The Poppies of Kinglake

A couple of weekends ago, I went to a garden working bee at Kinglake, an hour or so out of Melbourne. This was one of the worst hit towns in the February bushfires, and the street that my friend’s house was on suffered badly. Even driving up the hill, through this incredible area, my stomach was in knots as we passed property after property with concrete slabs where houses once stood.

There is strong re-growth in this area, and charred and seemingly dead trees have the brightest green shooting from their trunks. My friend’s garden is starting to take off, after months and months of tending, with beautiful blooming flowers to keep this little gnome company.

As we were leaving in the early evening – that time of year when the light stretches out until 8 or 9 – my friend’s brother told us to take some poppy pods home. I immediately raced down to where the poppies were most rampant and grabbed as many as the bottom half of my red polofleece would hold (it being red having nothing to do with anything really).

I haven’t tasted fresh poppyseeds before. And I probably never will again. The brown ones, not quite dried, are bitter and actually quite awful. Now if you shake the pod and hear a rattle of seeds, this is the sign that they are ready to eat. These seeds, they were something else. With an almost almond-tone, their flavour was perfectly subtle and delicate.

I originally thought I’d make some sort of elegant brussel sprout (is that a paradox?), cream and poppyseed dish, but the poor pods just sat in the bowl for two weeks becoming more and more decrepit while neither brussel sprout nor cream set foot in my home. Then yesterday I was having a “cake craving” moment and remembered recent talk of an orange poppyseed cake. After a bit of good old fashioned internet searching I found just the recipe I was looking for with sour cream, a syrup and lots of poppyseeds.

Light and moist, with that beautiful sticky orange/lemon syrup, we ate it warm from the oven with a splash of heavy cream which was quickly ravaged by the cake.

I made two thirds of the original recipe and baked it in a 20cm (8″) pan, which I think is a perfect size for this. I also increased the zest because I was in a particularly acrid mood. When I make this next time I’ll increase the poppyseeds even more. If you like an indecent amount of poppyseeds in your cake, I would recommend this. If you like a decently laden poppyseed cake, but not over the top, then leave well alone.

There’s nothing noble about using poppyseeds from Kinglake in this cake. It’s still just a cake after all, a simple pleasure for sure, but no more. But through the process of working in the garden, picking the poppy pods, and eventually sharing this cake with others, I have been reminded of the beauty of Kinglake, and the courage of those who lived there.

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Orange & Poppyseed Cake
Adapted from Good Taste, August 1998

Makes 1 20cm cake

120g butter, softened
110g caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp finely grated orange rind
1 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
2 eggs, separated (at room temperature)
200g sour cream
175g plain flour, sifted (I used flour with a protein content of 9.5%; a soft flour)
2 tsp baking powder
70g poppy seeds

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and grease a 20cm (8″) pan.

Cream the butter, sugar, and zests until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.

Add the egg yolks, beating well after each addition. Then add the sour cream and beat until combined. Don’t be concerned by sour cream lumps. These will disappear in the final product.

Sift the flour and baking powder together and add to the creamed mixture with the poppyseeds. Stir with a macho wooden spoon just until all of the flour has been incorporated.

Beat the egg whites to a firm peak, and fold into your batter. Pour into greased pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick (or a skewer in my case) inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Rest in tin for 10 minutes (not you, the cake. har). Meanwhile, make the syrup…

2 tsp finely grated orange rind
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
80mls fresh orange juice
40mls fresh lemon juice
110g caster sugar

Put all the ingredients into a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.

Turn cake out onto a plate, and pour the warm syrup over the top.

:: Serve warm with heavy cream draped all over ::

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