AMAZING poppy seed, orange and earl grey tea cake

Gluten-free, no refined sugar, sweetened with dates and a little maple.

• Makes: one 13 x 10-inch tray bake, or two 7-inch cake tins

• Oven temp: 160°C

• Bake: about 45 minutes

Some cakes are made for celebrations, but this one is made for literally any time of day. My favorite is first thing, for breakfast. It's soft, gentle, not too intense, a bit of a comfort breakfast to eat alongside a coffee before the day gets going.

The orange and Earl Grey are very light hints, but to me they taste delicious, and the real star of the show is the poppy seeds. This cake is fluffy and so supple, sweet, tender and just tastes wholesome, if you can describe a cake in that way.

I have a friend who's very citrus avoidant, and I realized that lemon and citrus cakes can sometimes be overly tart, especially when a lot of zest is incorporated. With this recipe I've tried it both with and without zest, and I think both ways taste absolutely delicious. So the amount of zest, or the total lack of it, can be tweaked to your preference.

It pairs beautifully with a whipped ricotta, honey and olive oil frosting, which takes it from a breakfast loaf to something a bit more special without losing that gentleness. I mean you can even have it with frosting for breakfast too (I don't judge).

I hope you like this one. Ingredients and method are below.

Ingredients

For the date purée

• 250g dates, pitted

• 1 cup water

• 4 tsp loose leaf Earl Grey

• 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the orange purée

• 4 seedless oranges

• 4 tsp loose leaf Earl Grey

For the cake

• 2 cups almond flour

• 1 cup gluten-free self-raising flour

• 1 cup gluten-free oats

• 3 teaspoons olive oil

• ½ cup whole milk

• ½ cup yogurt or kefir

• 3 eggs, at room temperature

• ¼ cup maple syrup

• 4 to 5 tbsp poppy seeds, to taste

• Orange zest, to taste (I use about 2 tbsp)

• Vanilla essence, to taste (I use a fair bit, about 2½ tbsp)

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the frosting (optional)

• 250g ricotta

• 2 tbsp honey, to taste

• 1 to 2 tbsp good olive oil

• a pinch of salt

Method

Get ready

1. Heat the oven to 160°C. Line a 13 x 10-inch tray-bake tin, or two 7-inch cake tins.

Orange purée

2. Micro-blade the orange peel to get the right amount of zest for your liking.

3. Peel the oranges and blend to a smooth purée.

4. Tip into a pan and cook down with the earl grey tea leaves for about 15 minutes, until the excess liquid has gone and you're left with around 2 cups. Set aside to cool.

Date purée

4. Put the dates in another pan with the water, Earl Grey and bicarbonate of soda. Simmer for about 15 minutes. The bicarb helps break down the date skins. Set aside to cool.

5. Blend smooth, with an immersion blender, a normal blender, or the back of a spoon and a bit of patience.

Bring it together

6. In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, gluten-free self-raising flour and oats.

7. Pour in both purées and stir well, until the flour is fully coated in the fruit paste.

8. Mix in olive oil throughout.

9. Mix in the milk and the yogurt or kefir.

10. Add the maple syrup, poppy seeds, vanilla and orange zest, and mix.

11. Beat in the eggs. With the batter at room temperature, add the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda last of all. Mix well.

Bake

12. Pour into your tin. Bake at 160°C for about 45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Let it cool before frosting.

Frosting (optional)

13. Whip the ricotta with the honey, olive oil and a pinch of salt until smooth. Taste, adjust the honey, and spread over the cooled cake.

A few notes

• Zest, or none. Both work. If you're baking for someone citrus-shy, leave it out entirely and you won't miss it.

• Coating the flour first. Almond flour is about half fat, and there's no gluten in here to toughen the crumb. So the tenderness really comes from the almond flour, plus the sugar and moisture in the purée. Mix the fruit puree through the flour mix first to coat everything evenly before the wet goes in.

• Raising agents go in last. The bicarb starts working the second it meets the batter, and there is plenty of acid in here from the yogurt, orange and dates to set it off. Stir it in right at the end.

• Room-temperature batter. Cold batter is stiff and combines unevenly, so it rises unevenly. Let it come to room temp and everything blends smooth and lifts even.