Orange Poppyseed Cake Recipe

Cake sponge:
360g cake flour
12,5ml baking powder
5ml fine salt
225g Clover Mooi River butter
300g Food Lover’s Market white sugar
3 whole eggs
7,5ml vanilla
250ml buttermilk (Clover Milk mixed with lemon juice)
¼ cup poppyseeds
Zest of orange

Citrus syrup:
60ml orange juice
60ml lemon juice
125ml water
200g Food Lover’s Market white sugar

Butter cream icing:
250g Clover Mooi River butter – room temperature
500g icing sugar
40-60ml orange juice
Pinch of salt 

Poppy and sesame seed brittle:
¼ cup poppyseeds
¼ cup un-toasted sesame seeds
1 cup Food Lover’s Market white sugar
¼ cup water
Special equipment: Silicone baking mat

Cake base 

1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees celsius.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add in the poppyseeds and mix through. Place to one side. 
3. Add the orange zest to the sugar and rub it into the sugar using your fingers to release the oils and flavours into the sugar. 
4. In a mixer, cream together the orange zest sugar and Clover butter until light and fluffy. 
5. One by one add in the eggs, ensuring to beat properly between each addition. 
6. Add the vanilla to the buttermilk and mix through. 
7. Alternating between the flour mix and buttermilk, gradually add in batches of 3. Ensuring you mix well between each addition. 
8. Line your 3 x 20cm cakes tin with baking paper and spry with non stick spray. 
9. Divide the cake mix equally between the 4 x 20cm cake tins. 
10. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 – 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. 
11. Remove from the oven and let cool in cake tin at least 10 minutes to set, to ensure the cake does not break when it is removed.
12. Remove the cake from the tin after 10 min and allow to cool completely. 

Citrus syrup

1. To a medium pot, add your lemon juice, orange juice, water  and sugar together. Bring to a boil until all the sugar has dissolved. 
2. Pour liquid into a flat deep sided baking tray to cool rapidly. Once cooled to touch, place into the fridge to cool completely. This syrup needs to be completely cooled to ensure it does not melt the butter cream icing once the cake is being assembled. 

Butter cream icing

1. In a mixer, cream the Clover butter until light and fluffy. 
2. In the mean while, sift your icing sugar. 
3. Once the butter has become light, fluffy and lump free, add your buttercream in 4 separate batches, mixing well in between each addition and making sure to scrape down the side and bottom of the bowl. 
4. Once all the icing has been added, add a pinch of salt. This will help break the sweetness.
5. To the mixture add 30 – 60ml of orange juice. 
6.  Place this to once side at room temperature until you are ready to assemble the cake. 

Poppyseed and sesame seed brittle 

1. Line a baking tray with a silicone baking mat.
2. In a pan, toast your sesame seeds until lightly brown. Remove and do the same with your poppyseeds. The poppyseeds will start to pop once they are ready. 
3. To a saucepan, add the water first and then the sugar. 
4. On a very low heat, melt the sugar until completely clear. Stir the mixture once to loosen the sugar from the base of the saucepan. Ensure that the mixture does not boil at the stage as this will case crystallisation of the sugar. Tip: place a lid over the pot, this will help the sugar melt easier.  
5. Once the sugar is completely melted, bring the heat up to medium – high. At this stage DO NOT mix this boiling mixture, as this will cause sugar crystals. Brush down the sides of the pot with a brush and some water to remove any crystals that have formed on the sides. 
6. Once the mixture has become an amber colour, pour into a thin layer onto the silicone baking mat and sprinkle with the toasted poppyseed, sesame seed mix. Leave to cool completely. 

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