Honey Almond Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Make the cake: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Brush the bottom and side of a 9-inch springform pan with olive oil and line the bottom with parchment. Brush the parchment with more olive oil and dust with almond flour, tapping out the excess.
• Whisk the almond flour, potato starch and salt in a medium bowl. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup honey, the lemon zest, 4 egg yolks, vanilla and almond extracts, and the olive oil in a large bowl; beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low; beat in the almond flour mixture until just incorporated.
• In a separate bowl, beat the 6 egg whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar until stiff glossy peaks form, about 3 more minutes. Gently fold about one-third of the beaten egg whites into the batter, then fold in the rest until just incorporated (it's OK if some white streaks remain). Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake is golden and springs back when lightly pressed, 50 to 55 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. (Don't worry if the cake falls slightly in the center.)
• Meanwhile, make the topping: Place the lemon slices in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a simmer over high heat, about 3 minutes; drain and return to the pan. Cover with fresh water; bring to a simmer and drain. Repeat one more time with fresh water. Return to the saucepan and add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup honey, the lemon juice and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the lemon slices are tender and the liquid is syrupy, about 20 minutes. Set aside.
• Run a thin knife around the edge of the cake, then remove the springform ring. Use a spatula to transfer the cake to a serving plate (remove the parchment). Remove the candied lemon slices from the syrup with a fork. Brush the cake all over with some of the lemon-honey syrup, then top with the candied lemon, almonds and pomegranate seeds. Serve with the remaining syrup on the side.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Thoroughly butter a 12 1/4-by-11 2/3-inch honeycomb pull-apart dessert pan, making sure to cover all the detailed nooks and crannies. Lightly dust the pan with all-purpose flour (sifting the flour over the top of the pan works best; tap out excess).
• Beat the butter, salt and 1 3/4 cups of the sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, scraping down the sides as needed, until well combined (the butter does not need to be fluffy), about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until incorporated (the mixture will first appear loose and broken, but will eventually come together). Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and beat into the butter mixture; reserve the pod for another use.
• Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the almond flour until combined. Add the all-purpose flour and beat on low until combined. Add the whiskey and beat on low until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Tap the pan firmly on the counter a few times to force batter into the edges of the pan.
• Bake the cake until golden brown, the edges begin to pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center and edges of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a serving plate; carefully remove the pan and very lightly brush away any excess flour from the top of the cake.
• Meanwhile, use a vegetable peeler to peel wide strips from half of the orange (about 6 strips).
• Boil the cardamom pods in 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat until most of the water has evaporated and the mixture is very fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup of the honey and the orange peels. Let sit for 5 minutes. Strain the mixture through a mesh sieve into a small glass measuring cup; discard the solids. The mixture should be very thin and slightly warm; gently re-heat if necessary. Slowly drizzle the mixture over the warm cake, allowing the cake to soak up the honey before adding more. Let the cake cool, about 1 hour.
• Just before serving, heat the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon water in small saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves, 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup honey until combined, then remove from the heat and drizzle over the top of cake, allowing the honey to slowly drip over the sides and into each honeycomb.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Thickly butter a 6-cup loaf pan. Pour in 3 tablespoons of the melted butter, swirl to coat the bottom, and sprinkle in 1/4-cup of the brown sugar. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of the honey and sprinkle the almonds evenly over the bottom.
• In a large bowl, whisk the egg. Add the remaining 3/4-cup brown sugar and mix. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons melted butter and 1/2 cup honey and mix. Gradually mix in the buttermilk.
• In another large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Working in batches, and mixing after each addition, add the dry ingredients to the buttermilk mixture. Mix until smooth.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out dry and almost clean (a few crumbs are okay) 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and let cool until the topping is firm.

Steps:

• Combine coffee and honey in saucepan; bring to boil. Set aside to cool.
• Place dates in brandy and set aside.
• Blend oil, brown sugar, and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.
• Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg.
• Add flour mixture and coffee mixture alternately to egg mixture.
• Fold in sliced almonds, dates with brandy, and lemon peel.
• Grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. Spread bottoms with Honey Smear.
• Pour in batter. Bake in a preheated 350* oven for 1 hour or until cake tests done.
• Cool on rack to room temperature.
• Honey Smear:.
• Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Cream until light and well blended. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

Steps:

• First, make the honey & almond sponges. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Grease two 15cm cake tins and line the bases with baking parchment. Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat the butter, muscovado sugar and 140g honey until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition until well incorporated. In a clean bowl, whisk together the flour, almonds, baking powder and 1 / 4 tsp salt. Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until just combined. Add the vanilla and milk, continuing to beat, then add the remaining flour mixture, beating until just combined. Divide the mixture evenly between the tins and bake for 45-55 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of each cake comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool for 10 mins in their tins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Leave the oven on for the candied almonds.
• To make a honey syrup, put 2 tbsp honey and 2 tbsp water in a small saucepan and heat for 1-2 mins or until the honey has dissolved. Set aside.
• Make the candied almonds by heating 150ml water and the sugar in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan with a sugar thermometer attached, and swirl until the sugar has dissolved. Meanwhile, spread the almonds out on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10-12 mins until golden brown. Heat the sugar syrup to 119C, turn off the heat and stir in the warm almonds. Keep stirring until the syrup coats the nuts and turns white and crunchy. Tip the almonds back onto the baking sheet and roughly chop half of them.
• Next, make the Swiss meringue buttercream. Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat the butter until pale and fluffy. Put the egg whites and sugar in a clean heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Whisk using a clean electric hand mixer and heat the mixture until the sugar has dissolved (you can check this by feeling some of the egg white between your fingers to check that it isn't grainy). Remove the bowl from the heat and, using a stand or electric hand mixer, whisk for 10 mins or until the mixture forms stiff peaks and has cooled to room temperature. Add the butter, 1-2 tbsp at a time, and beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Beat in the honey and transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle.
• To assemble the cake, level the sponges by cutting off the domed tops and split each sponge in half to create four layers. Fix the bottom layer to a cake board or stand with a splodge of buttercream, brush with the honey syrup and pipe a layer of buttercream on top. Gently press the second layer on top and repeat with the remaining layers. Cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream, then use a palette knife to scrape the sides clean. Pipe a ring of buttercream blobs around the top, or spread a thick layer with a palette knife. Decorate with the candied almonds.