Victorian Seed Cake - Testing

https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/dessert-cake/victorian-seed-cake.html

This is yet another seed cake recipe to try. The Shakespeare seedcake was good but seemed a bit heavy to my taste. I shall cheat and use this version using baking powder.

4 eggs, beaten

1 cup (8 oz) butter, softened

1 1/8 cup (8 oz) sugar

1-3 Tbsps whole caraway seeds

1/2 tsp ground mace

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

2 1/4 cup (11.5 oz) flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup brandy

2-4 Tbsps milk

4 Tbsps demerara (natural raw) sugar

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. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one 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, baking powder and salt. 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.

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.