Caraway seed loaf cake

A couple of years ago I went to a Clandestine Cake Club meeting with the theme of 1950's cakes. One of the cakes that turned up was a caraway seed cake. I had never heard of such a cake before but it was so popular that by the end of the meeting only crumbs remained and there wasn't a single slice for anybody to take home.

The caraway seed cake has been popular for centuries with it being mentioned in The Book of Cookrye from 1591. It has kept its popularity throughout the years and was a favourite of the Victorian tea table – naturally it was included in Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management. The basic recipe is essentially a Madeira cake with a handful of caraway seeds added in. Since Madeira cake can be quite dense I decided to lighten it up bit by separating the eggs and whisking up whites.

Equipment: 2lb (1kg) loaf tin greased and lined, 2 large mixing bowls, sieve.

Ingredients

6½oz (185g) Unsalted butter

5oz (150g) Caster sugar

2tsp (10ml) caraway seeds plus extra for topping

3 Eggs, separated

1tbsp (15ml) ground almonds

10z (280g) Self raising flour

2tbsp (30ml) Milk

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the caraway seeds.

In another bowl whisk the egg whites until just stiff and then lightly beat in the egg yolks.

Fold the eggs into the butter and sugar along with the almonds.

Sift the flour over the mixture and then fold in alternating with the milk.

Transfer to the tin and gently even out the top.

Sprinkle some caraway seeds on top.

Bake for 1 hour until a skewer comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.