Bitter orange & poppy seed cake

Bitter orange & poppy seed cake

This easy all-in-one cake is made with yogurt for a light texture.

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Cuts into 8 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr

Freezable

Without sticky topping

Method

  1. Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Butter a deep, medium-sized loaf tin (about 20 x 10cm, measured from the top), then line the base with a rectangle of non-stick baking paper. Put the marmalade into a small pan, heat gently until melted (or use a microwaveproof jug or bowl, then cook on High for 30 secs). Beat in the yogurt, then let cool for a few mins.
  2. Put the remaining cake ingredients into a large bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until smooth. Quickly beat in the yogurt and marmalade mix, then pour into the prepared tin. It will be quite runny. Leave the mix mounded in the middle of the tin rather than levelling the top, to help it rise and crack in the middle.
  3. Bake for 1 hr-1 hr 10 mins until golden and well-risen; a skewer should come out clean. Take a look at the cake after 45 mins; if it has taken on a lot of colour, loosely cover with baking paper. Meanwhile, heat the orange juice and marmalade in a small pan over a gentle heat until the marmalade melts (or use the microwave as before). Set aside to cool, stirring now and again, until you have a thick, but still runny, glaze. When the cake is ready, cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn onto a rack. Spoon the topping over the cake while it's just warm. The cake is best served the day it's made, but will keep for up to 3 days tightly wrapped in an airtight container. Will freeze for up to 1 month, un-glazed.
Try

Toasted poppy seeds

Toasting poppy seeds in a dry pan for a few minutes really brings out their nutty flavour.

Per serving

422 kcalories, protein 6g, carbohydrate 54g, fat 21 g, saturated fat 12g, fibre 1g, sugar 35g, salt 0.8 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, March 2007.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo Elaine

    07 November 2007

    Elaine rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Brilliant teatime cake. Not too sweet; marmalade makes it v tangy. Made it for a weekend away in Wales and everyone loved it.

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  • Binder photo Jane

    17 November 2007

    Jane rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fantastic tangy cake that keeps well. Really easy.

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  • Binder photo patricia

    24 November 2007

    patricia rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This cake is delicious! Very easy to make and looks exactly like the picture. It is moist, soft and tangy. I used good quality orange jam instead of marmalade and the result was perfect.

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  • Binder photo Louisa Smith

    16 December 2007

    Louisa Smith commented on this recipe

    A really yummy cake - moist and tangy. It won much praise from my husband's colleagues - one even said it was the best cake he'd ever eaten!

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  • Binder photo KarolasFaves

    22 January 2008

    KarolasFaves commented on this recipe

    Really buttery, tangy moist cake. Like other people, colleagues and relatives downed this like there was no tomorrow! Didn't bother toasting the seeds. It's totally WOW and I'm making for the third time v shortly. Definitely a firm fave of mine.

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  • Binder photo Jean

    24 January 2008

    Jean commented on this recipe

    I made this recipe when it first appeared in "Good Food" magazine. As I am coeliac, I made it with Dove's Farm Gluten-Free Plain Flour. It was really enjoyable: tangy, not to sweet and impossible to tell that it was not made with ordinary flour.

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  • Binder photo Ellie

    30 March 2008

    Ellie commented on this recipe

    delicious cake that keeps fantastically well

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  • Binder photo lovecookinghatewashingup

    23 April 2008

    lovecookinghatewashingup commented on this recipe

    This is a fantastic cake. Easy to make and everyone who has tried it loves it. I have had to make two for other people this week! I am not a great lover of marmalade so I found the strong marmalade a bit much on the top but it gives the cake good flavour so I use a milder marmalade for the topping. I also tried this recipe with lemon marmalade and a lemon. Absolutely gorgeous!

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  • Binder photo lovecookinghatewashingup

    23 April 2008

    lovecookinghatewashingup rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Frantic Flapjack

    18 July 2008

    Frantic Flapjack rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    I couldn't get hold of poppy seeds, so used caraway seeds instead. This cake was very easy to make and popular with the family, but I found the topping quantity was way too much.

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  • Binder photo Claire

    02 October 2008

    Claire rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Love this cake, it so beautifully moist, with a slight nutty taste from the poopy seeds and great tangy orange topping. I doubled up the quanties and made 2 cakes and this worked really well. Sending one into husbands work tomorrow for coffee time.

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  • Binder photo mad'un

    16 October 2008

    mad'un commented on this recipe

    Help!! Am I the only person in the universe to have had a disaster with this recipe? Looking for any tips you may have as my loaf a) sank dramatically b)became stodgy c) wasn't much good even as a pud. My oven is fan assisted and I cooked it on the second rung up for the 1Hour 10 mins.

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  • Binder photo Alison

    17 November 2008

    Alison commented on this recipe

    A delicious cake, very popular with our family. Instead of the marmalade topping, I put about 75g of melted dark chocolate on the top (fairtrade cooking chocolate) - gorgeous! Will be making again very soon.

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  • Binder photo sneauxdrop

    04 February 2009

    sneauxdrop rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Great recipe! I have made it several times and even non-marmalade lovers like it. I haven't toasted the poppy seeds. It freezes well. As to why it sank, in my Mary Berry book she mentions that overdoing the marmalade can cause this problem.

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  • Binder photo Elizabeth

    21 March 2009

    Elizabeth commented on this recipe

    No, Mad'un, you're not the only one. I took the recipe down from a friend's magazine and didn't put the other oven temp only the fan one. I bet everyone else either converted properly or didn't use a fan oven - the fan temperature is wrong - Gas 3 is at least 150 not 140. What a waste of effort and ingredients, mine was just as you describe.

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  • Binder photo gill

    20 May 2009

    gill commented on this recipe

    Have made this cake several times with home made marmalade. Friends all loved it at coffee mornings. The tangy marmalade makes it a good eat for the mornings. Friends took remainder home.

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  • Binder photo Peachmelba

    11 October 2009

    Peachmelba rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fantastic easy recipe. Made this as a round cake for a dinner party. Subsituting the poppy seeds for walnuts and served it with an orange mascarpone cream and orange segments - went down a treat.

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  • Binder photo lowracatherine

    22 April 2010

    lowracatherine rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Gorgeous cake!

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  • Binder photo jackie

    08 May 2010

    jackie commented on this recipe

    Re the comments about the fan disasters, Raymond Blanc mentioned recently that using the fan assisted option is too fierce for cakes, conventional is the best way to bake. I have not had a disaster since I stopped trying to use the fan. I hope this helps!

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  • Binder photo Kitchen Novice

    31 August 2010

    Kitchen Novice rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    I don't know what I did wrong but the cake sank. I followed the receipe, the only difference was that I used wooden spoon to mix instead of electric whisk. I tested with the skewer and it came off clean but when I tried to turn the cake out, it just crumbled to bits. Really disappointed.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Cuts into 8 slices

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr

Freezable

Without sticky topping

Made for sharing

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp good-quality thick marmalade (we used Frank Cooper's Thick Cut Oxford marmalade)
  • 150g pot natural bio yogurt
  • 3 eggs
  • 175g golden caster sugar
  • 200g self-raising flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 175g butter , softened
  • zest 1 orange
  • 2 tsp poppy seeds , toasted

FOR THE STICKY TOPPING

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Per serving

422 kcalories, protein 6g, carbohydrate 54g, fat 21 g, saturated fat 12g, fibre 1g, sugar 35g, salt 0.8 g

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