There’s a certain power to the foods you read about in books when you’re at that preciocious-yet-still-given-to-phonetics stage, and have little life experience with which to contextualise the words like an obliging Viewmaster. There’s also a certain discombobulating power to reminiscing about something incorrectly – in this case, my blurred memory of reading about characters eating seed cake, striking a flare of curiousity within my young self that I had yet to act upon until now. Enid Blyton, of whom I was a hungry child acolyte, always had her characters foraging food and eating it in verboten or impermanent settings. Initially when writing this blog post I confidently attributed my knowledge of seed cake to her Magic Faraway Tree series; upon double checking it seems I was wrong, but I must have read about seed cake somewhere because I sure didn’t invent it and needed that first hint to plant the, well, seeds that would eventually bloom into this Fennel Seed Cake recipe. I still live in hope of knowing the jumbles and plumcake from What Katy Did at School – at least I know for sure they were actually mentioned in the book.

By its nature, this is a sturdy, sober cake and yet there’s something about it undeniably storybookish and droll and evocational of fanciful picnics with fanciful yet rulebound characters. I came up with the specific idea somewhere between the fennel-y pork meatball recipe from last time and one of several instances of toasting fennel seeds in butter; despite its frequently savoury application, there is a wealth of sweetness lurking just below the surface of fennel seeds which springs to life particularly when they’re heated. Like that meatball recipe, this pairs fennel and apple — here in the form of applesauce, which hitherto felt relegated to the same camp of highly American ingredients like half-and-half and canned pumpkin, but which I found quite by surprise for a dollar at the supermarket.

Nudged along by the lemon’s fresh sharpness, here the apple lends both a necessary lightening tangingess along with a rounded buttery sweetness; the fennel seeds, bathed and warmed in butter, grow rather nutty and rich and sweet in their own odd way; all of which sounds rather strident but when encased in the light, tender crumb of the loaf cake it’s not so much quietened as mellowed out, providing a subtle and intriguing journey of flavour for you. Although this is one of those utterly plain cakes that pairs well with a thoroughly-brewed cup of tea — unsurprising when its origins are centuries-old — you could dress it up with a billowing mountain of mascarpone on the side.

Loaf cakes occupy a different psychological space in my brain to regular cakes, they feel lower-commitment, like there are fewer feedback loops required before deciding to make one, despite being a literal cake, just marginally longer than it is wide. Nevertheless there is a difference, and if you’re preoccupied with this particular shape of cake I can also recommend my Double Vanilla Loaf Cake with Strawberry Jam Icing; my Lemon Poppyseed Loaf; my Espresso Tahini Swirled Banana Bread; and my Dark Chocolate Molasses Fruit Loaf.

Fennel seed cake

Plain to look at with a tender crumb and subtly unfolding flavours — even the fennel — though it’s not going to convert you if you’re not an existing fan. You knew that already! Recipe by myself.

• 100g butter
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 175g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons plain oil, such as rice bran
• 125ml (1/2 cup) applesauce from a jar
• zest and 1 tablespoon juice from a lemon
• 200g flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1: Set your oven to 170C/325F and line a loaf tin with a sheet of baking paper.

2: Place the 100g butter and tablespoon of fennel seeds in a saucepan and let the butter melt over a medium heat, and the seeds grow fragrant in the warmth. As soon as the butter appears to bubble, remove the pan from the heat and let it sit and cool down a little while you get on with everything else.

3: Briskly whisk the 175g caster sugar and two eggs in a mixing bowl until thickened and a little paler than they started; this will take some muscle but won’t take more than a few minutes. Whisk the butter and fennel seeds into the bowl (making sure it’s no longer hot-hot but merely warm), followed by the three tablespoons of oil, the 125ml applesauce and the lemon zest and tablespoon of lemon juice.

4: Sieve in the 200g flour, the two teaspoons of baking powder and the 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, and, switching to a spatula, gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Use that same spatula to empty the mixture into your prepared loaf tin, and bake for 45 minutes, at which point it should be golden and springy.

Allow to sit on a cooling rack for a few minutes before slicing. Best eaten within a day or two, but has enough longevity for a day or two beyond that.

Notes:

• I used no-added-sugar supermarket brand applesauce, which cost about a dollar for a jar.
• I used salted butter, since that’s how it comes here, but if you’re working with unsalted butter then definitely add a pinch or two of salt to taste.

music lately:

Gramme Friday by The Fall, it would feel rather as though it’s about to slide right off the vinyl ridges if not for that beguiling and purposeful baseline.

I’m on Fire by Bruce Springsteen; sometimes the only answer to any question is to marinate yourself in Springsteen’s coalminer poetry for a sustained length of hours; a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters couldn’t come up with a song this feral. I always forget how short it is, which adds to its flustering qualities.

Before I Knew I was a Woman by Nell Carter, her voice — so treble-y yet rich — is immeasurably satisfying.

PS: As I’ve said previously, ReliefAid’s Gaza Appeal is important to me and based on current donations they’ve delivered thousands of litres of water into Gaza and distributed food to people specifically in Rafah. Their team, though in dire circumstances, are doing real, helpful work on the ground. If you’re looking for relief effort to support, I suggest them as a starting point.