Friday, December 04, 2009

Caraway teacake


Adding caraway seeds to your teacake does not seem like an obvious idea, but it works. Caraway seeds are much beloved in the Northern and Eastern Europe. In Estonia we add them liberally to rye bread, to oven-baked potato wedges, into sauerkraut soups and side dishes. We usually do not add them to desserts, but there's something about the spicy earthiness of caraway seeds that complements the rich flavour of this typical Estonian teacake.

The recipe below results in a flavoursome cake with nice, dense and moist crumb. Perfect with a cup of afternoon tea..

Caraway Cake
(Köömnekeeks)
About 10 slices

180 g butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
170 g caster sugar (200 ml)
250 g all-purpose flour (450 ml)
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
2 Tbsp whole caraway seeds
200 ml sour milk or kefir or fermented buttermilk

Whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Stir in the kefir or fermented buttermilk.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and caraway seeds, then gently fold into the egg mixture.
Finally stir in the cooled melted butter.
Pour the batter into a lined 1-litre cake tin.
Bake in a pre-heated 180 C oven for 40-50 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle remains clean.
Cool before cutting into slices.

17 comments:

Klary Koopmans said...

I adore caraway, I will definitely try this!

Anonymous said...

Oh seda tahaks! :) Tundub väga maitsev.

Heatherfeather said...

This looks so delicious and unusual. I love any types of herbs/spices added to my baked goods, so this really jumped out at me.

Alice said...

Love your blog! I found it when searching for a piparkoogid recipe. We are adopting from Estonia, and had the pleasure of visiting Tallinn last February. The climate here in Maine,USA is quite similar to Estonia. We have many of the same fruits and berries, but I have never seen recipes for them before. I am so excited to try cooking with blackberries, chokecherries and crab apples. My backyard is full of them!

Alanna Kellogg said...

It's so funny, I learn more about the genesis of my taste buds from you than from anyone else! No wonder I love caraway!

Anonymous said...

Interesting you mention that Estonians don't usually add caraway seeds in desserts. My Estonian grandmother frequently used to made sweet yeast buns with caraway seeds in them ("Koomlikuklid"). She's been gone for over 25 years now, but I still remember how yummy they were.

Anonymous said...

Do you use whole or grounded caraway seeds?
Btw, I like your blog very much...
Thanks, Natasa

Lea of Little Rock Catering said...

Interesting.. thanks

n-talo said...

thanks for lots of interesting recipes on your blog

megan said...

This is so similar to my mom's Irish-American Soda Bread recipe...

Carla said...

I am so happy to have found this blog. We have adopted two little girls from Estonia (at different times)and I am so happy to try some of these recipes. I am going to make this one first.

Pille said...

Klary - you'd love this!!

Silx - no aga küpseta ka :)

Heatherfeather - caraway is a lovely spice, and widely used in Estonia, though not so often in cakes.

Alice - so cool to hear that you've got access to blackberries, chokecherries and crab apples! Hope your Estonian kids are doing well!

Alanna - well, who knew :)

Anon. - I've got a beautiful recipe for köömnekuklid - but yes, they're not so common in sweets.

Natasa - I used whole caraway seeds - you can actually see them in the cake!!

Lea, N-talo - you're welcome!

Megan - how interesting. When I think of soda breads, I imagine a VERY different cake altogether, something more bread-like than cake-like.

Carla - welcome!! Say hi to your girls - and hope they like the Estonian dishes! You'll find more Estonian recipes by clicking on the "Cuisine: Estonian" label either under this post or on the right hand side.

Carla said...

I made the Caraway Teacake tonight and I am anxious for the girl's to try it tomorrow. It turned out very good, I am so excited. Next I am going to make the Estonian milk soup for them.

Thank you so much for sharing these recipes with us!

Marga said...

I looked at your caraway pound cake picture and, although I don't like the flavour of caraway seeds, your teacake looks so tasty. My husband would love it as he is crazy for caraway seeds! I may surprise him with it. :) Thank you for the recipe!

Pille said...

Carla - did your girls love this cake? Kids can have ambivalent relationship with caraway seeds, hence the question ;)

Marga - I bet your hubby would love it :) PS If you're used to making "keeks" by creaming sugar and butter first, then adding eggs one by one and finally folding in the flour, then that's perfectly fine, too.

Carla said...

No they didn't like them! Neither one of my girls eat much sweets (and I am happy about that! :)

Another Marga said...

I made this cake and it's absolutely addicting. It's not that it's delicious per se, the first bite didn't win me over. But after the second bite, I couldn't stop eating it. I'm not the biggest fan of caraway, but it works so well here!