My first honey layer cake was polished off surprisingly quickly today:). I've long wanted to learn how to bake it, and without butter or margarine at that. And now it's happened! For anyone who's interested, here's the recipe:)))
Ingredients for the cake layers:
- 400 g flour
- 200 g sugar
- 100 g vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp honey
Beat the eggs with the sugar until foamy, add the oil and honey, and place in a saucepan over the heat. Stirring constantly, bring to the boil, BUT do not let it boil. This is very important! Do not let it boil! Remove from the heat and add the baking soda. Keep in mind that the dough begins to expand as the honey reacts with the baking soda, so it is best to choose a saucepan with room to spare from the outset. Then gradually work the mixture into the flour. Ideally, of course, use the flat dough paddle attachment on a kitchen mixer, but you can also do it by hand: first mix with a spatula, then knead by hand once the dough becomes very firm. The dough will be very sticky, so wet your hands with water, shape the dough into a log, and divide it into 6 balls. Place the balls on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour to an hour and a half.
Then roll each ball into a thin round (it is best to roll it out directly on the flour-dusted surface on which you will bake it: a silicone mat or baking parchment), trim it to the desired shape (I used a plate 20 cm in diameter), prick it with a fork, and bake at 170 degrees for 4-5 minutes until golden. Bake the dough trimmings along with the cake layer. We will need them too. The dough rises and becomes incredibly soft and fluffy as it bakes. Then, in just a few minutes, the soft cake layer becomes a firm honey biscuit that is easy to remove from the baking parchment. Let the trimmings cool and grind them into crumbs in a blender.
Ingredients for the frosting:
- whites of three eggs
- 70 g sugar
- 2 tbsp honey
I decided to make cooked meringue frosting, since it is an old friend of mine and I use it as a base for all sorts of things:). Beat the egg whites into a stiff foam and, at the same time, place a small saucepan with 70 g sugar and 3 tbsp water over the heat. Traditional meringue frosting uses syrup made with 130 g sugar, but since I decided to add a little honey, I made a less concentrated syrup. As the egg-white foam becomes firmer, gradually add several teaspoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time. Pour the sugar syrup into the stiff foam in a thin stream (the sugar must dissolve completely and the syrup must boil for a couple of minutes), and continue beating until the egg whites cool to room temperature. Then pour in 2 tbsp liquid honey while continuing to beat, and the frosting is ready! Spread the frosting over the cake layers one by one and over the top of the whole cake, and sprinkle with the ground crumbs from our honey cake layers:)
Bon appétit:)