Going through my stats recently it occurred to me that you all love Donna Hay. This makes me incredibly happy because – as you may have guessed – I too love Donna. I have mentioned it many MANY times here before so it is wonderful to see that we are in simpatico 🙂My top ranking recipe of all time is her gingerbread biscuits / cookies [curious? Here it is: gingerbread cookie but every recipe I post of Ms Hays gets a good reaction.
So allow me to present her orange poppyseed cake, as featured in one of my fav cookbooks Modern Classics 2. My mum gave me this book when I was pregnant with now Miss8 and it has had quite the workout.
I had two random oranges looking quite lonely in the fruitbowl recently so I turned those pieces of neglected fruit into a delectable cake. And all was right with the world.
As always I reduced the amount of sugar (in both the cake and the syrup) and used self-raising flour.
GATHER:
cake
1/3 cup poppyseeds
¾ cup milk
2 cups self-raising flour
200g softened, diced butter
finely grated zest from one large orange
half a cup of caster sugar
3 free-range eggs
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
syrup
½ cup caster sugar
3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
shredded zest from one large orange
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 160C and grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
Mix milk and poppyseeds in a small bowl; set aside.
Place butter, sugar and rind in bowl of electric mixer and mix until combined.
Scrape down sides of bowl, then beat in eggs one at a time.
Add flour, orange juice, and milk poppyseed mixture and stir until just combined.
Scrape into the pan and bake for around 40-50 minutes [if cake browns too quickly cover loosely with foil].
When cake is ready leave in tin.
Meanwhile, make syrup: place all ingredients into small saucepan and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.
Increase heat and boil for five minutes or until thick.
Using a skewer make a few holes in cake then pour over the syrup.
Serve warm or cold.
the hungry mum 
Oh I just love Donna Hay too and Modern Classics 2 is one of my favourite cookbooks as well! I hope we can catch up at Problogger, I think we have a few things in common 🙂
Isn’t that book the BEST? Mine is somewhat grotty due to constant use 🙂 I’d love to meet up at Problogger – it is getting so close! #exciting
I have enjoyed all of the recipes you have posted from Donna Hay but I do not have any of her cookbooks – I guess I need to look into that 🙂
Good to hear! I’ll keep posting her recipes for you 🙂
I love a syrup cake as I am not a big fan of icing and love the texture of the cake after it has been soaked, this looks sweet and light with the use of the oranges 🙂
Oh, me too! Icing is *so* not my thing but syrup cakes have such a delightful texture & are just a little bit fancier than your average bake 🙂
This cake looks yummy, and may I have this pan please, looks like a pretty cool prop for my pictures 😉
Thanks! I love buying cake props, such a huge variety out there 🙂
Never used poppy seed in cake.. Thanks for the idea
You’ll love it! I’ve also posted a lemon poppyseed cake before, so try that one, too 🙂
so light and springy! Good call on giving us more Hay 🙂
A little bit of Donna makes everyone happy 🙂
That looks delicious!
cheers! Hope your day is fab.
Where have I been? I have never heard of Donna Hay. But not only is that one beautiful cake – that cake platter with the cover are absolutely gorgeous!!!
Donna Hay changed my life! Her recipes inspired me to pick up a wooden spoon and start baking. And thanks – the cake cover was an engagement gift. Every time I use it I feel so happy 🙂
Oh my goodness! Wouldn’t this be a lovely Sunday brunch treat?!
It would be *perfect* for a Sunday brunch 🙂 I like the way you think!
Oh my gosh, absolutely loving this orange cake 😀
It is my mum’s favourite!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Your mum has excellent taste, CCU! It is a winner of a cake 🙂
I’ve never heard of Donna Hay before reading your blog but I’m so happy that you’ve introduced me to her! Perhaps she hasn’t quite reached the North American market yet. Your cake looks beautiful!
I am happy to introduce you to my culinary hero! Donna is akin to Australia’s Martha, although her recipes are more user-friendly & simple yet special. Highly recommend trying this cake – is a beauty 🙂
I love poppyseeds, I love orange and I love syrup cakes. I think, I have to try this cake soon! Thanks for posting. 🙂
Awww, thanks 🙂 Make it & let me know what you think!
Looks great!!
cheers! If you like the look, you’ll love the taste.
Just the name alone makes me love this cake! 😛
Thanks! Hope you get a chance to make it 🙂
I’ve never made a syrup cake yet. Going to try this one soon, sounds amazing 🙂
It is SO easy but elevates a cake to another level! Hope you do try it, is a real winner.
In Greece we make many syrupy cakes and we love them because they are so fluffy and juicy just like this one! Thanks for coming and linking up at The Weekend Social. All posts get pinned in our pinterest board! Please be sure to come back next week starting Thursdays at 9PM EST on culinaryflavors.gr ! I hope to see you there!
I *love* Greek desserts – they are always some full of flavour. And syrup just elevates a cake from humble to stunning. See you next week at the Social 🙂
I love lemon lemon desserts and I know I would love this orange and poppyseed cake. Does it almost have the consistency of a pound cake or is it very light. Either way I am sure I will need to give this recipe a try soon. Take Care, BAM
Me too – I’m a real citrus fan. This has more of a pound cake texture but the syrup keeps it moist. I got so many compliments on this when I took it in to work 🙂
Beauddifull! I’ve got a marble cake in the oven right now, but your cake is next on my list. Yumm.
Cheers! Hope you do get a chance to make it, you’ll be glad you did 🙂
I have never tried one of her recipes but this looks amazing and such a great combination of flavours 🙂
One of the things I love about Donna is that her recipes *always* work. I have about a billion on my blog if you want to see a concise ‘best of.’
Yum, orange and poppyseed is one of my favourites! I would so love a slice of this right now 😉
Alas, cake is long gone. Was such a success that I’ll be making it again sooner rather than later…
This cake looks beautiful! Poppy seed and citrus is one of my fave combinations 🙂 And you can’t go wrong with Donna Hay!
another Donna fan! There’s an army of us 🙂 This cake is so simple yet special, hope you get a chaace to make it.
Oh my goodness! I remember seeing this in one of my old Donna Hay magazines, but I’ve never actually made it! Definitely going over this recipe tomorrow; it’s a holiday in my part of the world, and this would go down beautifully for a tea-time treat. 😀
Donna Hay magazine is my happy place! I *love* every one of my issues. Hope you get a chance to make it, everyone will love it 🙂
Oh my gosh, this looks so amazing. I’ve had cakes like this years ago, but nothing like this – they were far more conservative. And they certainly didn’t have poppyseeds! I had to look up Donna Hay and it seems like she must be the equivalent of our Martha Stewart here in the states…
Well I’m off to look over the gingerbread cookies! Another one of my faves…
Oh, thank you! What a lovely comment to read – made me uber-happy 🙂 Donna Hay is probably the Australian Martha – although on a much more ‘doable’ level, if you know what I mean. That gingerbread recipe is one of the most popular recipes on my blog!
Oh my! I just about die every time I see something poppy seed. It is my total favorite and I hardly ever get it! Where do you buy it?? Thanks for sharing it looks amazing. 🙂
I love poppy seeds it’s the only way I would ever eat a bagel…I shall give them a shot with this recipe. Happy Nesting.
Poppy seeds are so great, aren’t they? And I love bagels, too.
I’ve never combined poppyseeds with orange, just lemons. I don’t know why cause this looks like a gloriously delicious and moist version.
Poppyseeds and citrus of all types are BFFs. I need to make this cake again – it is such a hit.
Love this simple cake with the touch of surprise…the poppies. Also love the baking pan. Happy baking!
Thank you! This is by the far the most popular recipe on my blog by MILES 🙂
Reblogged this on MoéGrrL.
Is there a thermomix conversation for this recipe ?
hi, I don’t have a thermomix so nope. Good luck if you try it – let me know how it goes.
Hi just wanted to double check if it was 160 degree fan forced or not ? Thank you ! 🙂
Hi Bradee, not fan-forced, just 160C. Cheers.
This cake looks lovely! Are Australian cup measurements (250ml) used? Cheers
Thanks Georgia, it is one of my v fav cakes. Yes, Australian cups are used, at 250mL is correct. Hope you love this cake!