I’m not much of a cake lover. Although there are quite a number of cake and sweet bake recipes on my channel; they’re mostly made for you. I do enjoy sampling them, but I would not bake most of them specifically for myself. But if I had to choose my favourite cake – honey cake would be the one.
Honey cake is an Eastern European classic. It and its variations can be found in many countries in that part of the world. What I love about it is its simplicity. It has light flavour and texture. It is moist and not too sweet. And it takes only a few ingredients to create this delicious treat.
I had never attempted making it before recording this video. And was a little fiddly, but if I can make a decent looking honey cake on my first try, then it can’t be that hard.
This recipe makes a 18cm (7in) cake. You can increase the amounts of all the ingredients by 30% and use 3 eggs instead of 2 eggs to make a 23cm (9in) cake.
Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.
Ingredients
For the layers –
50g (1.75oz) honey
100g (3.5oz) sugar
20g (0.7oz) butter
2 medium eggs (100g; 3.5oz)
4g (0.14oz) baking soda
250g (8.8oz) white bread flour
For the filling –
400g (14.1oz) sour cream
100g (3.5oz) icing sugar
150g (5.3oz) heavy whipping cream
Fresh berries for serving.
Method
- Make the filling. Whisk the sour cream with the icing sugar until smooth. In a sperate bowl whisk the cream until it becomes thick. Fold the sour cream and icing sugar into the whipped cream. Cover and leave in the fridge for later.
- Make the pastry. Combine the honey, sugar, and butter in a medium sized pan. Place on medium-high heat and cook until the sugar is completely melted. Take the pan off the heat.
- Slowly pour the whisked eggs into the pan whist whisking continuously. Add the soda and whisk until smooth. Add the flour a couple of tablespoons at a time and fold it in using a spatula. Once all the flour has been mixed in, the paste should be thick and not extremely sticky. You can leave it to rest for a few minutes if it’s too sticky to handle.
- Divide the paste into 8 pieces weighing around 62g (2.2oz). Place them on a well-floured surface and dust them with more flour.
- Roll each peace out to slightly larger than 18cm (7in). Cut a circle using a stencil such as a plate or a cake tin bottom. Place two pieces of pastry on a piece of non-stick paper cut to the size of a large baking tray.
- Bake the pastry discs for around 5 minutes at 180C (355F) fan off. Bake two at a time to get consistent results. Stack the discs after baking and leave to cool down. Brush off any excess flour.
- Bake the scraps for 10 minutes turning them halfway through. They should be nice and dry. Leave the scraps to cool down and then crush them using a food processor or place them in a bag smash them with a rolling pin.
- Assemble the cake. Plop a large tablespoon of filling onto the first piece of pastry and spread it out evenly. Top with another piece of pastry and continue until all the pieces are stacked up. Finally, cover the top and the sides of the cake with the remaining cream.
- Sprinkle the pastry crumbs over the top of the cake and then cover the sides of the cake with the remaining crumbs. Pick the crumbs up and hold then in a cupped hand and then press your hand with the crumbs against the side of the cream covered cake. Do this over a tray so that you can collect the fallen crumbs later and reattach them if need be.
- Leave the cake in the fridge until the next day to let the pastry absorb the moisture from the cream and to let everything set in place.
Serve the cake topped with fresh berries.
