Citrus & Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

I’ve been dying for an excuse to use my new Nordic Ware bundt pan. I bought it online and had to wait for ages for it to be shipped out from America. But, as it turns out, it was definitely worth the wait.

Why go to the trouble and expense? Because, frankly, I’ve had nothing but problems with first, my cheap non-stick bundt pan (we’re talking a good chunk of cake left inside the pan after I turned it out); and then, the even more pathetic silicon bundt pan which, even after two hours baking, never cooked the inside of the cake. So, when my Citrus & Poppy Seed Bundt Cake slipped quietly out of the pan without so much as a crumb left inside, I knew my money was well spent. You certainly get what you pay for when it comes to bundt pans it seems.

To christen my shiny new Heritage bundt pan, I went with a nice and simple citrus and poppy seed cake straight from the pages of The Australian Women’s Weekly, March 2015.

As promised, it’s a lovely tender cake which features the classic pairing of poppy seeds and the zesty combination of orange and lemon. And, topping it all is a simple lemon icing, which adds a further citrus punch and looks heavenly as it wends its way slowly down your cake like lazy lava.

The recipe suggests you serve this cake with fresh blueberries. Sadly, we’re all out of blueberries given we’re smack dab in the middle of winter down here in New Zealand, otherwise I most certainly would have. If, like me, you’re all out of fresh berries, I’d suggest serving the cake with a nice tart mound of unsweetened yoghurt to cut through the sweetness.

If you’re on the look-out for an simple cake to serve for afternoon tea, but one with lots of fresh flavour and outstanding good looks (especially if you have a fancy bundt pan!), I can definitely recommend this one. Enjoy!

Citrus & Poppy Seed Bundt Cake

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Recipe type: Cake

Serves: 12 slices

Ingredients

For the cake:

1/4 cup (40g) poppy seeds
1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
1/3 cup (80ml) orange juice (you may need more)
1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice
250g (8.8 oz) butter, softened and chopped
1-1/2 cups (330g) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
4 eggs
1-1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour
3/4 cup (110g) plain flour (NB: I used 335g plain organic Italian flour plus 2 teaspoons baking powder)

For the lemon icing:

1 cup (160g) icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (you may need more)
2 teaspoons boiling water

To serve:

Zest of 1 orange
Optional: 60g (2.1 oz) fresh blueberries
Optional: Unsweetened yoghurt or cream

Instructions

For the cake:

Place the poppy seeds in a small bowl. Add the rinds and juices and stand for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170C (340F). Liberally grease a 24cm fluted ring cake pan (or 10 cup bundt pan) with a pastry brush dipped in softened or melted butter. Sprinkle the pan with a handful of plain flour, shake flour around pan to coat evenly, then tap out excess flour.
Beat the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined between additions.
Fold in the sifted flours and poppy seed mixture in two batches.* Spread the mixture into the prepared pan.
Bake cake** for 45-50 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Stand cake for 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.

For the lemon icing:

Sift icing sugar into a medium sized bowl. Add juice and water and stir until smooth.***

To serve:

Using a spoon, drizzle icing over top of the cake. Use a zester to scrape long threads of orange rind and lay over top of the icing. Can be served with blueberries and/or whipped cream or yoghurt.

Notes

* Even though I weighed my ingredients, I found the cake batter quite thick. I added juice from another half an orange till it was the right consistency (i.e. when you hold up a spatula loaded with mixture, the mixture slowly falls off leaving a 'v' shape of batter hanging from the spatula).
** The cake will dome and crack as it bakes - this is perfectly normal, though you can counter it somewhat - when adding the batter to the pan, spread it so that the sides are higher than the centre. If you still end up with a dome, you may want to level it off with a serrated knife once the cake has cooled so that it sits flat on your serving plate.
*** The icing should be fairly stiff, but just runny enough so that it slowly drizzles down the cake. You may need to add extra lemon juice or icing sugar to get the right consistency.

Food Photography Info: Canon 550D (EOS Rebel T2i); Sigma 30mm 1.4 DC ‘Art’ lens / Natural lighting