Honey Cakes
Just like Bilbo and his travel companions, we are going to enjoy some delicious and fortifying honey cakes this week. These cakes are sweet but not too sweet - unlike white sugar, honey imparts flavour beyond sweetness, and depending on the type of honey you use, these cakes will also taste subtly of that more complex flavour. A good quality honey is imperative here - it’s sort of the star of the show. Lavender honey, cinnamon honey, or wildflower honey would all be welcome choices, but honey straight-up is also great. Pair these with a cup of tea or coffee for an afternoon break, or as a celebration of the taste of spring - you’ll find these tasty little cakes go with just about everything! Bon appetit!
Ingredients
1 ¾ cup flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature (plus about 3 tbsp for greasing muffin pans)
zest of 1 lemon
¼ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
¾ cup milk
2 eggs
¾ cup high quality honey + 1/4 cup honey for drizzling on top
1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Butter your muffin tin, or line your tin with baking cups or squares of parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and lemon zest.
Using a fork, mix the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles sand. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, honey, and vanilla.
Pour the wet mixture over the dry and combine until the dry is just hydrated, but do not over-mix.
Spoon the batter into your muffin tin- it will be between 1/4 cup and 1/3 cup of batter each.
Bake for 16 minutes, or until mostly done but not quite golden.
Remove each cake from the muffin pan and allow them to cool slightly on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
Warm the remaining 1/4 cup of honey in the microwave or on your stovetop for about 10 seconds.
Using a silicone pastry brush, coat the tops of the cakes with the honey, allowing it to run down the sides. Let the cakes sit for about 5 minutes so the honey can soak into them.
Bake for an additional 8-10 minutes, or until the cakes are golden brown and the edges are crisp.
If you wanted to get very fancy, you could add lemon juice and a little zest into the last 1/4 c of honey to heighten the citrus flavour, or a little extra cinnamon if you’ve used cinnamon honey to make your cakes a bit spicier. But, quite honestly, these honey cakes are great as is, without any extras, and make for a tasty treat at just about any time of day. You can certainly take a page from Beorn’s book and offer them to beleaguered guests! Enjoy!
Jennifer