James Beard's Seed Cake

"No tea table, in my opinion, is complete without a good seed cake," wrote James Beard in his memoir, Delights and Prejudices. Recipes for this traditional British cake date back to the 1500s, with some versions containing yeast and others resembling poundcake. Beard's version is the latter type, a simple cake of butter, flour, eggs, sugar and a little leavening, plus the caraway seeds. Somehow, the baking tames the flavor of the seeds. They add character to the cake without taking over. I've found that this cake is especially good toasted and topped with a dollop of fig jam. This recipe is adapted from Delights and Prejudices by James Beard (Atheneum, 1964).

Butter and flour an 8-inch loaf pan and set aside. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and caraway seeds. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter and egg mixture, beating until well incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until golden on top and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Set the pan on a cooling rack and let cool for 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and let cool to room temperature before serving.

Ingredients for Making one 8-inch loaf cake

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

5 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 to 2 tablespoons caraway seeds