Learn how to bake seed-cake like a Hobbit

If you are an avid reader of J.R.R. Tolkien's books, then you would know of a Hobbit's fondness for seed-cake, as evidenced in the exchange below:

"'A little beer would suit me better, if it is all the same to you, my good sir,' said Balin with the white beard. 'But I don't mind some cake - seed-cake, if you have any.'

"'Lots!' Bilbo found himself answering, to his surprise; and he found himself scuttling off, too, to the cellar to fill a pint beer-mug, and then to a pantry to fetch two beautiful round seed-cakes which he had baked that afternoon for his after-supper morsel."

However, "The Hobbit" is not the seed-cake's first appearance. It is actually a traditional British cake flavoured with caraway or other flavourful seeds such as poppy. Without further ado, here's what you need to make a seed-cake and how from Diane Duane:

The recipe below is for 1 loaf. Don't forget to make more if expecting a company of dwarves or going on an unexpected journey.

• 250 g cream flour or cake flour (For a tenderer crumb than with plain flour, but plain flour works as well)
• 1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 150g butter, softened
• 150g caster sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons caraway seed (Caraway seed in Malaysia is also known as Cumin Parsi or Jintan putih)
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest

One example of how the mysterious caraway seed can found packaged in.

1. Preheat oven to 180C / 350F.

2. Butter, and ideally line with buttered baking paper a one-pound loaf pan / tin.

3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

4. With the electric mixer, cream the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

5. Add the eggs one at a time to this mixture and beat like crazy. Add the vanilla extract and lemon zest.

6. Slow the mixer down and add in the flour mixture tablespoonful by tablespoonful until about half of it is gone. Add the milk. Then continue slowly adding in the rest of the flour.

7. Don't overbeat this. Just beat gently until combined.

8. Slow the mixer to a crawl and stir in the caraway seeds.

9. With a spatula, fill the loaf pan / tin with the mixture. Smooth the top a little. Use a knife to draw a line down the center the long way. (Like bread, this works to make a path-of-least-resistance for the cake to rise.)

10. Bake for 50 minutes. Test whether it is done by inserting a skewer into the seed-cake. It should come up almost entirely dry.

11. When done, remove the cake and let it sit in the tin for another 10 minutes. Then remove it and stand on a wire rack to cool.

12. Slice and serve. You may toast the seed-cake before buttering if you like, but be careful of toasting temperatures, as the sugar makes it likely to scorch if the temperature's too high.

Enjoy the infamous Bilbo's Seed-Cake with a cup of tea!