Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Baby Cake

Orange & Poppy Seed Cake



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 perfect 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 60mins, 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.


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.
from:Baby Cake

23 comments:

Fiona DaBeba said...

Hey Megann!

Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe with us! I just made it today and it's heavenly :) Have shared a link to your blog from mine (acheerychicken.blogspot.com) so my readers can enjoy it too.

megannskitchen said...

Hey Liz, I usually use the juice from the orange that I have zested. However, if you have troubles making up the quantity you can always use the juice from a carton! Either option is fine. Good luck :)

lizheartfilm said...

Do you use the juice from the orange you've zested for the recipe, or orange juice from a carton? I can't wait to try this recipe tomorrow!

megannskitchen said...

You are right Ashley. The butter creates moisture while allowing the cake also to have a unique density. If reducing the butter, it reduces the texture slightly.
ALMOND MEAL is simply finely ground almonds. It can me found in the baking or nut/seed section of your supermarket. I always buy it on "special" & have it in my pantry. You can make many great & also easy recipes with almond meal, especially for friends who have a gluten intolerance.
ENJOY!

AshleyG said...

Hey thanks for the reply, I need to add that a day later the consistency was just about perfect! It didn't seem too greasy after it sat for a while. Strange. Also what is almond meal, i don't think I've heard of it before.

megannskitchen said...

Thanks for the feedback Ashley,

If you found it a little greasy, try pulling back the butter amount to 180 grams... I haven't tried this yet, so let me know! Recipes are great to play with & I often "tweak" them to my personal tastes or dietary needs. I don't think it should effect it too much with the 3 eggs for moisture. I shall also try it next time I make it.
Another Orange Cake to try with NO butter or OIL is my Deliciously Moist Orange Cake - I have even made it with 2 cups of almond meal & 1/2 cup plain flour (I had run out of almond meal) & it worked beautifully. This is one of my favourites.

Good luck in your kitchen at home!

megannskitchen said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

AshleyG said...

I just made this for the first time today because it looked irresistable. but am i the only one who thinks that is a LOT of butter?! the finished product (with no frosting or glaze) has a delicious flavor but way too greasy in my opinion. Theres got to be another way to make it moist without so much butter. Any ideas?

megannskitchen said...

Oooooohhhh! I am so glad. I love hearing about when things go well in the kitchen for my readers!!! What topping did you use? The cream cheese frosting or the syrup? Thank you for your feedback - I appreciate it. Good luck with more MK recipes in your kitchen.

bakeacakemom said...

hi megan, i tried this recipe yesterday and it came out devine! thanks for sharing it

megannskitchen said...

Thanks Jessica! I am so glad you like it & nothing like an orange cake to fill the house with beautiful citrus freshness. Mmmmmm.....

Jessica said...

I featured this recipe over on my craft blog!

http://www.allthatglitterscraft.com/2013/02/pinterest-picks-022613.html

I'm currently baking it right now, and I can't explain how amazing my house smells! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!

megannskitchen said...

Thank you so much! Good luck with the recipe, I hope that you like it as much as I do.

megannskitchen said...

In Australia, we have a product by Queens called "Vanilla Bean Paste" which is a vanilla bean impulsion in sugar syrup. You could easily substitute this with seeds from a vanilla bean or essential Vanilla Essence. Good luck.

Julie E said...

Featuring your gorgeous cake as this week's Food Porn Friday recipe on my blog's sidebar. Oh and pinning! Thanks for the awesome recipe. I can't wait to try this.

Robin said...

Is vanilla bean paste just what you scrap out of the vanilla bean or another product? I'm probably over thinking this.

megannskitchen said...

Thanks Aimee - A beautiful cake with either the delicious cream cheese frosting or orange syrup (see above comment). Enjoy.

megannskitchen said...

Syre thing! Sorry - I was away on holidays & unable to reply promptly.
ORANGE SYRUP
1 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup cold water
Combine sugar, orange juice and 1/4 cup cold water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low until it thickens slightly. Remove cake from cake tin, top-side up, on to a wire rack. Spoon half the syrup over a hot cake then allow to cool. Serve cake with double cream and remaining syrup.

Aimee said...

Gorgeous!

Boucles! said...

Do you have the recipe for the syrup that goes over the cake?

megannskitchen said...

Absolutely Kathy - It was my first attempt so I thought I didn't have the skills available for a tutorial just yet! I made a stiff cream cheese icing & placed it into a piping bag with a x-large star nozzle. I piped the "roses" on first, starting from the centre & working my way out to make a large circle. I repeated this around the cake & another for the centre. I filled in any gaps & smoothed the sides with a palette knife or you could continue on with more roses. Simple really! I found this on youtube for you (there are many)... I hope it helps!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6_0ZkJ19_k&feature=related

Kathie said...

Could you explain how you did the piped on flowers look? That is really beautiful.

Carolle said...

The baby booties are so cute, and with the ribbon it really makes the cake. You mentioned they were made of icing....can you explain how they are made?

Post a Comment

Privacy Policy