This is my cakeified version of a cookie I love from a place I love: the rye and poppy seed cookie Moko Hirayama makes at her Paris restaurant, Mokonuts. Mine’s a loaf that, like Moko’s cookies, is big on flavor and surprises. The top of the loaf is craggy and sparkly— the last- minute prebake sprinkle of demerara sugar and flaky salt picks out the crackles and makes them shine. Inside, it’s a party of poppy seed speckles, marbly chocolate swirls and dried cranberries for taste, chew and the occasional pop of color. The rye’s there to ground everything. Like Moko’s cookies, the loaf is simple and looks homey and, like her cookies, it packs a couple of curveballs and a bundle of delights.

Makes about 10 servings

6 tablespoons (3 ounces; 85 grams) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons neutral oil

1 ¼ cups (170 grams) all-purpose flour

½ cup (60 grams) rye flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoon fine sea salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 large eggs, at room temperature

½ cup (100 grams) sugar

½ cup (100 grams) brown sugar

1 cup (230 grams) plain whole-milk Greek yogurt or 1 cup (240 grams) full-fat sour cream, drained of excess liquid, at room temperature

1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 ounces (113 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chip- size morsels

½ cup (60 grams) moist, plump dried cranberries

1/3 cup (50 grams) poppy seeds

Demerara, turbinado or sanding sugar for sprinkling

About 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, for sprinkling

Step One

Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9-inch loaf pan with baker’s spray or butter, then run a piece of parchment paper over the bottom of the pan and up the long sides, leaving enough extra paper to use as lifters when the cake is baked.

Step Two

Melt the butter in a small saucepan (or in a bowl in the microwave), stir in the oil and set aside to cool a bit.

Step Three

Whisk the all- purpose and rye flours, baking powder, salt and baking soda together.

Step Four

Working in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the eggs and both sugars together on low speed for about 2 minutes, scraping the bowl and beater(s) as needed.

Step Five

Add the yogurt or sour cream and blend it in. Keeping the mixer on low, blend in the cooled butter-oil mixture, along with the vanilla. Spoon in the dry ingredients in two or three additions, mixing just until the ingredients disappear into the batter.

Step Six

Continuing to work with the mixer or switching to a flexible spatula, mix in the chocolate, cranberries and poppy seeds.

Step Seven

Scrape the bumpy batter into the pan, then plunge your spatula in and out of it in a few places to settle it into the corners. Smooth the top as best as you can and sprinkle with the demerara (or turbinado or sanding) sugar and flaky salt.

Step Eight

Bake for 53 to 58 minutes, or until the top is golden and crackly and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (The sides may or may not pull away from the pan, so trust the color and tester on this one.) 

Step Nine

Transfer the pan to a rack and let the cake rest for 10 minutes, then carefully run a table knife around the edges of the cake. Using the parchment handles, lift the cake out of the pan and onto the rack. Peel away the parchment and let the cake cool to room temperature on the rack.

Storing: Wrapped well, the cake will keep at room temperature for about 4 days. It can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 1 month; thaw in the wrapper.

Recipe from Dorie’s Anytime Cakes by Dorie Greenspan. Copyright 2025 by Dorie Greenspan. Used with permission by Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins. All rights reserved.