Orange Poppy Seed Cake With White Chocolate

A delicious sweet and flavourful orange poppy seed cake covered in orange flavoured white chocolate buttercream. Unusually for a whole food blog, the cake is made with ordinary self-raising flour and heaps of sugar. But it is a special occasion cake and sometimes a slice of sweet cake is just what you need.

It was time to visit the land of the Hampshire Hogs. My mother in law was about to turn eighty and a birthday cake was called for. She has quite a sweet tooth and is not a fan of dark chocolate. So when I saw a recipe for orange poppy seed cupcakes in the Australian book High Tea; recipes with a sense of occasion, I decided to adapt it into cake form.

Apart from changing the quantities and method, all I needed to do was add white chocolate, both to the cake batter and the buttercream. I also used sour milk rather than plain milk as this helps to give a better texture and rise. If you don’t have naturally occurring sour milk, scroll down the post and you’ll find how to make a cheat’s version.

Orange, Poppy Seed and White Chocolate Cake

When it came to decorating the orange poppy seed cake, I wanted something simple with the numbers 8 and 0 standing out boldly. CT cut some templates for me out of greaseproof paper with the idea of laying them over the cake and scattering bling over the rest.

A good idea, but sadly, this didn’t have quite the desired effect and the figures were a little hard to decipher. One wag likened it to a face with a moustache – it wasn’t meant to be an advertisement for Pr**gles, you know, but I was hoping that just like the tubular snacks, once this was started, we’d be unable to stop.

We enjoyed our trip to Hampshire and the cake withstood the journey undamaged, despite some very rough weather. The recipient was delighted with her birthday treat, enjoying its sweetness, flavour and the interesting texture derived from the poppy seeds.

We must have enjoyed it too, as there wasn’t a crumb left by the time we made our departure. Oh and by the way, she spotted the 80 immediately – phew!

How to Make a Cheat’s Version of Sour Milk

To make an easy cheat’s version of sour milk, add a teaspoon of lemon juice or cider vinegar to the milk, give it a stir and leave for five minutes. When it’s curdled, it’s ready to use.

Other Birthday Cake Recipes You Might Like

• Chocolate biscuit cake
• Fig, lemon marzipan bundt cake
• Malteser cake
• Orange & cardamom chocolate birthday cake
• Sea salted caramel birthday cake
• Treacle chocolate cake

Keep in Touch

Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this orange poppy seed cake, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.

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If you’d like more layer cake recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.

Choclette x

Orange Poppy Seed Cake. PIN IT.

Orange Poppy Seed Cake – The Recipe

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5 from 10 votes

Orange Poppy Seed Cake

A delicious sweet and flavourful orange poppy seed cake covered in orange flavoured white chocolate buttercream. Unusually for a whole food recipe site, the cake is made with ordinary self-raising flour and heaps of sugar. But it is a special occasion cake and sometimes a slice of sweet cake is just what you need.

Cook ModeToggle to keep screen awake

Prep Time35 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Afternoon Tea, Dessert

Cuisine: British

Keyword: birthday cake, buttercream, cake, oranges, poppy seeds, white chocolate

Servings: 10 slices

Calories: 651kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

• 150 ml sour milk
• 40 g poppy seeds
• 40 g vanillary white chocolate (I used Green & Black’s)
• 150 g unsalted butter – softened
• 170 g golden caster sugar
• 1 organic orange
• 2 large eggs (I used duck eggs)
• 190 g self-raising flour (self-rising flour)

Buttercream

• 60 g vanillary white chocolate
• 250 g unsalted butter – softened
• 300 g icing sugar
• 1 organic orange
• 1 tbsp orange liqueur (optional) (can use orange juice instead)

Instructions

• Measure the sour milk into a jug and add the poppy seeds. Stir and leave whilst you get on with the rest of the cake.
  150 ml sour milk, 40 g poppy seeds
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over a pan of hot, but not boiling water. Then leave to cool a little.
  40 g vanillary white chocolate
• Set the oven to 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4)
• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  150 g unsalted butter – softened, 170 g golden caster sugar
• Grate in the zest from the orange, then beat it in to the creamed mixture, followed by the white chocolate.
  1 organic orange
• Beat in the eggs, one by one.
  2 large eggs
• Sift in the flour and stir it in as gently as possible.
  190 g self-raising flour (self-rising flour)
• Gently stir in the milk and poppy seeds until everything is just incorporated.
• Divide the batter between two round 20 cm (8 inch) silicone moulds or lined cake tins. Place on the middle shelves of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the cakes are well risen and an inserted cake tester comes out clean.

Buttercream

• Melt the white chocolate in a bowl suspended over a pan of hot, but not boiling water. Then leave to cool a little.
  60 g vanillary white chocolate
• Cream the butter and icing sugar together until light and fluffy.
  250 g unsalted butter – softened, 300 g icing sugar
• Grate in the orange zest, then beat it in to the creamed mixture along with the orange liqueur or juice.
  1 organic orange, 1 tbsp orange liqueur
• Beat in the white chocolate.
• Sandwich the cakes together with a good thick layer of the buttercream, then spread the rest over the top and sides.
• Decorate as you wish.

Notes

How to Make a Cheat’s Version of Sour Milk

To make an easy cheat’s version of sour milk, add a teaspoon of lemon juice or cider vinegar to the milk, give it a stir and leave for five minutes. When it’s curdled, it’s ready to use.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories: 651kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 35mg | Potassium: 167mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 56g | Vitamin A: 1134IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 123mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.

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Sharing

O is for Orange in this month’s AlphaBakes. So I sent a virtual slice of this orange, poppy seed and white chocolate cake to Caroline Makes courtesy of CT’s mum.