VICTORIAN SEED CAKE

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease two 7" or 8" round cake pans, line the bottoms with a parchment circle, and then grease the parchment.
• 2. Beat the eggs in a medium bowl with a whisk. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until mixture is pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs a little at a time. When all the egg, sugar and butter have been mixed well, whisk in the caraway seeds, mace, and nutmeg. Then lightly add in the flour. Finally, stir in the brandy.
• 3. Add just enough milk to loosen the mixture and give the cake batter a good consistency - it should drop, not pour, off a spoon. Mine only took 2 tablespoons. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pans. Level off the surface with a spatula or back of a spoon. Sprinkle the demerara sugar all over the tops to make a nice sweet crust.
• 4. Bake cakes in the center of the oven for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean and dry. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. The cake keeps well when wrapped tightly in foil or parchment and kept in an airtight tin. This cake is not traditionally stacked or frosted; you just have 2 round Seed Cakes that can be sliced for Tea.
• 5. NOTE: Caraway is a type of seed common to both cake and biscuit recipes of the Medieval and Tudor periods; and the English usage of the term Caraway dates back to at least A.D. 1440.