Seedcakes

So in my childhood imagination clear through the decades until the current age, I always had this image of seedcakes as this hearty, slightly sweet confection coated with sesame and sunflower seeds.  Something like this:



or perhaps like this:


So imagine my horror when I found that seed cakes were staunchly based on caraway seeds, looking something like this:

which looks rather dry and long in the tooth rather than toothsome.

I did find an example which I may actually want to eat:



So I have to ask, who's had these things?  Are they actually something a kid might drool over, or are they closer to rye buns to be toasted and eaten with butter? Why would both hobbits and dwarves have a hankering for them?

I thought they were cakes shaped from seeds, like sesame seeds, perhaps.

Anyway, found this link, with an actual recipe:

http://kitchenoverlord.com/2013/12/01/hobbit-week-shire-seed-cake/

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear about seedcakes is Odo's apparently crippling addiction to them (along with jelly).

Though when reading the books I do picture something similar to your first image.

Seed cakes here are quite nice if cooked carefully. They are soft, fluffy sponge cakes, plain or with an icing sugar topping. You can use any or all seeds you like, Poppy, caraway, anything. Its sliced like a sponge cake & scoffed down with a nice cup of honeyed tea, bloody nice ! Not sure a child would drool over these but Hobbits certainly like them

I'm a huge fan of Tolken's seedcakes. Never knew exactly what they were, but I loved them anyhow! Sounded too good to be true somehow. Magic food. Tolkien was a real seed sower in my imagination.

but flippin' CARAWAY seeds? That's for rye bread and occasionally cole slaw, I just can't imagine caraway in a sponge cake. Wacky.

Poppy seeds & lemon icing !

And a cup of tea !

I thought seed cake was cake made from seeds, not sponge. Halfys first two pics seem as I imagine it.

All this talk of seedcakes will be pushing poor ole Odo back into rehab at this rate! {{{Or at least it will do once I tip him off to the presence of seedcake on this thread }}}}

Radaghast wrote:I thought they were cakes shaped from seeds, like sesame seeds, perhaps.

Anyway, found this link, with an actual recipe:

http://kitchenoverlord.com/2013/12/01/hobbit-week-shire-seed-cake/

Looks good. Wouldn't mind trying that.

Poppy seeds are fine, Az. My favorite muffin in fact. Just .... caraway seems wrong.

Blueberry is my favourite muffin

I had always thought of "seed cakes" as being little loaves of bread covered all-over on the outside with, as Halfwise said, sunflower and sesame and whatever seeds.
Sort of like this, but less-so (as this is for birds apparently).

Yep, you feel my pain. I'd be willing to accept something akin to a poppy muffin, but caraway seeds just destroy the image. Not sure about loaves of bread - very clearly termed 'cakes'.

My cakes are full of seed (and buckie) but I cant get anyone to taste them

What's wrong with caraway seeds?

Edit: 666!

Caraway seeds are great in rye bread, and in savory dishes. The best cole slaw I've ever had was at Salt Lick BBQ near Austin. It was nothing but thinly shredded cabbage, caraway seeds, rice vinegar, and salt. I couldn't stop eating it.

But they don't belong in anything named 'cake'.

Well that's the thing "cake" is just a label. You could say the same thing about a mince meat pie. I think a savory cake loaf doesn't sound bad at all.

So, no one wants a taste of my cakes then? I've run them under the tap, well stream.

'Well that's the thing "cake" is just a label.'- Bungo

Dangerous words there Bungo as I'm sure Blue would warn you were he here {{{after which he'd charge you a whopping fee}}.

Have you never heard of the jaffa cake case?

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/vfoodmanual/vfood6260.htm

What does 'standard-rated' and 'zero-rated' mean?

zero-rated are exempt from tax that you pay on biscuits (Standard rate).

The tax man thought they should be getting tax on jaffa cakes because they were biscuit really, the company argued they were a cake. They won. So no biscuit tax.

I dont know if you have jaffa cakes in the US, they are a sort of cake base, bit like a sponge cake, with an orange flavoured jelly in the middle topped with chocolate.



They are biscuit sized and come in a packet like biscuits, but legally they are a cake!

We don't have those here, but they look really good.

Seems like the cake label is more a slippery slope than I thought.

They are rather tasty, sort of biscuit, sorry cake, you think you'll have one of and that ends up meaning one box.

I once ate a whole packet in one sitting and then puked. worth it though.