Poppy Seed Pound Cake with Brown Butter Glaze

Baked in the Saddle again

hi.

i'm back.
it has been over a month (more like two).
it has felt longer.
i'm anxious.

i feel a bit hesitant to get back to baking.
i feel a bit hesitant to get back to blogging.
it has been over a month (more like two).
it has felt longer.
i'm anxious.

i'm afraid my (blogging) voice has gone into hiding.
i'm afraid my baking skills might be hanging out with my (blogging) voice.
it has been over a month (more like two).
it has felt longer.
i'm anxious.

Drama Queen says whaaaat?  Good gravy, just get your butt in the kitchen and get back on that saddle.

Hmpf!  Fine!

Okay, I'm just going to jump into this.  Less thinking; more doing.  And I can do this.  I love baking!  Oh and I really love poppy seeds.  I think a little pick me up from Stuart might help.

 Breathe in.  Breathe out.  Bake on.

Poppy Seed Pound Cake with Brown Butter Glaze

Hello Kitchen.  What's this?  Something new in the kitchen?  So I haven't exactly been absent from the kitchen, I did do this.  My friend Lisa, from Lisa Mounteer Photography came over a few weeks ago (it may have been a month...brain fog),on her only day off, to teach me how to use chalk paint.  I think it turned out beautifully and I can now display my cookbooks and have extra pantry space in the kitchen.  These are just two Ikea Billy bookcases in pine. (true story)



















Okay, to the kitchen.

Hello my friend.  I have missed you.



















The only baking I've done recently, involves one bowl...like muffins.  I've also baked a few loaves.  And fishes?  No fishes.

oh fishy fishy feeshy...(monty python anyone?)














Luckily, I am starting to bake again when we have an easy recipe.  This pound cake should be quick to pull together.

The recipe starts with grinding up some poppy seeds for the poppy seed filling/middle.  I did the best I could with a mortar and pestle, as I don't have a grinder that I can use for spices. 

 I swear it is like being at a beach...but instead of sand, I have poppy seeds everywhere.  Well, maybe not everywhere. <wink> 






So before I got started with my baking today, I went to a garage sale.  Let me just preface this story by saying I am not a garage sale person.  My mom loved them.  I didn't.  But now that I'm older and wiser just older really, I get a little excited with sales.  But I am not a haggler (that still makes me anxious).
Anyhoo, as I was opening up the front room windows to get some air in, I noticed people across from us, setting up for a garage sale.   And I thought, I need to go and see what they have.  Umm, excuse me, you're doing what?  (seriously unlike me)  I noticed side tables from afar, that looked interesting.  I immediately thought I could chalk paint them.  (Seriously, what have you done with Sandra?)  I blame my friend Lisa for this...getting me hooked on chalk paint!  I may or may not be chalk painting this weekend.  I am.
I didn't get the side tables, she was hoping to sell them as a set with the coffee table.  (I might go back later and see if she sold them.)

But I did get these mirrors and this coffee pot (the percolator kind).  The mirrors are gorgeous, and the story about them sweet.  The owners got the mirrors as a wedding gift, (some 41 years ago) from her brother (who made them).  How sweet is that!  And the toppers are metal, not plastic!  I love the shape of them.  I'm tickled pink with my find.




Back to the recipe.

Black sunshine (poppy seed mixture).  

Milk and sugar get heated up on the stove top and the ground poppy seeds and some crushed graham crackers get mixed into it.








Excuse the graphic content.  This orange is not done mooning me yet.  Saucy little fella!












 Ingredients for the batter are at the ready.

Batter, batter, batter.  Ready for the pan.

Baker's joy?  I don't think a Baker's joy comes out of a can.  A Baker's joy, is someone else doing the dishes!  Am I right???!!!  There's no one else here...I'm doing the dishes.  Le Sigh.











First layer of the batter goes into the bundt pan.  It gets smoothed out.

Next layer is black sunshine.  It too gets smoothed out.
Looks kinda scary.

And top it all off with the rest of the batter.

This layer gets smoothed out too.  Some might say I'm a smooth operator.  Anyone?  No?  
Fine.  Let's sit in awkward silence for an hour, while this cake bakes.  No one move!

Who's a smooth operator now?  Anyone?  No, still not feeling it?

An hour of oven love produced this beauty.    Oh wait, that was produced by sun love.

Here we go.  Just have to let this baby cool down.














My lovely bundt removed from the pan.  And none of it stuck.  Baker's joy.  Mmm Hmm.













Last thing to do, is glaze this baby.  Well, the last thing to do is eat it up.  But we can't do that before the glaze.  Well we could.  But we mustn't.  

It would be a shame to not include this yum yum glaze.  Toasted poppy seeds, browned butter, orange juice and zest.  
Hellooooooo yum yum glaze. 












Glazed, cut and ready to eat. 

Yum, yum indeed.  

Feels good to be back.  Check out Baked Sunday Mornings, to see how everyone else did and to see the recipe.   
Thanks for being out there, with me in here.