SEEDCAKE
Of the 33 recipes for seed cake in the list posted by Sorcha, only two were not poppy seed recipes. In the early Victorian period Hollowfox envisions, was poppy seed cake popular in the "Shire"? Here is an old one for caraway seed cake.

Seedcake- Victorian Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup (227 grams) butter
1 cup (8 oz.) sugar
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
6 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons brandy
Caraway comfits (sugared caraway seeds)or lump sugar, crushed.

Sift together the flour, salt and nutmeg. Set aside. Work butter until creamy, then gradually work in the sugar until mixture looks and feels fluffy. Stir in caraway seeds and beat in egg yolks, one at a time, beating hard after each addition. Add flour and brandy, alternately, and fold in stiffly beaten egg whites, gently but thoroughly. Spoon batter into a greased and lightly floured 9-inch tube pan. Sprinkle caraway comfits or coarsely crushed lump sugar on top. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for one hour or until cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool in pan about 10 minutes, then turn out onto cake rack, and cool completely.
A day or two of mellowing, with the cake tightly wrapped, develops the delicious caraway flavor.

Like most Victorian recipes, this one takes a bit of time. It is from The American Heritage Cookbook, but recipes of this kind were usually similar on both sides of the Atlantic.