Baking with B: Honey Cakes

Raise your hand if you don’t like honey. No one? No one? Bueller?

Ok, even if you’re one of those crazy people who does not like the taste of honey (I’m not judging, I promise) please consider giving these a try anyway. The name of the recipe makes these little cakes sound a lot more sickly-sweet than they actually are. In reality, they’re moist and cakey with a hint of fruit flavor that will have you more obsessed with honey than Winnie the Pooh.

Eat them in the morning with fresh fruit, take them with tea in the afternoon, or slather them with marzipan for a tasty dessert. You won’t regret any of it.

Honey Cakes (makes 6)

½ stick butter

¼ c. packed light brown sugar

4 tbsp honey

1 egg

½ tsp vanilla

2 tbsp apple puree

2/3 c. self-rising flour

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a muffin pan with 6 baking cups. Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Pour in the honey and beat everything together until fluffy. In another bowl, beat the egg, vanilla and apple puree, then beat into this butter mixture. Sift over the flour, cinnamon and ginger. Now fold the dry ingredients by running your spatula around the outside of the bowl and across the middle until everything is well mixed. Fill the baking cups with the mixture. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until risen, golden and firm to the touch. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

Happy baking!

B

Baking with B appears every other Monday on the Keeping Busy with B Blog. Find out why I like baking so much here. For more of my baking, click here. And for even more recipe inspiration, check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.

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Baking with B: Norwegian Apple Cake

For those of you who are interested (and I know y’all totally are) I have Swedish in my background, which is why I have such an unusual first name. On this blog I masquerade as B, but in real life my name is Britta, and I look just as Scandinavian as the name sounds.

Also, sometimes I get asked if I’m named after the character in Community, to which I usually respond that I changed my name when the show came out so I can more easily identify with Gillian Jacobs’ character.

Back to the cake though, because I haven’t even started to tell you about how good it is. It’s simple, light, and can be served with pretty much anything, which in a world of decadent desserts makes it the peacekeeper of all the countries. I mean, desserts. This recipe is called “Norwegian Apple Cake” but my Swedish mother has been making a version of this for as long as I can remember so I guess it masquerades as “Scandinavian” no matter what its particular country of origin.

You too can masquerade as a Scandinavian, or a Britta, and make this cake too but I have to warn you- it’s so crazy simple you’re going to start thinking you are Norwegian because you’re going to make it so often.

Norwegian Apple Cake (serves 12)

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 stick butter

2 eggs

2/3 c. light cream

3/4 c. flour

3 tsp baking powder

3-4 cooking apples

Grease and flour an 8×12-inch pan. Beat the eggs and 1 c. of the sugar until the mixture is thick and creamy and the whisk (or beater) leaves a trail after you lift it out. Pour the butter and milk into a pan. Bring to a boil and stir, still boiling, into the eggs and sugar. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold carefully into the batter so there are no lumps of flour. Pour the mixture into the prepared roasting pan. Peel, core and slice the apples; arrange them over the batter. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Bake in a moderately hot oven (400F) for 20-25 minutes until well-risen and golden brown. Cool in the pan, and then cut into slices.

B’s Tip: If you want to bring out the apple flavor even more, try mixing in 2 tsp of cinnamon to the remaining sugar before sprinkling it on top of the apples and popping it in the oven. Feel like making the recipe a little healthier? Top with less sugar, or leave it out altogether. (Half a cup is pretty generous and while delicious, not necessary.)

Happy baking!

B

Baking with B appears every other Monday on the Keeping Busy with B Blog. Find out why I like baking so much here. For more of my baking, click here. And for even more recipe inspiration, check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.

Baking with B: Ryan’s Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Cake

I was all set on baking Ryan a cake for his birthday as a surprise after he confessed to me he hadn’t had birthday cake in years, and I quizzed everyone who would listen about their favorite kinds of cake so I would know what kind to bake.

Wouldn’t you know that two hours before he was due to arrive Ryan announced that his dream birthday cake would be an ice cream cake, and so I moved hell and high water to make up this ice cream cake recipe at record speed. Cookies and cream is his favorite flavor, and so that is what he got, although if it had been my birthday I would have requested chocolate chip cookie dough.

Not that I’m asking you to make a cake for my birthday or anything. Ahem.

Ryan’s Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Cake (serves 8)

I’m not sure how they make real ice cream cakes out in real ice cream cake land, but I made the ice cream layer myself by scooping the softened ice cream into a disposable aluminum pan, smoothing it out with the back of my scoop, and letting it harden while I baked the cake layers. I normally don’t cook with disposable pans, but this step ensured all of my layers were the same size, and allowed me to pop out the ice cream layer without much fuss.

To make the cake:

1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1 tbsp baking powder

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

generous 3/4 c. sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease two 8-inch layer cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into a large bowl and add the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Beat well until the mixture is smooth, then stir in the milk.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans and smooth level. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Let cool in the pans for 2-3 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Construct your cake by popping out ice cream layer from its pan and sandwiching between the two layers. You may want to secure the layers by spreading a thin layer of icing on the cake layers before sandwiching. Top with your favorite frosting and freeze immediately. Let stand a few minutes before serving in order to cut the cake more easily.

I don’t always like to endorse particular brands or products on the blog, but I do like promoting small businesses and I swear without the pint of cookies and cream ice cream from Ed’s Real Scoop my cake wouldn’t have gone over half as well! If you’re in the Toronto area, please do check them out. They currently have two great locations in the Leslieville and Beaches neighborhoods. I’m hard pressed to choose a favorite, but if you really twisted my arm I would recommend the Raspberry White Chocolate. You haven’t tasted anything like it.

Happy baking!

B

Baking with B appears every other Monday on the Keeping Busy with B Blog. Find out why I like baking so much here. For more of my baking, click here. And for even more recipe inspiration, check out my Pinterest full of food eye candy that will have you licking your computer. Promise.