Raspberry & Poppyseed Loaf

Poppy seeds.

You heard them right. The one seed breed you rarely encounter on our sunny island (thanks to Sihan for sharing!). Dad once told me that poppy seeds are banned in Singapore because of their pedigree from opium pods.... Really, are they?

Fact or myth, i can only vindicate that the seeds themselves contain very low levels of opiates. Hence non-detrimentally edible... but not exactly addiction-free. Cos they furnish such unique minuscule popping! No wonder you see them in bakes everywhere outside Singapore.

I loved this cake. Not merely for poppies but the overall goodness it swanked. Obediently use buttermilk, trickle in some wonder seeds, plonk the batter into a pound cake tin & watch it grow. The loaf emerged soft and loose, rupturing in the middle... fragile to handle but moistly rewarding. Raspberries offered replete elevation like it always does. Very scrumptious when eaten warm off the oven.

Raspberry and Poppyseed Cake

makes 1 large loaf

170g butter, softened at room temp

250g sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

180g buttermilk

180g cake flour

4g baking powder

3g salt

7-8g poppy seeds

100g fresh raspberries (mine were fresh but stored in freezer to lengthen shelf life)

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and pale in color. Add the vanilla extract evenly. Add in the eggs one at a time, scraping with a spatula to incorporate well after each addition.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Sift into the butter mixture and mix. Gradually stir in the buttermilk, followed by the poppy seeds and raspberries.

Pour the batter into a lined and greased loaf pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 30 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool completely before slicing, for neater cuts (i was impatient for warm cakes & got them all rubbly messy haha)

Entries will be slowing down these two months... its the (most dreaded) ALevels plus i've got some buzzing personal matters to settle. December comes, i'll be as freeeeee as a bird can't wait! Kyushu! And i seriously need to replace my faulty cake mixer!