Poppy Seed & Clementine Pound Cake

I moved from my old apartment about 2 weeks ago and I'm loving my new quartier! Praline, my adorable little dog, already got used to our new home, my Amore is very happy with the choice of the apartment and I turned our lovely place into a home. Also, I've already discovered the best supermarket in town (just in front of my building), one of the best boucheries in town, a fantastic chocolaterie and a small grocery store which was the responsible for today's recipe.

Well, last week I was walking around the local businesses and suddenly I decided to enter in this charming grocery store, it did not give me much hint of what I would find. Well, I can say that was a lovely surprise! There were several large cans with bags on the side and large utensils so that we could serve ourselves. I looked at everything calmly and carefully, and what I found was one of the best discoveries of the last few months! The main idea of ​​this place is selling various types of grain, flour, chocolates, spices, tea, coffee, dried pasta, cookies, nuts and sweets in general in bulk. I found so much cool stuff and excellent quality products that, in the end, I had my hands full of so much newness and some of the ingredients that I don't like leaving missing in my pantry. It reminded me my hometown in Brazil.  I remember when I was a child, it had some grocery stores in my town and my mom used to buy many foods that way. I also remember that on Saturdays, market day, there were several stalls selling spices and flours that way. I loved everything! Especially the scents and colors that came from those big bags. And, entering the grocery store last week, I felt the same familiar smells and that same feeling of comfort ... maybe that's why I liked the place so much! It remembered me my mother and my childhood!

So, I came home with a huge amount of the best almond flours that I've ever bought, a pure Belgian dark chocolate, a delicious organic green tea, and a lots of poppy seed. I knew that I would like to bake a cake, a citrus one, and I immediately remember of this great recipe from Dorie Greenspan. It is a delicious cake! Very moist and with a great dense texture from the seeds. I just loved it! I did the whole recipe, something that I'm not used to (we're just 2 at home), and it was just enough to 2 days. We ate it in the breakfast, afternoon tea, and as a snack late of night. The clementine flavour was delicate, but at the same time present. It was just a great way to use those poppy seeds and I'm looking forward to do it again.

Hope you like too!

Bon appétit!

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 50 to 60 minutes
Makes 10 servings
From Baking Chez Moi, Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere, by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (204 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Zests of 3 large clementines (you can use 1 orange or 2 tangerines instead)

2 tablespoons clementine's juice

4 large eggs, at room temperature

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream, at room temperature

5 1/2 tablespoons (78 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/3 cup (47 grans) poppy seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC (350ºF). Butter a 20-x-10-cm (8 1/2-x-4 1/2-inch) loaf pan, dust with flour and tap out the excess.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in small bowl. Reserve.
3. Put the zest of the clementines into a large bowl and add the sugar. Using your fingertips, work the ingredients together until the sugar is moist and aromatic.
4. One by one, add the eggs, whisking vigorously after each addition. Whisk in the juice, vanilla, and heavy cream. Switch to a flexible spatula and add the dry ingredients in 2 or 3 additions, stirring only until they disappear into the batter.
5. Stir in the butter in 2 or 3 additions and finish by stirring in the poppy seeds. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
6. Bake the cake for about 50 to 60 minutes - it depends of your oven - rotating the pan at the 30 minutes mark. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for 5 minutes. Turn the cake out and let it cool to room temperature.

Serving: The cake is ready to serve when it is cool. But it will better if you let it rest for a day; wrap in plastic film and tuck it.

Storing: Well wrapped, the cake will keep for up to 4 days at room temperature. Wrapped airtight, it keeps for up to 2 months in the freezer.