Soak poppy seeds in the 1 c. of water for several
hours or overnight.
Separate the eggs. The best way
to do this with lots of eggs, is to do each egg separately. Break each
egg into one of your hands and let the white drip through your fingers
into a small bowl, then put the white into a larger bowl before you crack
the next one, and put the yolk into another bowl. Do each egg
separately in this manner, for if you get even a bit of yolk into the white
you will have to discard that egg white, the whites won't beat up
high if they have even a drop of yolk in them. You'd hate to have
to start all over again with more eggs!
Sift first 5 dry ingredients together in a large bowl. If you don't have a sifter, mix gently but thoroughly to combine well. In another bowl, combine oil, egg YOLKS and vanilla, beating until very well mixed. Pour this oil mixture, along with the poppy seeds and water into the dry ingredients and mix well. In another bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff (egg whites will beat to a higher volume if they are at room temp.) FOLD beaten egg whites into the cake batter very gently until well combined and no clumps of white are showing. Pour batter into an UNGREASED 10 in. tube pan. Cake will rise a lot so if your pan looks full, expect an over flow (remove a bit) should be about 2/3 full.
Bake in a preheated oven 325 deg. for 50 min.
THEN INCREASE temp to 350 deg. and
bake a further 20-25 min. Invert in pan until completely cool.
Remove from pan. Slice into 4 layers, put frosting between
each layer, around outside of cake and squiggles on top. Yummy
and spectacular Use Flour Frosting recipe (double it) or possibly 7 min.
frosting.