I think I’m in Poppy love

With all the batter I consumed last night, I may not pass a drug test if it were administered to me now. I made an orange poppy seed cake last night and heavens, the batter was so divine I kept a little bit extra in the mixing bowl for myself  -- a couple of tablespoons less will not ruin the cake, after all. The creamy citrus batter and the crunchy poppy seeds were just a perfect combination. And anyway, just about any cake batter is  really quite yummy, right?

Poppy seeds are acquired from the opium poppy: they are harvested from the dried seed pods (in case you are wondering, opium is harvested when the pods are green and filled with latex). Nevertheless, eating a muffin, cake, bagel or batter with poppyseed can leave you with a false positive for opiates in a drug test.

Don't believe me? Trust the Mythbusters then. In an episode some time back, Adam Savage ate an entire loaf of poppy seed cake and  half an hour later, he took a drug test and tested positive for opiates. His partner, Jamie Hyneman, ate three poppy seed bagels and tested positive two hours later. Both continued to test positive the whole day; it took about three days for them to get a negative.

I doubt I am going to be tested for narcotics anytime in the future so I am safe to slurp as much batter and munch on as many slices of the cake as I please.

There are so many layers of enjoyment to this cake. The smell of orange zest as the batter is being prepared  is intoxicating. The smell from the oven while the cake is  baking ... divine. The sweet and refreshing taste, the soft almost spongy texture and the crunchiness of the seed?  It's not to be missed.



The recipe is courtesy of Moroccon-born Aussie cook/food writer Nadine Abensur but I adjusted some of the measurements to suit my preferences. She also suggests a orange syrup topping but I substituted it with a simple orange glaze (3 tbsp orange juice + 2tbsp icing sugar) instead. So enjoy!

Orange poppy seed cake

45g poppy seeds

60ml milk

185 g butter

225g castor sugar

2 tbsp finely grated orange zest

3 eggs

175g self raising flour, sifted

50g plain flour, sifted

50g ground almond

100 ml orange juice

Add poppy seed to milk and set aside. Cream butter and sugar and zest till fluffy and then add in the eggs, one at a time till well blended. Add in the remaining ingredients (flours, ground almond milk and poppy seed, juice)  into the mixer till completely combined. Bake in 180C oven for 55 mins or till done. Once out of the oven, pour the orange glaze all over the cake.