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Seed cake is considered a traditional British cake flavoured with caraway. Recipes are found in cookbooks of the 1500s, and Mrs. Beeton’s door-stopper Book of Household Management has four recipes for seed cake. The following recipe has been adapted from historical recipes.

 Ingredients

• 1 lb./2 cups/4 sticks butter

• 3 ½ cups flour

• 1 ¾ cups caster sugar

• 1 oz./2 tablespoons caraway seeds

• 6 eggs, whisked well 

• ¾ cup brandy/Madeira wine

• Ground mace, grated nutmeg, to taste (try 1/4 teaspoon of each)

• 1/4 cup/2 oz. chopped candied citrus peel (optional)

Equipment

• 8-9 inch round straight-sided baking tin

• Greaseproof paper

• Very large mixing bowl

• Electric whisk

• Sieve

• Spatula or large spoon

• Wire rack

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (F).

2. Line the baking tin with greaseproof paper and butter it well.

3. In the large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until white and fluffy.

4. Sift the flour into another large bowl.

5. Whisk in the mace, nutmeg, and caraway seeds.

6. If you want to add the chopped candied peel, first pre-mix it well with a fork. Use about ¼ cup of the flour to make sure each bit of peel is coated and does not cause clumps in the cake. Then add peel to flour & seed mix.

7. Stir the whisked eggs and brandy into the butter & sugar mix. If it separates, whisk in a spoonful of flour.

8. Using the spatula/large spoon, gently fold in the sifted flour mix.

9. Pour the mixture into the prepared buttered-paper lined tin, and gently smooth the top.

10. Bake it for 1½ to 2 hours or when the cake is well risen, firm, golden brown, and a skewer comes out clean when tested.

11. Cool on a wire rack.

12. Store in an airtight container.

13. Serve in thin slices for elevenses, or at tea time, or as an after-supper morsel.