Birthday cake 2020: poppyseed, lemon, yoghurt, apple cheese

I was thinking about S's birthday cake for a while, as usual. We had a good crop of walnuts this year so Plan A was to do a classic coffee and walnut cake. But then I stumbled on this cake (during my Anna Jones trawl), and it seemed to tick a load of boxes: we had a load of homemade apple cheese in the fridge; and the whole poppyseed-almond-lemon-yoghurt situation sounded divine. So this became the new Plan A. And I am glad it did - it was everything I hoped for (despite not being the prettiest cake ever - rustic charm though right?). I'd love to try it with other fruit cheeses - membrillo, that guava paste you get from Latin American shops, damson cheese... mmmm... Or the marzipan option!

70 ml rapeseed oil or melted butter plus a little extra (used sunflower oil)
250 g white spelt flour, plus a little extra for the tin (used plain flour)
1 tbsp baking powder
70 g golden caster sugar (used a mixture of caster and brown)
½ tsp fine sea salt
60 g poppy seeds
Zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
2 medium eggs
350 ml yogurt or buttermilk (used yogurt - actually it was a mix of skyr and oat yoghurt)
250 g membrillo (quince paste), cut into tiny cubes (used apple cheese)
2 tbsp demerara sugar
20 g almonds, skin on, lightly toasted and chopped

Heat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7. Grease a springform baking tin, line the base and flour the sides.

Combine the flour, baking powder, caster sugar, salt, poppy seeds and lemon zest in a large bowl. In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs and the yogurt, then whisk in the oil. Add to the flour mixture and stir briefly, until just combined. Gently fold in two-thirds of the membrillo cubes until they are evenly distributed. Transfer the cake mixture to the prepared tin.

Arrange the remaining membrillo across the top in a pleasing pattern. Sprinkle with the demerara sugar, then the almonds. Bake for 20-25 min or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature.


Decorated with a little water icing made with icing sugar and lemon juice, and a sprinkling of poppyseeds.

One note: I don't think it's worth toasting the almonds before putting on top - they'd get nicely toasted enough just sitting on top of the cake while it's baking.

Previous S cakes: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011
Previous s cakes: 2019, 2018

Rice and peas

I cooked some black eyed beans the other day to make a curry with butternut squash and coconut milk. Mysteriously, it tasted like peanuts, but that's another story.

As usual, I cooked a load and then froze most of them for future use. I got to thinking about rice and peas. We ate masses of it in Belize, and my friend Liz used to make it sometimes. I guess traditionally it's with kidney beans, but somehow I thought it might be good with black-eyed beans.

Actually, I liked the black-eyed beans a lot. They cooked up really nicely from dried. I guess they are in that sweet spot, size-wise, along with chickpeas - I find bigger beans often cook unevenly. They were hard to find though - didn't seem to be stocked in any of the supermarkets.

I adapted this recipe to make a version that uses pre-cooked beans. I guess cooking the beans in the coconut milk would maintain more flavour and the whole dish would taste more beany... but I just know I will never make it if I have to soak an exact amount of beans the night before.

1 tbsp veg oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp finely chopped ginger
5 thyme sprigs (used c. 5 tsp dried instead)
5 allspice berries (did not have - used 2 tsp ground allspice instead)
1 scotch bonnet pepper (used 1 dried chilli instead)
3 cups cooked beans (black-eyed, black or kidney)
1 400 ml can coconut milk
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 cups long-grain rice
550 ml hot water (or bean cooking water if you kept it)


Heat the oil in a large lidded saucepan. Add the onion and fry a bit. Add the spring onions, garlic and ginger and fry a little more. Add the thyme, allspice, chilli, beans, coconut milk, salt and pepper, and bring to the boil. Stir in the rice and add the water. Cover and simmer until all the liquid has been absorbed - approx. 30 min. Remove from the heat, cover and let steam for 10 min before serving. Discard thyme stems, allspice berries and chilli before serving.


This made loads! A half quantity would be fine for us... But luckily it was a big hit with both S and s, so disappeared within a couple of days!

Pulled jackfruit without BBQ sauce

S made pulled jackfruit before, but it seemed like BBQ sauce was an important ingredient - and we don't often have BBQ sauce in the house. So this is a version using stuff we do usually have in the house. It's really quick and easy, and tasty, and made me feel a bit silly for leaving the tins of jackfruit he bought ages ago unused for so long.

2 x 400 g cans jackfruit in brine
1 tbsp veg oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tsp chopped ginger
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tbsp paprika
pinch cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
salt+pepper

Drain the jackfruit and pull into bitesize pieces, discarding the seeds. Heat the oil in a medium frying pan and fry the garlic and ginger lightly. Add the jackfruit and saute gently for a few minutes. Mix the remaining ingredients together in a bowl and then add to the pan. Saute for 10 min or so, until the sauce is mostly absorbed by the jackfruit.


This is nice... but I do still need to come up with other ways of using jackfruit!

Seedy crackers

We've bought seedy crackers a few times, was too lazy to make them. Then realized maybe it was easy. As I trawled Anna Jones recipes, I saw these ones, and decided to add them to the s-and-me morning baking session list.

50 g sunflower seeds
50 g pumpkin seeds
50 g sesame seeds
25 g poppy seeds
25 g chia seeds
100 g rolled oats
1 tsp psyllium seed husk
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 tbsp melted coconut oil
175 ml water

Optional:
1/2 heaped tsp fennel seeds and a little pinch of dried chilli or
1/2 tbsp raisins, roughly chopped, and a little pinch of cinnamon

Heat oven to 190 C/175 C fan/gas 5. Get all your ingredients together, and line a baking sheet with baking paper (and have a second sheet the same size on hand).

Combine all the dry ingredients, including one of the optional flavourings if you are using them, and stir well.

Mix the maple syrup, coconut oil and water together in a measuring cup. Add to the dry ingredients and mix very well, until everything is completely soaked and the mixture becomes very thick.

Scrape out onto the lined tray and even out a bit, then put another piece of baking paper on top. Use a rolling pin to roll out the mixture until it is about 1⁄2cm thick. Take the top layer of paper off and use the tip of a sharp knife to score the mixture into rectangles.

Bake the crackers for 20 min. Remove from the oven and flip the sheet over, then peel off the paper to expose the underside of the crackers. Put back into the oven for another 20 min (check after 15). They are ready when they are firm and golden round the edges. Allow to cool, then break along the lines where they have been scored.


I did a half quantity of the original recipe - one baking sheet's worth - this is a good amount for us. I also threw in some psyllium husk to help with sticking together. 

I just made them for a second time, this time with raisins. They are good! You have to keep a careful eye on them though - I almost burnt this batch, while the last ones were a bit underdone. Perhaps the exact thickness makes a big difference? s didn't love them sooo much the first time but he seemed more into the raisin variant (despite them being a little bit over).