This Bee Honey Lemon Cake is the perfect pairing of honey and lemon, baked in an adorable beehive shaped cake pan, an all season sweet treat.
Honey
Having grown up around Middle Eastern food, nearly all things sweet, were sweetened with honey.
In desserts such as Baklava or a Grape Harvest Celebration Cake, honey brings not only sweetness but texture as well.
However, honey is not reserved for desserts alone, as you will find in my Salmon Croquettes with Chili peppers marinated in honey then used as a drizzle, or Grilled Peach Crostini.
Honey As Medicine
Did you know that honey produces hydrogen peroxide naturally?
It occurs, in the honey, by an enzyme called glucose oxides, which is added to the plant nectar by bees.
Making honey a natural antibacterial, both topically and internally.
It’s why, back in the day, doctors always carried a jar of honey in their home visiting bag.
What’s that got to do with cakes?
Nothing really, except that I most prefer to cook with ingredients that have interesting properties, like yogurt, which offers healing elements to our intestines, than over processed ingredients, like sugar.
Honey Flavors
Honey has a very unique flavor of its own, each type depending on what flowers the bees were extracting from.
The plants a bee is attracted to, is what determines what the honey will ultimately taste like.
Once I bought a honey that had an unpleasant taste.
Looking at the jar to see what flower it was gathering nectar from; it was eucalyptus!
Might have been great for a sore throat or cough but not desirable for dessert. Always read the label to see where the bee was hanging out.
Bees And Honey Cakes
The moment frost subsides and new life starts popping up from the ground, after a long winter’s sleep, we start thinking about bees.
I have come to enjoy feeding birds, in my yard, just so I can watch their comings and goings, but it’s the bees I find fascinating to watch when flowers begin to bloom.
The bee, hovering in my cover photo of this honey cake, was a shot I felt lucky to capture while living in Brazil.
Flowers blooming nearly all year, the bees have so many plant choices,producing varied flavors, but I found it odd that few desserts were made with honey in Brazil.
Oh sure, honey is used in some cooking in Brazil but because they are known for their sugar cane, most desserts are made from sugar and not honey.
So, when I saw this little bee hoving about my balcony, it inspired me to make my first honey cakes.
Why Lemon In Honey Cakes?
I have always found that lemon is a flavor that marries well with sweets.
It seems to enhance, or brighten, the flavors in just about any recipe it is added to.
This honey cake recipe allows the flavor of the honey to stand out, and I attribute that to the lemon.
Lemon rinds are loaded with oil, naturally. The lemon oil adds just the right amount of balance to make this cake extra moist.
I’ve also found that orange rinds would do the same, except the flavor of the orange is more dominant and would detract from the flavor of the honey.
So… lemon it is!
How This Recipe Came To Bee
When it comes to whimsical kitchen gadgets, I am always eager to try something new; it is where I spend much of my playtime.
That said, I came across this adorable beehive mini cake pan and thought ‘there’s no way all those intricate details won’t cause the cake to stick to them’.
As it turned out, my curiosity got the best of me and I had to create a honey cake, with lemons (the color of the pan), to see if it worked. It did and I just love it!
It’s funny how the oddest things will inspire a recipe in my brain.
Honey Cakes, Winnie The Pooh And Christopher Robin
Having gone to see the Christopher Robin film with my (30 year old), daughter, reminded me just how much I adored Winnie the Pooh, both while growing up and when my children were growing up.
The numerous scenes in the film of honey oozing and dripping from here and there, tantalized my appetite to go home and make these honey cakes… yet again.
My little dedication to Pooh Bear!
Ingredients Needed
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Butter
- Sugar
- Honey
- Eggs
- Milk
- Lemon juice and zest
Equipment Needed
- Beehive Muffin tins – these are my favorites and they are easy to clean.
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cup
- Citrus press – it took me forever to invest in a citrus press, now it makes pressing and straining fast and easy.
- Oven
Bee Honey Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 8 tbsp Unsalted Butter softened
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1/3 cup Honey extra for glaze
- 4 Eggs
- 3/4 cup Milk
- 4 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1 tbsp Lemon zest extra for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour baking tins.
- In a large bowl, whisk the softened butter, sugar and honey together until well blended. Add one egg at a time and whisk until light and creamy. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and zest. Whisk.
- In a medium bowl, sift the dry ingredients together and whisk, making sure they are well blended Whisk the dry ingredients into the batter mixture. Slowly add milk and blend well.
- Transfer to the prepared baking pans and bake for about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool.
- Glaze
- Whisk the remaining lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of honey until well blended.
- Remove cakes from their pan and drizzle glaze over the cakes. Add a little lemon zest across the tops, if you would like a touch more color and zing!
Video
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.