Lime and Poppy Seeds with the Cake Slice Bakers

April was crazy busy, but since I needed a donation for our share table at our regional scholarship meeting in late April, I decided to bake the May Cake Slice Bakers cake then.

I chose the Lime Poppy Seed Syrup Cake and baked it in a Bundt pan that has four different designs. It's fun to see how the cake turns out with the different levels of detail and curves. Sweetie and I ate one of them and the other three went off to be part of the fund raiser.

This is a lovely, fairly moist (due in part to the syrup), tight-crumbed beauty, with great lime flavor and the nice little crunch of poppy seeds. I keep my poppy seeds in the freezer, so I always have some ready for wonderful recipes like this. Usually you see lemon with poppy seed, but the lime was a refreshing change.

Please be sure to visit the other Cake Slice Bakers to see which of the four cakes they baked this month. It's always a treat to see their artistry.

I'm stepping back from the computer a bit over the summer, so I probably won't be baking with this group again until the fall.  Will probably do the last bake from this book, since we change over to a new one in October or November.

Happy Summer fellow Cake Slice Bakers! Bake on.

The following recipe gives the ingredients I used so that the cakes would be dairy free and the plural for cakes and pans refers to how I baked, since I produced four cakes from the recipe.

Lime and Poppy Seed Syrup Cake
From World Class Cakes by Roger Pizey
Serves 16

1/4 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup soy creamer (or use whole milk as called for in the book)
1 cup softened non-dairy butter (or use softened creamery butter)
1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups self-rising flour, sifted
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup drained yogurt (or use sour cream as called for in the book)

For the lime syrup:
1/2 cup lime juice
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10 cup Bundt pan well (or equivalent).

Soak the poppy seeds in the soy creamer (milk) for at least 10 minutes.

While poppy seeds soak, cream the butter, lime zest and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Then, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape beater(s) and bowl during this step.

Add in the sifted flours and the drained yogurt (sour cream). When thoroughly combined, add the poppy seed mixture to the batter and mix until well combined.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan(s) and bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour. (Note; if baking smaller cakes, check to see if they are done at about 25-30 minutes.)

While the cake is in the oven, make the lime syrup. Place all the ingredients in a pan and stir over low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Let it simmer until the liquid thickens and the batter has reduced by half. Let cool until cake bakes.

When cake is done a toothpick in the center will come out clean. Remove from the oven and pour the slightly cooled syrup over the cake while it is still warm to allow the flavors to infuse the cake.(If desired, you can use a thin skewer to prick the cake to allow the syrup to penetrate further.) You can remove the cake(s) from the pan(s) and put the cake on a rack over a sheet pan, which allows you to catch any syrup that drips off and to reuse it, or you can put the syrup on the cake(s) while still in the pan(s) and then turn the cake out onto a rack once the syrup is absorbed.

When cool, serve small slices.

An InLinkz Link-up

What's An ANZAC?

If you're from New Zealand or Australia, you probably know the answer. Those two countries combined armies for a time during the First World War. The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that was formed in Egypt in 1915 and operated during the Battle of Gallipoli. They were disbanded after that battle. In Greece in 1941 during the Second World War they also fought together under that name and again in the Vietnam conflict.

They are also a delicious biscuit (cookie in America) which was sent to soldiers and also sold to raise money for the troops and later the veterans. (Recipe at the bottom.) At the website anzacday.org.au they give this info:

"During World War 1, the wives, mothers and girlfriends of the Australian soldiers were concerned for the nutritional value of the food being supplied to their men. Here was a problem. Any food they sent to the fighting men had to be carried in the ships of the Merchant Navy. Most of these were lucky to maintain a speed of ten knots (18.5 kilometers per hour). Most had no refrigerated facilities, so any food sent had to be able to remain edible after periods in excess of two months. A body of women came up with the answer - a biscuit with all the nutritional value possible. The basis was a Scottish recipe using rolled oats. These oats were used extensively in Scotland, especially for a heavy porridge that helped counteract the extremely cold climate.

The ingredients they used were: rolled oats, sugar, plain flour, coconut, butter, golden syrup or treacle, bi-carbonate of soda and boiling water. All these items did not readily spoil. At first the biscuits were called Soldiers’ Biscuits, but after the landing on Gallipoli, they were renamed ANZAC Biscuits.

A point of interest is the lack of eggs to bind the ANZAC biscuit mixture together. Because of the war, many of the poultry farmers had joined the services, thus, eggs were scarce. The binding agent for the biscuits was golden syrup or treacle. Eggs that were sent long distances were coated with a product called ke peg (like Vaseline) then packed in air tight containers filled with sand to cushion the eggs and keep out the air.

As the war drew on, many groups like the CWA (Country Women’s Association), church groups, schools and other women’s organisations devoted a great deal of time to the making of ANZAC biscuits. To ensure that the biscuits remained crisp, they were packed in used tins, such as Billy Tea tins. The tins were airtight, thus no moisture in the air was able to soak into the biscuits and make them soft. Most people would agree there is nothing worse than a soft biscuit.

During World War II, with refrigeration in so many Merchant Navy Ships, the biscuits were not made to any great extent. It was now possible to send a greater variety of food, like fruit cake.

ANZAC biscuits are still made today. They can also be purchased from supermarkets and specialty biscuit shops. Around ANZAC Day, these biscuits are also often used by veterans’ organisations to raise funds for the care and welfare of aged war veterans."

We had a visit from an Australian friend and his sister today, so I made some anzac biscuits using his wife's recipe to go with our tea. I have fond memories of watching her make them in their kitchen in Perth. This is a really easy, quick recipe as long as you have all the ingredients on hand. Your house will also smell wonderful with the butter, sugar, coconut, nuts and oats fragrances. Best of all they are irresistible. Hard to only eat one.

Anzac Cookies

makes about 2 dozen

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
2 tablespoons hot water
2 tablespoons golden syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup dry coconut
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2) Combine the melted butter, hot water, golden syrup and brown sugar in a mixing bowl (or the pot you melted the butter in if it large enough to hold the batter). Stir to blend well.

3) On a sheet of waxed paper combine the oats, flours, salt and soda. You could also combine them in a mixing bowl.

4) Add the nuts, coconut, dry ingredients and dried fruit to the butter mixture. Stir to blend well.

5) Pack dough into greased small tart pans or make into drop cookies on a cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minute until golden brown. (New note: Check cookies at 10 and 13 minutes :)

6) Cool cookies on wire rack. Store in airtight container. These cookies ship well. Enjoy!