Classic Seed cake

I hate to shop in a hurry either I miss something from the list or I bring something new to the pantry. In such a situation, I grabbed the caraway seeds packet for kala jeera. Usually, Indian grocers have no exchange policies for their product, once billed. Imagine my biryani with caraway seeds in place of black cumin! The caraway seeds and Kala Jeera (black cumin) look alike. But both have an outstanding different aroma from each other- I wish there is sample of scratch and sniff in seeds package :)







 Do you know about caraway?
Caraway fruit is termed incorrectly as Caraway seeds. It looks like cumin but slightly curved at both end (crescent shape). It is called as cake seeds (கேக் விதை) in Tamil. The flavor is something similar to anise seeds, very aromatic and warm. It greatly helps digestion. 

Once I opened the packet, the smell reminded some Indian baked item. I couldn't figure out which one. I searched as usual and found the caraway seeds cake aka seed cake, an old fashioned cake in Britain, Ireland and Wales. Pretty similar to American pound cake, but the cake doesn't call for a pound of flour, butter, sugar, etc... Historically, this seed cake is baked by the farmers’ wives at the end of wheat sowing season and in Britain, it is largely served after a heavy meal. The seed eases the digestion.

As St.Patrick Day is celebrated tomorrow, let’s bake something Irish without dying the food green.






 Recipe Source: Nigel Slater's classic seed cake

Ingredients

  • A.P Flour: 1 cup + 1/4 cup
  • Ground almond: 1/3 cup
  • Butter: 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp
  • Castor Sugar/icing sugar: 1 cup
  • Large eggs: 3
  • Milk: 2 tbsp
  • Baking Powder: 1 1/2 tsp
  • Salt: 1/2 tsp
  • Caraway seeds: 1 tsp

Instruction:

  1. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, ground almond and seeds together.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  3. Add one egg at the time and beat well.
  4. Add the flour, almond, seed mixture in butter and egg mixture and fold it. Add the milk in between the folding.
  5. Preheat the oven at 350 C and -grease a loaf pan and scoop the batter in pan and level with spoon.
  6. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until the inserted toothpick comes out clean(test).

The cake is enjoyed alone with cup of tea, there is no need of any fruit and whipped cream accompaniment.



The author note:"A pleasing seed cake is about how few seeds you add rather than how
many. A pinch or two is all you need to flavor an entire cake
." So don't increase the seed for this recipe








Happy St.Patrick Day

Comments

Bong Mom said…
Cham

We do put Caraway seeds or Sha-jeera in Biryani. Very little in the Biryani spice powder tastes very rich and fragrant. I also sometimes add it to my Garam masala blend. But a little of it goes a long way.

Your cake looks gorgeous.
Bong Mom said…
Okay after seeing the photo more minutely I am confused regarding my previous comment. The fine black seeds you say as Kala Jeera is what we use as Shajeera not the crescent shaped seeds which you label as caraway. So i think we mistake caraway for shajeera (sold as Kali Jeera in Indian stores here).Then there is the regular cumin or Jeera.
Cham said…
Sandeepa,
Though the packet clearly says Caraway- I bought it thinking as "Black cumin (shajeera)" once opened I realized.
It is easily mistaken..That is why I included a picture. Now I want to hear if someone knows the Hindi name for caraway.
Anonymous said…
I remember eating a cake from nilgris bakery bang lore...with seeds like jeera used to like that cake a lot....may be its made with caraway seeds..thanks for this post..definitely going to try....
ruchikacooks said…
Cake looks so soft and nice, you think you could bake biscuits with it like our jeera biscuit or kara biscuit?
Sumi said…
I love the caraway flavour in Cakes, have tased that bake in India.Bookmarked this recipe,Now have to carefully shop for Caraway seeds.
Just saw about these seeds in Dr OZ show, there are supplements made with this seeds which greatly helps in digestion as wellas weight loss :)
Cham said…
Anony:Probably it could be this seed cake that the British colony have passed to us, Thanks 4 stopping by...
Ruchi: Biscuit is great idea and could be a great digestive one- but don't be generous with the seeds- a little goes a long way.
I did buy this and never anything with it !! Will give this a try !!
I had made the same mistake once too. Gave it to Mom in India... I am sure did something with it. Wish has seen your recipe earlier... looks great!
Reva said…
Cake looks awesome ... it is a lovely recipe to be tried..:))
Thanks for sharing..
Reva
Uma said…
Looks so tempting and delicious.
Laavanya said…
I remember the flavour of these seeds in cakes I've had long back - didn't know that the caraway seeds were the ones that were used. cake looks very yummy.
Bergamot said…
I love spice cake. Use shahjeera in a cake has been in my list for quite some time. This looks delicious.
anjana said…
Very soft and delicious cake..love the info you shared..very useful and informative..

Anjana
CurryLeaf said…
Wow,very new to me. Looks great.

The note is a must. Sometimes over use of things esp seeds like caraway can cause more harm :).
Pavani said…
yummy n soft cake..
Malar Gandhi said…
I can feel the aroma from here...reminds me of my home...perfect tea time snack.
The clicks make me drool here.loved the colour n tatsy cake too.......
MAha
halal foodie said…
Cake looks super delicious and moist, gotta try it
Namitha said…
Love this in my Hyderabad biryani, but never baked anything with it.But you are right,in India they add this in rusk and some baked goodies.This cake sounds really flavorful !
notyet100 said…
Wow the cake looks o good,..:) wish ya happy festival too,..:)
ruchikacooks said…
whats ur recipe for VC? Do share it chamka. I am going to try your dry chukka version with aloos for rotis this week..will tell u how it was!
Cham said…
Tangachi: I will post my version of VC...