:: Orange & Poppy Seed Tea Cake ::

Orange & Poppy Seed Cake

:: Megann’s  Kitchen ::

:: orange & poppyseed cake with orange vanilla cream cheese frosting ::

This cake is refreshing & delightful. I decided to gather the best aspects from a few recipes to make a dense cake perfect for an afternoon tea. I love the texture of the cake - it originally was meant to have a syrup poured over it. The cake isn't light & fluffy at all, but full & wholesome. I also adore that the seeds "pop" in your mouth as you bite into it adding a fantastic textural element.

Last time my friend Heidi & her mother came for afternoon tea they had this cake & enjoyed it so much that they asked for the recipe, so when it was time to bake for her baby sprinkle it wasn’t even a question! I also knew that the neutral colours of the cake would be ideal for my theme.

cake

¼ cup black poppy seeds

¾ cup full cream milk

200 grams unsalted butter, softened

1 orange rind, zested with a microplane

½ tsp vanilla bean paste

½ cup orange juice

¾ cup caster sugar

3 eggs

2 cups of plain flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

icing

250 grams cream cheese, softened

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened

½ tsp vanilla bean paste

1½ - 2 cups of soft icing sugar, sifted

  (taste for sweetness)

1 tbs orange rind

Preheat oven to 160°C. Pre-prepare a 20cm round, lined cake tin. Put the poppy seeds & milk into a jug, stir, then set aside on your workbench to start on the other ingredients. Place the butter, orange rind, vanilla paste & sugar into a bowl, then beat with an electric mixer/beaters until light, creamy & pale in colour. Add eggs, one by one, mixing between each one. Add sifted flour & baking powder, milk poppy seed mixture, orange juice, & mix until ingredients are just combined. Pour into prepared cake tin & bake for 50-60 mins, or until cake tested with a skewer.

Whilst the cake is cooling, prepare your cream cheese icing. Beat the cream cheese, butter & vanilla paste until smooth with electric mixer/beaters. Add icing sugar ½ cup at a time so you don’t end up with one big ‘poof’ of sugar in your kitchen. Finally, add orange rind. Combine.

:: orange & poppyseed cake for Heidi's baby shower ::

Party Style
:: Use a palette icing knife to spread out the icing from the centre. You can either add a sprinkling of extra poppy seeds or orange rind on top, but this time I went for baby booties made of icing instead. Choose a ribbon the colour of your theme to go around the cake, it is such an easy touch but speaks volumes.

:: edible booties as a cake topper ::

Source
:: Baby booties are from Cupids Cake Decorating Supplies
:: I discovered a tutorial online for piping roses! It is by Australian Good Taste & I found it very helpful for piping iced roses onto a large cake.

:: orange & poppyseed cake with piped on flowers ::

Quick Kitchen
:: To make a quick orange syrup to pour over the top instead of the icing, place 1 cup of Orange Marmalade Jam into a small saucepan with 1/4 cup of water. Heat til warm & well combined. Remove cake from cake tin, top-side up, onto a wire rack. Spoon half the syrup over a hot cake then allow to cool. Serve cake with double cream & remaining syrup.