Honey Bee Cake

The cabin is the only place I know where the world disappears. No need to answer the phone, watch TV, check the news... Up until a few years ago, no Internet even! We play games till midnight, each day thinking "tonight we'll go to bed on time", and never do, and it never matters. The clock on the wall has been stuck at twenty to eight, and hasn't been reset for as long as I can remember. You can plan ahead, or not plan at all. Adventure around in the wilderness or just sit and be. Make friends with hummingbirds and fall asleep to the sound of the river. We've had rainstorms and sun, drizzles and downpours, discovered a bird's nest under the porch, heard Japanese spoken with a Russian accent, discovered that the Geologist still doesn't know what a platypus looks like, napped and hiked and laughed till it hurt. Tomorrow we head home, loaded with pictures, this place ingrained in us just a little bit more. It will be good to go home, and good to know home will always be here.

Honey Bee Cake (from Yesterfood)
Printable Recipe

Cake:
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, (14 Tb) at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey (a trick: spray your measuring cup with cooking spray before measuring honey, it comes right out!)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 egg yolk, at room temperature
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

Honey Caramel Drizzle:

1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup natural sliced almonds, lightly toasted (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch cake pan with cooking spray, line the bottom with parchment paper, and spray the paper.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then whisk to mix well.

Cream together the butter, sugar, honey, and vanilla on low speed until blended. Increase the speed to high and beat until very light and fluffy, about 7 minutes. Scrape sides of bowl frequently with a spatula. Blend in the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, adding the next one as soon as the previous one has disappeared into the batter and scarping down the bowl between each.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk in two parts, beginning and ending with the flour. After each addition, mix until just barely blended and scrape the sides of the bowl. Fold the last of the flour in by hand with a spatula so that you don't overbeat the batter.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan, and tap the pan firmly on the counter to release any air bubbles. Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Rotate the pan about half way through. The cake is done when it is firm on top, and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake will have a few moist crumbs attached.

Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for about an hour. Remove cake from pan, remove the parchment paper, and let it finish cooling. Serve barely warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with toasted almonds and drizzled with honey caramel.

While the cake is in the oven, you can make the drizzle. Combine the honey, brown sugar and butter in a small saucepan, bring to a full boil over medium heat, stirring very frequently. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I just adore the gorgeous golden color of this cake! Oh, and it smelled so fabulous while baking. There are a few more "vintage" cake recipes over at Yesterfood that I can't wait to try. Her pictures are simple perfection and I love her recipes, stop by and take a peek!

Serving the drizzle and almonds on the side allows everyone to adorn their cake as much (or as little) as they like. Even plain, the subtle honey flavor of this cake is delicious! Joe, my honey fiend, had it for breakfast (without caramel) three days in a row!

It's light and soft, fluffy and decadent. That honey drizzle? Amazingness!! I will admit to using half golden syrup though, I ran out of honey!

Altogether a simply lovely cake.

Shared at Tutorials, Tips, and Tidbits