How to Make Irish Christmas Seed Cake
Irish seed cake, traditionally made with caraway seeds, is a popular Christmas treat. Small seed cakes are made for each person in the family, or one large seed cake is made to be shared and is eaten on Christmas Day. You can vary the basic recipe of seed cake as much as you like to make it sweeter or more savory by adding fruit, nuts (slivered almonds are popular), flavored oils (such as lemon) or powders (such as vanilla powder, sold at many gourmet stores), but the classic seed cake is very simple. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- 12 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons caraway, poppy or anise seeds, plus ¼ teaspoon for garnishing the top of the cake.
- Electric mixer (optional)
- 8-inch cake pan
Instructions
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1
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper or, if you are making a sweet seed cake, butter and sugar the inside of the pan.
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2
Cream together the sugar and butter until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time until the mixture is light and fluffy.
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3
Sift the flour, seeds and baking powder together. Add these dry ingredients to the butter, eggs and sugar mixture in three parts, beating continually as you do. Add any other flavors or optional ingredients at this time.
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4
Pour the batter into the cake pan, and garnish the top with more seeds. Bake for 45-60 minutes. Seed cake is done when the sides pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
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