Skip to main content

Pound Seed Cake recipe w/ sourdough discard



When I wrote in Sourdough Treacle Buns in Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 2: Berserker, I felt a hankering to eat them and ended up figuring out a recipe using sourdough.

After my success with the treacle buns, I decided to try making the seed cakes I’d already mentioned several times in my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series. They were a favorite of my character Sol and they also showed up at a team meeting.

I took a recipe from a book published in 1800, The Complete Confectioner; or, Housekeeper’s Guide by Mrs. H. Glass and Maria Wilson. If you click on the link, you can download a .pdf scan of the original antique book.

There are actually FOUR seed cake recipes. One is a "Pound Seed Cake," second is “Another Seed Cake,” third is a “Rich Seed Cake,” and fourth is “Currant and Seed Cakes.” "Pound Seed Cake” looked like the easiest—it looked like pound cake with caraway seeds mixed into it. “Another Seed Cake” looks like a buttery, eggy brioche bread with sugar-glazed caraway seeds mixed into it. “Rich Seed Cake” and “Currant and Seed Cakes” both look a bit unusual because they have additional spices and flavorings added.

They all look rather good, and so first I decided to try the easiest one, “Pound Seed Cake.”

Now that I’m suffering from IBS, sourdough is the only type of bread I can eat. However, through my experience in figuring out the treacle bun recipe, I’ve learned just enough about the chemistry of sourdough to make me dangerous (to myself and others).

Because of my IBS, I decided to see if I could make the seed cakes with sourdough, but I also included instructions so that you can make it with regular flour.

Here’s the original recipe from the book:

To make a pound Seed Cake. Take a pound of flour, one pound of fine powder sugar, one pound of butter, eight yolks and four whites of eggs, as much carraway seeds as you like; first beat up the butter to a cream with your hands, beating it one way lest it oil; then by degrees beat in your eggs, sugar, and flour, till it goes into the oven; bake it in a quick oven, and it will take an hour and a quarter baking.

Since this was an experiment, I didn’t want to waste an entire pound each of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs, so I quartered the recipe.

I needed to be able to long-ferment the flour of the cake with my starter so that the bacteria could work its magic and make it digestible for my IBS-beleaguered intestines. So I decided to try a low hydration levain, and use that in place of the flour of the recipe.

However, in using a levain, I knew the resultant dough was going to be more liquidy than a regular pound cake. However, from what I’ve read about the origins of pound cake, they were usually very dry anyway and had been made in order to keep a few days without spoiling. So rather than trying to do something weird and adjust the eggs or butter, I decided to leave it as is and try it out. And it turned out fine—the cake was moist but not too wet.

The second time I made the cake, it occurred to me that instead of making a levain with flour and letting it sit for a day, I could use mostly sourdough discard with a little flour added, because I always have tons of discard in my fridge. I don’t need the sourdough to give the cake any rise, so it doesn’t matter that the discard is flat and not bubbly. I tried it, adding only a little bit of flour to some discard and letting it sit for a few hours before baking with it, and the cake turned out great that way, too. I included both options in the recipe below.

The original recipe has you cream the butter, then add the other ingredients, but I was reading about making pound cakes online, and one method to make the cake more fluffy is to cream the butter and sugar together to trap air into the butter. So I used that method in the recipe below, although it’s different from the original recipe.
For some reason when I wrote the scene in my book, I was picturing little individual cakes served with tea rather than slices from a larger loaf, so I decided to bake the seed cakes in my cast iron mini cake/biscuit pan. You can try this in muffin tins, which I would have done if I’d had paper muffin cups in the house, which I didn’t, and I didn’t feel like driving out to the store just to get muffin cups. So I decided to try the biscuit pan instead, and I liked the wide flat shape better for these seed cakes, anyway. It ended up that the wide flat shape made for a really great texture for the cake, so I’m glad I didn’t use muffin tins after all.

However, you can certainly bake this in a loaf pan like a regular pound cake. I would suggest that you double the recipe and increase the baking time to one hour, but check it for doneness at around 45 minutes or so.
I was so shocked when the seed cakes turned out so well! The butter made it release from the pan very easily and the outside of the cake was crispy.

The inside of the cake turned out extremely moist, probably because of the sourdough and the weakened gluten in the batter, and I think also because I made the cakes thin, so they cooked all the way through very evenly. The sourdough gave it a slight tang that was very pleasant.

The caraway seeds gave it a slight anise flavor which actually compliments the cake quite well. If caraway seeds aren’t your thing, you can use other types of seeds (like poppy) or chopped nuts.

This recipe was very simple but tasty, and I felt these would be the kinds of seed cakes that Laura would bring for the group meeting/tea break in Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 3: Aggressor. However, I will continue to try some of the other recipes to find Sol’s favorite, which he eats in volume 1. :)

Here’s my recipe. While I made it with sourdough, I have instructions below so you can try it as it’s written in the original recipe.

Pound Seed Cake
This recipe makes 7 small cakes. It’s about the same amount of cake as half of a large loaf of pound cake.

Ingredients:
114 grams (1/4 pound) flour
74 grams warm water
1 tablespoon 100% hydration sourdough starter, active and bubbly
Alternate: Instead of flour, water, and 1 tablespoon of starter, you can instead use 148 grams of spent sourdough discard (100% hydration) plus 39 grams of flour.
Alternate 2: If you don’t want to use sourdough, just use 114 grams of flour in place of the levain. However, be warned that I have not tried this recipe with only flour (since I can’t eat it because of my IBS). Also, (according to some articles on the web) it’s the sourdough that weakens the gluten and makes the cakes tender, so omitting it will change the texture of the cake.
1 stick (1/4 pound) butter, room temperature
114 grams (1/4 pound) sugar
1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk, beaten together lightly and at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (this wasn’t in the original recipe, but I thought it added nice flavor to the cake)
1-2 teaspoons caraway seeds (or the seeds/nuts of your choice)

Instructions:
Make a 65% hydration levain by combining 114 grams of flour with 74 grams of water and 1 tablespoon of 100% hydration sourdough starter. The consistency of the levain is almost like a ball of bread dough that you could knead, but it's stickier than bread dough. If you’d like it to ferment for a little longer to get a little bubbly, leave it out at room temperature (I put it in a glass mason jar) for a few hours and then use it whenever you like. I let it sit for 24 hours since I wanted the bacteria to break down the wheat a bit more.

Alternately, use sourdough discard: Mix 148 grams of 100% hydration sourdough discard with 39 grams of flour and let it sit for about 4 hours at room temperature before using it just like the other levain.

If you’d rather not use sourdough, skip the above steps and instead add 114 grams of flour below in place of the levain.

Mix the butter in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer for a minute or so, then add sugar and cream them together until light and fluffy.

Add the beaten eggs to the butter/sugar very slowly, a teaspoon at a time, scraping down the sides and making sure the egg is completely incorporated before drizzling in another teaspoon of egg. This is supposed to make an emulsion of the egg with the creamed sugar and butter.

Add the vanilla, levain and 1-2 teaspoons of caraway seeds or your seeds/nuts of choice.

The batter will be a bit stiff, stiffer than cornbread batter, but not as stiff as biscuit dough.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. You can butter the inside of the biscuit pan if you’d like, but I didn’t the second time because the fat in the batter makes the cakes release easily without buttering. Spoon the batter inside the pan, filling each cup only about halfway. If using a loaf pan instead, butter the loaf pan before spooning the batter inside.

Bake it at 350ºF for 25-30 minutes. If using a loaf pan, bake for 60-75 minutes, but especially the first time you make it, check for doneness at around 45 minutes or so. The cakes are done when a toothpick comes out clean.
You can read about these seed cakes in my Christian Regency Romantic Suspense series, Lady Wynwood’s Spies. Book 1 in the series is only 99 cents on Kindle!

Comments

  1. Thank you for the recipe. It looks good, and I may actually try it (eventually). :) Looking forward to reading the next installment of the Lady Wynwood's Spies series (love it!). I hope and pray you are feeling better/healing well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Cindy! I’m feeling a bit better lately. If you try the recipe, be sure to let me know how it turned out!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Laura’s Apricot Shell Shawl knitting pattern

I usually have a knitting project in mind when I write it into one of my books, but Laura’s apricot-colored shawl just kind of appeared upon the page as I was writing the first scene of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 4: Betrayer , and it surprised even me. I immediately went to my yarn stash to find a yarn for it, and I searched through my antique knitting books to find some stitch patterns. I made her an elegant wool shawl she could wear at home. The shawl ended up tagging along with Laura into the next book, Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 5: Prisoner , where it imparts some comfort to her in her trying circumstances. The two stitch patterns are both from the same book, The Lady’s Assistant, volume 2 by Mrs. Jane Gaugain, published in 1842 . A couple excessively clever and creative knitters might have knit these patterns in the Regency era, but they would have only passed them around by word of mouth or scribbled “recipes” to friends or family, and it wouldn’t have been widely use

Phoebe’s Muffatees knitting pattern

In Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 4: Betrayer , Phoebe wears a pair of lace muffatees, or gauntlets/arm-warmers that hide a rather deadly surprise. :) I actually got the idea of having her wear muffatees because I saw a lace manchette pattern in Miss Watts’ Ladies’ Knitting and Netting Book , published in 1840, page 20. However, after doing some research, I found that they were called muffatees in the Regency era, and the term manchette did not arise until a few years later. They were essentially arm-warmers worn under those long sleeves on day dresses, which were usually made of muslin too thin to be very warm. I decided to knit Phoebe’s muffatees using a Leaf Pattern originally suggested for a purse in Mrs. Gaugain’s book, The Lady’s Assistant, volume 1, 5th edition published in 1842, pages 234-237. I think there was an error and row 36 in the original pattern was duplicated erroneously, so I have adjusted the pattern. The original manchette pattern called for “fine” needles a

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures

Year of the Dog serial novel, chapter 13

I’m posting a Humorous Christian Romantic Suspense serial novel here on my blog! Year of the Dog is a (second) prequel to my Warubozu Spa Chronicles series. Year of the Dog serial novel by Camy Tang Mari Mutou, a professional dog trainer, is having a bad year. While renovating her new dog kenneling and training facility, she needs to move in with her disapproving family, who have always made her feel inadequate—according to them, a job requiring her to be covered in dog hair and slobber is an embarrassment to the family. She convinces her ex-boyfriend to take her dog for a few months … but discovers that his brother is the irate security expert whose car she accidentally rear-ended a few weeks earlier. Ashwin Keitou has enough problems. His aunt has just shown up on his doorstep, expecting to move in with him, and he can’t say no because he owes her everything—after his mother walked out on them, Auntie Nell took in Ashwin and his brother and raised them in a loving Chri

One-Skein Pyrenees Scarf knitting pattern

I got into using antique patterns when I was making the scarf my hero wears in my Regency romance, The Spinster’s Christmas . I wanted to do another pattern which I think was in use in the Regency period, the Pyrenees Knit Scarf on pages 36-38 of The Lady's Assistant for Executing Useful and Fancy Designs in Knitting, Netting, and Crochet Work, volume 1, by Jane Gaugain, published in 1840. She is thought to be the first person to use knitting abbreviations, at least in a published book, although they are not the same abbreviations used today (our modern abbreviations were standardized by Weldon’s Practical Needlework in 1906). Since the book is out of copyright, you can download a free PDF copy of the book at Archive.org. I found this to be a fascinating look at knitting around the time of Jane Austen’s later years. Although the book was published in 1840, many of the patterns were in use and passed down by word of mouth many years before that, so it’s possible these are

ひとり寿司第36章パート1

「ひとり寿司」をブログに連載します! ひとり寿司 寿司シリーズの第一作 キャミー・タング 西島美幸 訳 スポーツ狂のレックス・坂井 —— いとこのマリコが数ヶ月後に結婚することにより、「いとこの中で一番年上の独身女性」という内輪の肩書を「勝ち取る」ことについては、あまり気にしていない。コントロールフリークの祖母を無視するのは容易だ —— しかし、祖母は最終通告を出した —— マリコの結婚式までにデート相手を見つけなければ、無慈悲な祖母は、レックスがコーチをしている女子バレーボールチームへの資金供給を切ると言う。 ダグアウトにいる選手全員とデートに出かけるほど絶望的なわけではない。レックスは、バイブルスタディで読んだ「エペソの手紙」をもとに「最高の男性」の条件の厳しいリストを作った。バレーボールではいつも勝つ —— ゲームを有利に進めれば、必ず成功するはずだ。 そのとき兄は、クリスチャンではなく、アスリートでもなく、一見何の魅力もないエイデンを彼女に引き合わせる。 エイデンは、クリスチャンではないという理由で離れていったトリッシュという女の子から受けた痛手から立ち直ろうとしている。そして、レックスが(1)彼に全く興味がないこと、(2)クリスチャンであること、(3)トリッシュのいとこであることを知る。あの狂った家族とまた付き合うのはごめんだ。まして、偽善的なクリスチャンの女の子など、お断り。彼はマゾヒストじゃない。 レックスは時間がなくなってきた。いくら頑張っても、いい人は現れない。それに、どこへ行ってもエイデンに遭遇する。あのリストはどんどん長くなっていくばかり —— 過去に掲載済みのストーリーのリンクはこちらです。 *** 36 誰かと結婚するとしたら、きっと駆け落ちだ。 クスクス笑うマリコのブライズメイドの後をついて、レックスはよろめきながらパゴダブリッジ・レストランに入った。泣きわめくティキの隣で四時間立ちっぱなし——マリコはレックスを列の最後に入れてくれたから、ありがたい——抜歯と同じぐらい喜ばしい経験だった。ノボケインなしで。 (ウェディングそのものは一時間だけ。よかった)リハーサルも終わり、あとはオリバーを見つけ、四時間ぶりに椅子に座って、祖母のおごりで高価なリハーサルディナー(結婚式リハーサ

Year of the Dog serial novel

About Year of the Dog : A month or two ago, I remembered an old manuscript I had completed but which hadn’t sold. It was a contemporary romance meant for Zondervan, titled Year of the Dog . The book had gone into the pipeline and I even got another title ( Bad Dog ) and a cover for it, but eventually my editor at the time decided she didn’t want to publish it, for various reasons. She instead requested a romantic suspense, and so I cannibalized some of the characters from Year of the Dog and thrust them into the next book I wrote, which was Protection for Hire . Honestly, I didn’t take a lot from Year of the Dog to put in Protection for Hire , aside from character names and a few relationship ties. I was originally thinking I’d post Year of the Dog as-is on my blog as a free read, but then it occurred to me that I could revamp it into a romantic suspense and change the setting to Hawaii. It would work out perfectly as (yet another) prequel to the Warubozu series and introduc

Quiz from Lady Wynwood's Spies #6 - question 5

The latest volume in my Christian Regency epic serial novel just released, so I thought I’d post a few of my favorite passages from Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 6: Martyr . “There is no need for you to apologize.” A sliver of her normal self seemed to return to her, and she lifted an eyebrow at him. “Yes, well, you should not have interrupted my argument with the tree.” “I could not stand by and watch you bully a defenseless beechwood.” QUIZ: Who is Keriah speaking to, Michael or Mr. Benjamin? EXTRA CREDIT: Why was Keriah apologizing to him? This exchange was an unexpected point of levity in an otherwise pretty heavy scene. It surprised me when I was writing it. Start the series with Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 1: Archer ! A Christian Historical Adventure set in Regency England with slow-burn romance and a supernatural twist Part one in an epic-length serial novel She met him again by shooting him. After four seasons and unmarried because she is taller than mos

Chinese Take-Out and Sushi for One

Captain’s Log, Supplemental My agent sent me an article from Publisher’s Weekly that discussed this incident: Chinese Take-Out Spawns Christian Controversy And here’s also a blog post that talks about it in more detail: The Fighting 44s This is Soong-Chan Rah’s blog: The PCS blog In sum: Apparently Zondervan (yes, my publisher), who has partnered with Youth Specialties, had put out a youth leaders skit that had stereotypical Asian dialogue, which offended many Christian Asian Americans. In response to the outcry, Zondervan/Youth Specialities put out a sincere apology and is not only freezing the remaining stock of the book, but also reprinting it and replacing the copies people have already bought. I am very proud of my publisher for how they have handled this situation. The skit writers have also issued a public apology . (I feel sorry for them, because they were only trying to write a funny skit, not stir up this maelstrom of internet controversy. I’ve been in youth work long enou

New contest!

I haven’t had a contest since October! Here’s new one just in time for Christmas. I’m picking 3 winners to each be able to choose 10 books from my Christian book list! And yes, that list includes my books! 1) You get one entry into the contest when you sign up for my email newsletter at http://www.camytang.com/ . If you already belong to my email newsletter, let me know! 2) You get a second entry into the contest if you Like my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CamyTangAuthor . If you already Like my Facebook page, let me know! 3) You get a third entry into the contest if you join my Goodreads group: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/49078 . If you already belong to my Goodreads group, let me know! 4) You get a fourth entry into the contest if you follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/camytang . If you already follow me on Twitter, let me know! 5) You get extra entries into the contest if you get someone else to join my email newsletter. Just email camy {at] c