Ukrainian Honey Cake

Submitted by PanNan

"Posted for the World Tour 2005 RecipeZaar event. I haven't had time to try this yet. I was intrigued with how quick and simple it is, and the fact that I always have these pantry staples on hand. The source is the Time Life Good Cook series "Cakes", originally from the British columbia Women's Institutes Adventures in Cooking. The cake requires one day of standing before serving."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 4
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 1 cup honey, warmed in a pot over hot water
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 1⁄2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F, and butter and flour a 7" cake pan.
2. Beat honey until frothy. Add eggs, flour and baking powder.
3. Pour into prepared cake pan. Bake for 15 minutes and check the cake. When done, it will shrink slightly from the pan. Continue baking for 5 minutes if it isn't ready yet. (continue if it needs more time).
4. Turn it out of the pan while still hot, and let cool on a rack. Store in an airtight container for a day before serving.

Reviews

[NC A.]

While our Ukrainian exchange student informed us that this was not a Ukrainian honey cake, we made it anyway since we wanted a no sugar, honey based cake. It definitely needs more cooking time to ensure the middle is done. It ends up a dense pound cake which was lovely with a strawberry sauce and cup of tea!

 

[Laura M.]

This is a great honey cake recipe. I had been hunting for a honey cake for a long time to pair with a frosting idea I wanted to operationalize but could not find the right recipe, I was really really pleased by the ingredients and the way this one uses 1 cup of honey and no sugar. Kudos to whipping the honey. Ingenious! I altered the recipe a little based on a basic genoise recipe, using 6 eggs (but my eggs were small) and 1/3 cup melted butter added with the eggs whipped to hold their shape and the flour, to make a bit more contrast with the nougat frosting that I made the cake for. I used two pans and cooked for 10 min, so as to have layers. It was the perfect cake for a special birthday party. I used a soft nougat recipe that I added an extra egg white too for the "frosting" and added in toasted almonds before "frosting" it. The honey cake and the nougat worked really well together for a really special birthday cake for discerning tastes. For those who prefer something sweeter, I served it alongside optional apricot or plum preserved my guy had made. When I use this cake for a different combo, I will likely put a simple syrup on it, with maybe some vanilla in the simple syrup to accentuate the honey - and I can't wait to try this with a lavender or other single bee-sourced honey!

 

[whistlinpixie]

I don't think the one-star reviewer beat the eggs or the honey well enough. I microwaved the honey and beat it with an electric beater, then sifted the flour and baking powder together with a tiny dash of cinnamon. Then, I beat the room temp eggs separately with a pinch of cream of tartar till they were almost at soft peaks. Then I beat it all together and put it in a bunch of little mini-bundt tins. I should have checked them a little earlier, because they came out slightly overcooked at 15 mins, due to the smaller tins. (my fault) They ended up looking like sweetrolls from Skyrim, too, so that was pretty cool. Drizzled them with some honey icing that I whipped up. They kind of tasted like honey flavored angel food cake, but with a slightly chewier texture. I will make this again for sure!

 

[Mr H.]

You must understand honey cake is different to cake with honey in. Almost all web recipes are for cake with honey in - the honey is either diluted with the same or greater volume of sugar or/and there are so many spices and other flavourings (coffee, for god's sake!!) that you have to ask yourself what is the point of the honey at all? THIS RECIPE IS DIFFERENT! An authentic honey cake with roots in a place where they probably couldn't even get hold of sugar in the first place, and you have to adjust your expectations accordingly: it's never going to win votes like a black forest gateau. So. Mine came out well but as other reviewers say you need at least another 12 mins cooking, probably 15. I found it to be like a Yorkshire gingerbread in consistency but less sweet and delightfully redolent of honey. I used the propolis-tainted honey that had had to be melted from some old combs I cleaned out of the hive and it came through in the result - not too sweet, but floral with resinous and waxy overtones, great with a black coffee. Next time I may drizzle some extra honey over the surface as it cools for even more honeyedness. It's super-easy to make and a fun and unusual technique. Five stars.

 

[njenkinson]

I was excited to try this recipe but wanted to make it gluten free. I substituted the 1 1/2 cups of flour with 3/4 c. brown rice flour, 1/2 c. tapioca flour and 1/4 c. soy flour. <br/><br/>The batter was very thin going into the pan. After 15 mins, it was still VERY loose when I moved the pan...didn't even try a toothpick. Still loose after another 15, and getting brown on top, so I covered it w/ foil. 10 more minutes and a toothpick had loose batter on it, but there was some resistance at the bottom of the pan where it was obviously beginning to cook. 10 minutes later, it was suddenly cooked through and very firm!?? <br/><br/>Even though I?m letting it settle for a day, I had to try it and the flavor was nice and sweet - if it?s even better tomorrow, YUM! The outer edges and bottom were too well done and dry but I know that my flour substitutions affected the process. I will try it again!