Coconut Poppy Seed Minicakes

So I was bored today (read: procrastinating) and it was the first sunny afternoon we had in a while, so I decided to throw together a quick somethin' somethin'.

I found poppy seeds in the cupboard and wanted to make a cake with it. Then I saw the muffin tins and thought, why not?

These poppy seed minicakes are soft, moist and not too sweet. I like the addition of coconut, especially since it goes so well with orange. And, well, poppy seed loves its tropics, so everyone's happy!

Feel free to put this in a 9x5 inch loaf pan and do it as one cake. Depends if you're feeling like stuffing your mouth with a whole minicake, or slicing off thick cuts.

Coconut Poppy Seed Minicakes
Makes about 24 minicakes
Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/4 cups of sugar
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup of poppy seeds
• 1/3 cup of desiccated coconut
• 1/4 cup of orange zest (about one big orange's worth, or 2 mediums)
• 1 cup of milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside. 

In another bowl or standmixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs and beat until combined. Fold in the poppy seeds, orange zest and coconut.

Add in the flour mixture in batches, alternating between flour and milk until it's all combined. If the batter seems too dry, add a bit more milk until it's the consistency you want.

Grease muffin tins well (or loaf pan, if using). Pour in batter, filling up each tin about 3/4 of the way. Bake at 350F for about 15-20 minutes (if using loaf pan, bake for about 25-30 minutes) or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack for about 5-10 minutes. 

Enjoy with cream cheese or butter (actually, lemon curd would be nice too) and a nice, hot pot of tea.