Caraway Seed Cake

There are many recipes for Caraway Cake or Seedy Cake. Caraway Seeds are very good for the digestive system, but do not put too many the recipes as they will leave a nasty medicinal musty taste. Caraway is a type of seed common to both cake and biscuit recipes of the Medieval and Tudor periods.

Caraway Seed Cake is another Victorian cake, but it is actually older. In the older recipes it is more of a ‘bread’ type recipe which goes back hundreds of years, with a variety of seeds as their main ingredient, and using suet, lard or other fats, they did not use butter. Some seed cake recipes call for ground almonds to be added, and there is no harm in adding them if you wish, but ground Almonds can be a bit over powering. Ground Almonds have also played an important part in British recipes from the Medieval period.

Here are my two recipes plain and simple::
Recipe One::
Follow the Victoria Sandwich recipe and adding one and half teaspoons of Caraway Seeds (or add to your taste, but remember not too much)

Recipe Two::
Follow the above recipe but take out two ounces of flour and add two ounces of ground almonds. (I only work in imperial measurements for cooking)

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Here is a recipe from 1861 From Mrs. Beeton’s ‘Household Management’

A Very Good Seed-Cake: INGREDIENTS – 1 lb. of butter, 6 eggs, 3/4 lb. of sifted sugar, pounded mace and grated nutmeg to taste, 1 lb. of flour, 3/4 oz. of caraway seeds, 1 wineglassful of brandy.
Mode.—Beat the butter to a cream; dredge in the flour; add the sugar, mace, nutmeg, and caraway seeds, and mix these ingredients well together. Whisk the eggs, stir to them the brandy, and beat the cake again for 10 minutes. Put it into a tin lined with buttered paper, and bake it from 1–1/2 to 2 hours. This cake would be equally nice made with currants, and omitting the caraway seeds.
Time.—1–1/2 to 2 hours.