Honey Cakes
Submitted by socalsue
Victorian honey cakes from an 1872 recipe, made with butter, honey, and egg yolks, topped with heather honey and ground almonds. Light, tender, and warmly sweet.
YIELD
2 dozenPREP
15 minCOOK
25 minREADY
40 minA honey cake recipe dating back to 1872, and the simplicity shows. Butter rubbed into flour, egg yolks beaten into milk, sugar and honey warmed together on the stove, all combined into a soft dough that gets rolled, cut into rounds, and baked golden.
The method of gently heating the honey and sugar together before mixing them in is old-fashioned but smart. It dissolves the sugar completely and thins the honey so both distribute evenly through the dough. Cold honey clumps and creates sticky pockets instead of a uniform sweetness.
The brief second bake at a very low temperature sets the cakes without drying them out. They come out light and tender with a subtle honey flavor that’s sweet but not cloying. Served warm with a drizzle of heather honey and ground almonds on top, these are as good as they get.
Kitchen Tips
- Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. This is the same technique used in scones and creates a tender crumb.
- Roll the dough lightly, about ½ inch thick. Heavy rolling compresses it and makes dense, tough cakes.
- Watch closely during baking. At 20 minutes, check for light browning. These are small and go from golden to overdone quickly.
- Serve hot with warm honey for the best experience, as the original recipe suggests.
Variations
- Use any floral honey if heather honey is hard to find. Lavender or wildflower honey works beautifully.
- Add a pinch of cinnamon or cardamom to the dough for a spiced version.
- Swap ground almonds for ground pistachios in the topping for color and a slightly different nutty flavor.
Ingredients
Directions
To make about twenty-four 2-inch cakes.
This recipe is date from 1872.
An alternative finish is to serve these light littles cakes hot with warm honey.
In a bowl, rub the butter into the flour.
In another bowl, beat the egg yolks into the milk.
In a saucepan over low heat, gently heat the sugar and honey, stirring them until they are well mixed.
Then stir in the baking powder.
Alternately add the honey mixture and the milk mixture to the butter and flour, mixing the ingredients very well.
Add a pinch of salt and mix again.
Put the resulting dough on a floured board; roll it very lightly to a thickness of about ½ inch.
Cut out about 24 rounds.
Place the rounds on a buttered baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are lightly browned.
Remove cakes to a rack.
Put the rack of cakes into a very cool 250 F oven for no longer then five minutes to set.
The cakes may be served either hot or cold.
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