmeal instead. This way I’m sure to have the ingredients on hand. Keep in mind, my majarete came out thick - once cooled, it’s almost like cake. Some people prefer it like that, others like a softer, creamier version: just reduce the amount of cornmeal, cornstarch, and maybe even sugar. The lemon rind gives off great flavor! If you don’t have lemon, you could use lime or orange rind instead.