Almond Poppy Seed-Cakes
There's always a reason to celebrate if you just look. Not that you ever need a reason to celebrate, exactly, but September 22nd is a pretty important holiday – or birthday, rather. (In the world of fiction, at least.) Also known as Hobbit Day to those of us interested in this sort of thing, it's both Frodo and Bilbo Baggins' birthdays. Wait, is this not something that everyone else celebrates?
If I had to choose just one, I would say that The Hobbit is my favorite book. I've gone through 3 or 4 copies, having read it a grand total of 17 times (so far). Tolkien always writes with lots of detail, and pens these incredible feasts throughout The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. One of the foods he mentions, at the Unexpected Party in the opening chapter of The Hobbit, are seed-cakes. And apparently Bilbo has "Lots!" of them in his pantry.
Tolkien leaves you mostly to your own imagination to determine what seed cakes would be. From some internet research, it does seem like they're a legitimate British food, made with caraway or nutmeg or both. Personally, I thought I'd celebrate my favorite hobbits' birthdays by sweetening them up and making mine with poppy seeds.
With a flavor combination of almond, lemon, and poppy seeds, these are perfect, sweet little bites that are great for snacking. I think they'd be hobbit-approved too, since they're hobbit-sized and feature some pretty natural flavors without sacrificing deliciousness. And they may have a stick of butter in them, but some of the other ingredients – the milk and the greek yogurt – are easy to find in low-fat or no-fat options. I used 2% milk and 0% greek yogurt. This means that I only have to feel like 1% bad about eating one of these!
Personally, I think these little muffin-esque bites would be perfect for a grab-and-go breakfast, or just as a snack with coffee. I may or may not have already used them for both of those purposes already. But if I'm being honest, they'd be great for any meal at all! Breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, or supper.
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold,
it would be a merrier world."
J.R.R. Tolkien
ALMOND POPPY SEED-CAKES
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 18 minutes
Ingredients
1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c milk
1 egg
1/2 Greek yogurt
1 t lemon juice
1 t lemon zest
1 1/2 t almond extract
1 1/2 c flour
1 t baking powder
1 T poppy seeds
Optional glaze:
2 t lemon juice
1 t water
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/4 t poppy seeds
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 F, and grease a muffin tin with a little oil. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the softened butter and sugar.
In a medium bowl, lightly whisk the milk, egg, yogurt, lemon juice and zest, and almond extract. Then add this to the large bowl, stirring the butter-sugar mix as you pour, just until combined.
Rinse out and dry the medium bowl, and use it again to mix the flour and baking powder. Then slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in the large bowl. Then, gently stir in poppy seeds until they're evenly spread out, and pour batter into muffin tin. These don't rise much, so keep that in mind.
Bake about 18 minutes, or until the edges of each cake are golden brown. The tops of each one should bounce back a little, but these are a little dense, so don't be concerned if they don't move like a normal muffin would.
Once cool, if you'd like to glaze them, mix lemon juice and water, and slowly stir powdered sugar in with either a small whisk or a fork. Gently stir in poppy seeds as well, if you'd like. Then pour the glaze over each muffin, and let it dry. Or, at least, let it get as close to drying as possible before you can't resist temptation any longer!
Consume for breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, or supper.
Happy Eating,
Natalie