I'm not a big fan of honey. There, I said it. You might be awfully confused right now, but it's just that I cannot eat honey in its purest form. My dad is a beekeeper, and when I was young I got to smell large quantities of honey. Honey has to be "swung" out of the honeycomb in a centrifuge and is then transferred into large barrels fitted with a spigot (to make filling the honey pots easier). The honey in those large barrels smells pretty horrible. I won't go into details, because this is a blog where things are supposed to be Yum (with a capital Y!). Luckily, when I bake with honey, its best qualities are revealed. As they are in this Honey and Vanilla Bundt Cake, which is bursting with vanilla and honey-caramel flavor.
Honey (especially organic honey) can be pretty expensive. But it isn't that remarkable when you realize that a single bee has to fly out dozens to hundreds of times to produce just one drop of honey. Add to that that bees are currently in the process of being extinguished (by harmful garden chemicals for example) and you have yourself a valauable and scarce product. But when you can get hold of some of this liquid gold, you're in for some dancing tastebuds. And why not add some to a delicious bundt cake? I was a little skeptical about the amount of sugar and honey in this recipe but the cake came out deliciously soft and not too sweet at all. It tastes like soft caramel with a good kick of vanilla. Mm... can you resist?
Recipe Honey and Vanilla Bundt Cake
serves: +- 8 people
Tools: bundt pan
Ingredients:
260 grams self-raising flour, sifted
150 grams caster sugar
120 ml honey (1/2 cup)
150 grams butter
3 eggs
180 grams crème fraîche (or sour cream with a fat content of 15%+ and a little cornflour)
1 vanilla pod
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1. Preheat oven to 180C/360F
2. Mix the sifted flour with the caster sugar in a bowl
3. Melt the butter and set aside
4. Split the vanilla pod and collect the seeds
5. Mix butter, eggs, honey, vanilla seeds and crème fraîche in a large bowl until everything is incorporated
6. Add the flour and sugar mixture, mix until incorporated without overworking the batter
7. Pour batter into a greased bundt pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a skewer/knife comes out clean. Let cake cool in the tin before turning out. Dust with icing sugar and enjoy with a little crème fraîche (if you have any left) and a drizzle of honey.
Source: Saveurs Magazine (Spécial Desserts 2014)
Labels: Bundt Cake, Cake, Creme Fraiche, Easy, Honey
