seed cake

Featured prominently in Tolkein's The Hobbit, Seed Cakes are a tasty pound cake filled with caraway seeds. Their distinct flavor makes them delicious as well as memorable.

Bilbo's Seed Cakes

butter (softened (2 sticks))

sugar

unbleached, all-purpose flour

tbsp caraway seeds

nutmeg

tsp ground cinnamon

brandy

tsp demerara sugar

Preheat the oven to 300°. Grease four 4 1/2-inch springform pans.

In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl in between additions.

In a second bowl, whisk together the flour, caraway seeds, and spices.

Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture, stirring well.

Add the brandy and combine.

Add the remaining flour mixture, being sure not to overmix.

Spoon batter into prepared pans. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon demerara sugar over the top of each cake.

Bake for 35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

Today&#x27;s recipe is one my grandmother used to make regularly, Victorian Seed Cake.

It was always on the tea time table, and was often served buttered, which made it even more delicious.

It&#x27;s based on a traditional Madeira Cake recipe, but with candied peel and caraway seeds added.

Seed cakes were extremely popular during the Victorian era, and indeed Mrs Beeton shares a recipe called A Very Good Seed Cake, in her book of Household Management.

We all love seed cake - the aniseed flavour of the caraway seeds marries so well with the light sponge and subtle spices. 

Our family recipe for Victorian Seed Cake always includes candied peel, which makes the cake moister. 

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did last Sunday, for my Tea Tray Supper.

The cake keeps well in an airtight cake tin for up to a week.

Victorian Seed Cake

butter, softened

caster sugar

vanilla extract

• 3 large eggs, beaten

self-raising flour

plain flour

• A little milk to mix

caraway seeds

candied peel

One of the most popular cakes throughout Great Britain&#039;s Victorian Era, this traditional Seed Cake features the unique flavor of caraway seeds in a lemon and vanilla-infused cake with a delicate texture, so perfect for tea time!

Traditional British Seed Cake

all-purpose flour

baking powder

salt

butter

neutral tasting oil

eggs

lemon

milk

Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C.  Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Add the oil and mix until combined.  Add one egg at a time, mixing after each one.  Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract and mix until combined.  Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined.  Add the milk and beat just until combined.  If your batter is too dry add a little more milk.  Be careful not to over-mix the batter.  Mix in the caraway seeds.  Scoop the batter into a non-stick 9x5 loaf pan, spreading the top smooth the back of the spoon.

Bake on the middle rack for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let the cake rest in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

This was lovely, Kimberley.  My granny used to make seed cake eons ago and it's about that long since I've had it.  This brought back wonderful memories for me.  Thank you for the recipe for so many others, I truly appreciate the thought and care that you put into every one of them.

Well this was a really pleasant surprise!  I've heard of seed cake as mentioned in Victorian novels but have never had it.  I was intrigued when I stumbled upon your recipe and decided to give it a go.  The pairing of caraway with the sweet lemony cake was yummy.  We enjoyed it with some coffee.  Thank you for taking the time to share such thoughtfully presented recipes and their background, really love your website!

Top 3 seed cake recipes from across the web

The most viewed seed cake recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Bilbo's Seed Cakes

Victorian Seed Cake

Traditional British Seed Cake

Top 3 seed cake recipes from across the web

The most viewed seed cake recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Bilbo's Seed Cakes

Victorian Seed Cake

Traditional British Seed Cake

The most viewed seed cake recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine