Bilbo's Seed Cakes
“I don’t mind some cake - seed-cake, if you have any.”
“Lots!” Bilbo found himself answering, to his own surprise; and he found himself scuttling off…to a pantry to fetch two beautiful round seed-cakes which he had baked that afternoon for his after-supper morsel.
I think that by now we have established that I am a certifiable first class nerd through my my numerous Star Wars references, all my based on book recipes, and my vast hoard of geeky pins. So I'm sure you've all just been on the edge of your seat waiting for this post honoring the upcoming Hobbit movie.
Well I've simply been too busy getting myself in the Lord of the Rings mood. It takes a decent chunk of time out of your life when you decide to watch all three Lord of the Rings movies- extended edition. It takes a while to reread all those wonderful, whimsical books. And Hobbiton can't build itself!
Okay, okay, so I can't take credit for Hobbiton. Boots made that, all by himself. And this photo doesn't even show half of it. It literally stretched into every corner of the house. That made going down the stairs a little treacherous for a few days.
By the way, how do you like my One Ring? It's actually Dad's wedding ring. Little did Mom know that when he said, "with this ring, I thee wed" what he really meant was, "with this ring, I turn thee into a demon wraith neither living nor dead!!!" MWAHAHAHA.
Anyways, these cakes turned out pretty nice, I think... other than the fact that I forgot the baking powder! This day was just too hectic. Too much stumbling over Hobbiton to worry about baking powder! Anways, they were a bit dense, so just remember it for yourselves, eh?
I based them on this old recipe from 1861. Could've been the very one Tolkein was thinking of when he wrote the book. If you don't like caraway seeds, you can use poppy seeds instead. I did use some poppy seeds on the top just because I wanted them too look really seedy.
One more thing, feel free to bake this in a cake pan if you don't have mini bundt pans. I just thought they were cute and for some reason I always imagined them small and round like that. It's up to you.
Bilbo's Seed Cakes
Makes 6 mini bundt cakes
1 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup brandy
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 2/3 cup cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 tablespoons caraway seeds
For the Glaze:
1 tablespoon brandy
1 tablespoon milk
3/4 cup powdered sugar
a pinch of cinnamon
More seeds to top
Preheat oven to 375ºF (350ºF for one large cake). Grease and flour pans (6 mini bundts, or probably one 8-inch cake pan). Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the milk, brandy, and vanilla and about 1/3 cup of flour and beat for about five minutes. Sift in the rest of the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Beat just until blended. Add the seeds and mix just until combined. Divide into cake pans (it makes about 3 cups of batter). Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Combine glace ingredients and drizzle over cooled cakes.
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