Vintage Cakes

Cakes are in and I'm having fun baking them. Gone are the oh-so-easy Bundt cakes and the Cake Doctor cakes. The more complicated, the better.

Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson has cakes to keep me busy for awhile.

This weekend I made the Honey Bee Cake to celebrate the coming spring and arrival of the bees. I used a large shallow one-layer pan (12") with rounded edges. The recipe actually calls for a 9-inch springform but anything would work. Cut parchment paper to line the pan and spray the paper and sides with baking spray.

Sift together 2-1/4 cups flour, 2 tsps. baking powder and 1 tsp fine sea salt and make sure they are well-mixed.

Combine 3/4 c. plus 2 T unsalted butter at room temperature, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup honey and 2 tsp. vanilla and blend. Continue to cream on higher and higher speeds until it is light and fluffy, about 5-7 minutes. Blend in 2 eggs (at room temperature) and 1 egg yolk (at room temperature) slowly and one at a time.

On low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with 3/4 c. buttermilk (at room temperature.) Mix until just barely blended and don't overbeat! Finish by hand with a rubber spatula.

Spread the thick batter evenly into the prepared pan. Rap the pan firmly on the counter to release any air bubbles.

Place in the center of the oven and bake for 45 minutes. The cake will turn a deep golden color and be firm to the touch. Test with a wooden skewer.

Make a glaze with 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar and 1/4 cup unsalted butter. Bring the mixture just to a simmer and leave on the stove to keep warm.
 

Remove the cake from the oven and poke holes all over the top with a wooden skewer. Pour half of the glaze over the cake and then sprinkle with a generous heaping of 1/2 cup of toasted almonds. Pour of the rest of the glaze over the almonds. Place the cake back in the center of the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Cool for an hour and serve warm. I served it in thin wedges (1-1/2 inch) topped with vanilla ice cream.  Colin ate a large wedge (5 inches or more) the next day and devoured it!

I'm tempted to buy the honeycomb cake pan and forgo the almonds. I would remove the cake from the pan and place it on a cookie sheet and top the honeycomb bottom with glaze and return to the oven serving bottom side up!

Lori Draper is making The Classic - birthday cake with fudge frosting.  I'm going to try the Butterscotch Cream Roll-Up soon because I've bought the book and won't have to rely on the library's copy!