Honey Cake

Honey cake is very moist and spongy. This is soaked in sugar/honey syrup, hence the name :). Bangalore has some really fantastic local bakeries who prepare fresh baked goods in the evening everyday. We had to get there early enough to get a hold of all the fresh bakes for the evening. These were small bakeries that were owned and operated by a couple of people. These stores had in-house kitchens with ovens and all the goodies were baked there. If one was friends with the owner, he would save a piece or two of the fresh bakes for you when requested ahead of time :). We have a few of our favorites in these bakeries, honey cake is one among them. My family loves this cake especially as there is coconut topping.

Made the basic cake using the hot milk cake recipe from Akshatha and soaked the cake in sugar-honey syrup, topped it with a thin layer of jam and shredded coconut. Also realized that its been 2 years since I started this blog.. More reason to celebrate and eat cake 🙂

Ingredients

for cake (scroll down for the eggless version of the cake)

flour mixture
all purpose flour 1 cup
baking powder 1 tsp
salt 1/4 tsp

wet ingredients
sugar 3/4 cup
eggs 2 @ room temperature
vanilla extract 1 tsp
milk 1/2 cup
unsalted butter 2 tbsp

for sugar-honey syrup
sugar 1/4 cup
water 1/2 cup
honey 1/3 cup

for topping
jam 1/2 cup or more
honey 2 tbsp
shredded coconut 1/4 cup

Method

for cake
Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
Grease and dust flour in a 9 inch round pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Keep the flour mixture aside.
Heat milk and butter until the butter melts in a separate bowl. Keep aside but keep it hot. (Note: can heat on stove top or in a microwave oven)
Take a big bowl, add the sugar, vanilla and eggs.
Beat it with an electric mixer or whisk, until light and fluffy (should be about triple in volume)
Note: took about 5 mins with high speed when using electric mixer
Whisk in the flour mixture.
Whisk in the hot milk-butter mixture.
Pour the batter into prepared pan, tap against counter and bake for 30 minutes until cake springs back when touched on top.
Note: when cake is done, the top will be browned and edges will come away from the pan.
Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then carefully invert out.
Cool right side up on a wire rack.

for sugar-honey syrup
Heat water and sugar on medium flame, till the sugar dissolves.
Turn off the flame and mix in the honey.
Set aside and let it cool completely.

for topping
In a pan add the jam, warm (for about 1-2 mins on stove top) the jam till the texture is smooth.
Mix in the honey and turn off the flame. Set aside and let it cool.

assembling the cake
Once the cake is cooled completely using a toothpick or fork, poke holes on the cake, drizzle the sugar syrup on all the parts of the cake uniformly.
Soak it well, so it remains moist when sliced.
Spread the warmed jam evenly on the cake.
Sprinkle shredded coconut and slice.
Enjoy the utterly moist cake immediately or refrigerate it for 12 hours and then serve.

Note: for eggless version of the cake
Ingredients:
maida/apf 2 cups
baking soda 1/4 tsp
baking powder 1 tsp
milk 1/2 cup (if needed)
curd/greek yogurt 3/4 cup
sugar 3/4 cup
oil 3/4 cup
vanilla extract 1 tsp

Method
Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
In a mixing bowl add curd, sugar, oil and vanilla extract.
Mix it using a whisk for 5-6 mins.
In another bowl sieve together maida, baking soda and baking powder.
Add the four mixture in to the wet ingredients and mix till all combined well. Make sure not to over mix the batter, as the cake will become chewy.
If the batter is very thick, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of mix to make it to a runny consistency.
Pour into a prepared baking tray (I have used a 9inch square pan) and bake for 40 mins or till the toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
For the rest of the process check sections “for sugar-honey syrup”, “for topping” and “assembling the cake” listed above.

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