Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Orange and poppyseed cake






Who doesn't like a nice piece of cake with their cup of tea?  I am sure there are people who don't, but I am not one of them.  A cake that is perfect with a cuppa is Orange and Poppyseed Cake, just like this handsome bundt I made from p110 of the June 2011 edition of Australian Delicious magazine.

This cake was quite dense, and the orange flavour was not as pronounced as it might have been, but the cake was still delicious.  I skipped the glaze that was recommended with the recipe and served my cake as is.



To make this cake, you will need:

3/4 cup poppyseeds
1 cup milk
225g softened butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
60ml orange juice

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Grease and dust with plain flour a 20cm bundt pan.

Put the poppy seeds and milk in a small saucepan and heat to just below boiling point, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

In a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until thick and creamy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.

Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together into a clean bowl.  Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until just combined.

Add half the milk and poppyseeds to the batter and combine.  Repeat with the remainder of the flour and milk mixtures, ending with flour.  Stir in the seeds from the vanilla bean or  the vanilla extract, together with the orange juice and zest.

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove the cake from the oven and cool it in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack  to coll completely.

Once the cake is cool, you can glaze it if desired.

13 comments:

Sunshine - www.cancersurvivor26.blogger.com said...

Mmmmm....I don't need the tea. Cake is just fine!

Elaine said...

I love poppyseed and lemon, but have not tried it with orange. Looks delicious!

Amanda said...

I love the look of this and might try it as muffins - for the school lunchboxes.
Thanks for the tip re the lack of orange flavour - I w ill beef up the zest component.

Anonymous said...

This cake looks and sounds delicious even without the glaze!

Anonymous said...

I'll take a big slice of this with a cup of tea!

Nutmeg Nanny said...

This looks great! A change for the common lemon. yum!

Finla said...

Love budn't cake and this looks so good.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

That looks great! I thought it was a pistachio cake at first but I do love poppyseed and orange cakes!

Johanna GGG said...

this looks perfect for a cuppa (yes I agree that cake completes a cuppa tea) - probably because it is just the sort of cake I can imagine my ancestors eating who loved tea so much

Gloria Baker said...

Look delicious cake law I love poppysides! gloria

The Blonde Duck said...

What kind of glaze?

Lauren Hairston said...

I love poppyseed-anything, especially when combined with orange. My poor bundt pan hasn't been used much recently; I think it would like having a poppyseed cake baked in it!

Cakelaw said...

Hi Duckie, unusually, their glaze was made with orange juice and golden syrup and boiled on the stovetop, but icing sugar mixed with a little orange juice would do just as well.