Moist, zesty Orange and Poppy Seed Cake. I was pretty happy with the outcome but I was thinking I could maybe tweak the recipe a little more to make it truly perfect. But when I mentioned this to my dear husband he said "It's delicious! I couldn't imagine an Orange and Poppy Seed Cake being any more perfect" So there you have it. It is scrummy just as it is.
This loaf did develop a few cracks on top. Does that mean my oven was too hot? Too cold? Too much moisture? What? But, I don't really mind it looking like this. I think it gives it that "home cooked" look.
Ingredients
1½ cups self raising flour
⅓ cup ground almonds
¼ cup poppy seeds
185gm margarine
⅔ cup castor sugar
¼ cup orange marmalade (but remove any large pieces of rind)
3 teaspoons finely grated orange rind
⅓ cup orange juice (squeezed from the orange you have just grated zest from)
¾ cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Grease and line a deep loaf tin. (You could use a round cake tin or ring tin if you you prefer).
3. In a large bowl mix the flour, ground almonds and poppy seeds. Make a well in the centre.
4. Mix the vinegar into the soy milk and allow to stand for a few minutes.
5. Put the margarine, sugar, marmalade, orange rind and orange juice in a pan. Stir over a low heat until smooth.
6. Poor the orange mixture into the dry ingedients and whisk until smooth.
7. Add the soy milk mixture and whisk until just combined.
8. Pour into the tin and bake for 50-60 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
9. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing it from the tin.
I love that you're already veganising recipes! Did the original have eggs, because your version doesn't really have any sort of egg substitute? Or is it more of a sweet bread than a cake?
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty cakey. The original recipe had 3 eggs so I felt I was taking a bit of risk, but I really felt like a nice orangey cake so gave it a try.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the vinegar + the raising agent in the SR flour would kinda do for the eggs. But I am still getting my head around this veganising stuff. Still, it is fun experimenting and we always enjoy eat the results even if it doesn't turn out quite how I planned. :)
I thought it would be nicer if it was just a little lighter so was thinking of adding a little bicarb and increasing the vinegar a bit next time. But David really liked it as is - quite a moist, dense kind of cake.
The only other changes I made from the original recipe are a little more zest, little less sugar, and marmalade instead of apricot jam. It smells really yummy while it is baking and definitely satisfied my cravings for an orangey cake :)
Thanks for posting this recipe, I made it last night and it was absolutely delicious! We aren't vegan, I just wanted to make cake and we were out of eggs, so I found you doing a google search for eggless orange and poppy seed cake recipes. I made it with dextrose powder for the sugar and a little brown rice malt syrup for the marmalade as we don't eat sugar. I'm going to try it with lemons next as we have a glut on our tree. Thanks again Sandra :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Sandra. I am glad you liked it. I have made a Lemon and Poppy Seed version as cupcakes with Lemon frosting and they were really yummy. (Why didn't I take a photo??)
ReplyDeleteI am trying to reduce sugar too. I have a nasty sweet tooth but I try not to over-indulge it too much. I have been trying out Stevia and Agave Syrup (although Agave will still raise your blood sugar level). I haven't tried brown rice malt syrup - will have to look into it. :)