Poppy Seed Cake

This is a delicious and easy recipe that I have had for years. It freezes well and is great to do ahead.

Poppy Seed Cake
3 cups self-rising flour
2-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups milk
1-1/2 cups oil
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 tsp almond extract
1-1/2 tsp butter flavoring
1-1/2 tbsp poppy seeds

Mix all ingredients together, beating for about 2 minutes. Pour into 6 greased mini-pans (only about 2/3 full) and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Pour glaze over cake while still hot.

Glaze
1 c sugar
1/2 c orange juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp butter flavoring
Stir together and pour over cake.

When I pour the glaze over the cake, I pull the cake slightly away from the sides to allow the glaze to run all the way down:

You can also do these in a muffin tin. I used a mini bundt pan and they turned out nicely. They ended up looking better upside down. I found these cute ceramic loaf pans at Michaels for $1 each. After they cool, you can wrap them neatly with plastic wrap and give them as gifts.

We are going to our next-door neighbor's for an open house tonight and I wanted to take her a nice hostess gift. I bought a monogrammed tea towel (at Smith's in Mt Brook) and wrapped it around the cake. I added a small bag of mints and some peppermint bark candy. I always like to use pretty ribbon to tie everything up with. I used a plain tag from the craft store and added peppermint stickers. This is what it looked like:

The only problem with this cake is resisting the temptation to eat all of it yourself! Enjoy!