Going to Seed (in a Good Way)

“Seeds are where it all begins,” as I write in Feeding the Hungry Ghost. “They’re superconcentrated sources of energy.”  Are they ever.  

Incredible how something so tiny, smaller than a grain of rice, has the power to push up through the soil, emerge in daylight, and sprout.  The basil, kale, mint, arugula, sorrel, peppers and tomatoes bursting forth from my little raised bed garden all began as seeds. My spice rack boasts cumin, caraway, coriander fennel, anise, nigella, sesame, and other seeds that bring flavor and excitement to what I cook — like this seed cake recipe from Feeding the Hungry Ghost, mildly sweet and totally seed-charged, it’s the perfect way to start the morning, shake off the midday drowsies or enjoy as “an after-supper morsel.”  It’s my friend P’s personal favorite, and like him, seed cake Anglo-Irish origins. Unlike him, though, seed cake even figures in works of literature from James Joyce to J R. R. Tolkien. 

How to Make

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly grease an 8” round cake pan or a 9”x5” loaf pan.
3. In a small bowl, combine oat or almond milk with flax, chia and anise seeds. Stir lightly to combine and let sit while you assemble the other ingredients.
4. In a large bowl sift together whole wheat flour, baking soda and baking powder. Grate in lemon zest.
5. In another bowl, mix together sugar, grapeseed oil , applesauce and lemon juice. Add to dry mixture, along with the oat milk, which, thanks to the seeds, will have thickened madly. Stir together, then fold in the raisins.
6. Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 45 minutes or until the cake is golden, puffed and a tester inserted in the center comes away crumb-free and clean. You can also give it a gentle poke with a finger. It springs back perfectly when baked through.
7. Remove from oven and let cool. Wrapped well and refrigerated, it keeps for several days.

Seed cake dates back to the Middle Ages, when seeds and spices were hard to come by and a lot more costly. Early recipes call for caraway seeds, excellent for digestion, but less so for a morning, teatime, or evening treat. I like to use anise seed instead.  It has a gentle licorice lift that blends beautifully with the lemon.

The other seeds in seed cake, flax and chia, replace the traditional eggs, They bind the batter, help the loaf rise, and provide plenty of good body support, too — protein, fiber, Omega 3s and antioxidants. That’s the power of seeds.

A tablespoon of poppy seeds would be welcome, too, just for fun. Stir them into the batter with the raisins just before baking.

There’s another seed in this recipe, or seed product — grapeseed oil, a neutral-tasting, high-performing oil with a high smoke point. It’s my go-to oil for baking.

When I created this recipe for Feeding the Hungry Ghost, the variety and quality of plantbased milk was not what it is now.  Let’s hear it for progress.  While the recipe originally called for unsweetened soy or hemp milk,  I now prefer plain oat or almond.  Use any favorite plantbased milk you like, except rice milk. I find rice milk too thin and watery to perform well for baking use.

Seed cake in literature — 

Okay, Hobbit fans, here’s your moment.  In “The Unexpected Party” chapter, Bilbo Baggins gets a surprise visit from a band of dwarves, led by Balin, who says, “I don’t mind some cake – seed-cake, if you have any.” “Lots!” Bilbo found himself answering, to his surprise; and he found himself scuttling off, too, to the cellar to fill a pint beer-mug, and then to a pantry to fetch two beautiful round seed-cakes which he had baked that afternoon for his after-supper morsel.

Seed cake even has a small but sexy part in James Joyce’s Ulysses. In her lusty soliloquy, Molly Bloom recalls, “the day I got him to propose yes first I gave him the bit of seedcake out of my mouth.”

And while we’re talking about seeds and excitement, don’t miss Seed Food and Wine, a plantbased party of Miami proportions back for its eighth epic year. Party starts this Thursday, January 26 with the signature Burger Battle and continues for a whole wild weekend of vegan events.  Get your tix.

May there always be freshly baked seed cake in your pantry and happy excitement in your life.

Seed Cake

Seed cake has a small but sexy part in James Joyce's Ulysses. In her lusty soliloquy, Molly Bloom recalls, "the day I got him to propose yes first I gave him the bit of seedcase out of my mouth."

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Course Breakfast, Dessert

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup unsweetened oat, almond or other plantbased milk
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds also known as flax meal
• 2 tablespoons ground chia seeds
• 2 teaspoons whole anise seeds
• 1-1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup evaporated cane sugar
• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil or other natural oil
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/3 cup raisins
• zest and juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Lightly grease an 8” round cake pan or a 9”x5” loaf pan.
• In a small bowl, combine oat or other plantbased milk with flax, chia and anise seeds. Stir lightly to combine and let sit while you assemble the other ingredients.
• In a large bowl, sift together whole wheat flour, baking soda and baking powder. Grate in lemon zest.
• In another bowl, mix together evaporated cane sugar, grapeseed oil, apple sauce and lemon juice. Add to dry mixture, along with the soy milk, which, thanks to the seeds, will have thickened madly. Stir together, then fold in the raisins.
• Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 45 minutes or until the cake is golden, puffed and a tester inserted in the center comes away crumb-free and clean. You can also give it a gentle poke with a finger. It springs back perfectly when baked through.
• Remove from oven and let cool. Wrapped well and refrigerated, it keeps for several days.

Keyword seed cake

More Seedy (in a good way) Recipes

• Pumpkin Talkari 
• Wine-braised Cabbage with Apples and Caraway
• Seven Seed Quinoa with Spinach and Sesame Dressing
• Tanya Holland’s Benne Seed Crackers (sesame seed crackers) from her new book, Tanya Holland’s California Soul.  
• DIY mustard from —doh — mustard seed, courtesy of Latinista award-winning cookbook author Sandra Gutierrez.

Thank you for reading my vegan stories and plant-based recipes. I sincerely love to connect with listeners and would like to hear your feedback, takeaways, “ah-ha!” moments, etc in the comments.

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