Yesterday I decided to make poppy seed cake. The cake is a favourite of Clare Hills the protagonist of The Hidden Bones. Clare normally eats her cake in a tea shop as her talents don’t extend to the kitchen. The recipe has American measures in brackets to encourage her friend and colleague Californian human bone specialist Jo Granski to bake it for her!
Clare’s Lime Poppy Seed Cake
2 oz. Black poppy seeds (4 tbsp)
4 oz. Self-raising flour (c.1/2 cup regular flour + 3/4 tsp baking powder)
3.5 oz. Butter (7 tbsp)
3.5 oz. Caster sugar (c.1/2 cup)
2 Large eggs
Grated zest 1 lime
Juice of 2 limes
2 tbsp Warm water
2 oz. Sugar (4 tbsp)
Preheat oven to 180C (350F)
Beat the butter and caster sugar until light and creamy.
Add beaten eggs gradually, adding a little flour with the last of the eggs.
Stir in the lime zest. Fold in the flour, water and poppy seeds.
Bake in a greased 1lb loaf tin for about 30 min.
Ten minutes before the cake comes out the oven, make the syrup as follows:
Dissolve the sugar with the lime juice in a pan over a gentle heat.
When the cake is baked, stab with a skewer or knife and pour the lime syrup over the cake.
I think it would have looked better if it had been baked in a 1lb loaf tin, but I only had a 2lb tin, so it’s a bit thin-looking. It tasted very good with a spoonful of Greek yoghurt.
