Citrus Poppy Seed Syrup Cake with Lemon Icing

I am now officially on my 4 weeks holiday. Yet, I have backlog of food blogging stuff that I haven't shared with you as I was busy with work and lots of to do list before we went on holiday. Today we are just relaxing at my in law's house, so I have all time in the world to catch up with my blog. Finally, yay....

What do I love the most about this cake? The perfect balance of the sour of the citrus and sweetness of the icing. Anyway, here's a story behind this Citrus Poppy Seed Cake, I specially baked this cake for my lovely neighbours, who is currently looking after our house when we are away and have been a great neighbour to us for the past 4 years. The sad news is they decided to sell their house in a few months. So this cake is our appreciation for the last thing they do for us before they move away.

Here's I present you, Citrus Poppy Seed Syrup Cake with Lemon Icing

Citrus Poppy Seed Syrup Cake with Lemon Icing

Ingredients

50g Poppy Seeds

60ml Milk

185g Butter, Softened

1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind

220g Caster Sugar

3 Eggs

225g Self Raising Flour

75g Plain Flour

60g Almond Meal

125ml Orange Juice

Method

1. Combine Seeds and Milk in a small bowl, stand for 20 minutes

2. Preheat oven to 160°. Grease deep 22 cm round cake pan, line base and side with baking paper.

3. Beat butter, rind and sugar in a small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy, beat in eggs one at  a time.

4. Transfer mixture to a large bowl using wooden spoon, stir in flours, almond meal, juice and poppy-seed mixture. Spread mixture into pan, bake about 1 hour.

Okay, I must admit for some reason, the cake turned out like an evil face. I promise I wasn't planning to do so. Therefore, the icing on the top would be a great idea to cover it.

Orange Syrup

Ingredients

220g Caster Sugar

160ml Orange Juice

80ml Water

Method

Using wooden spoon stir ingredients in small sauce pan over heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, without stirring for 2 minutes.

Stand Cakes in a pan 5 minutes, before turning. Pour hot syrup over hot cake.

Lemon Icing

Ingredients

50g Salted Butter

60 g Icing Sugar

2-3 tablespoon lemon juice

35g walnuts, chopped

Method

Combine Butter, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Spread over the top of the cake and sprinkle with walnuts. Yum..

Here's for closer look