Spiced Honey Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I've been making this cake every year now since at least 2017 and it's always SO good. Over the years, I've noticed a few things that have elevated the cake. - Use a springform pan or a bundt pan like others mentioned below. This is a dense cake - not a light pan/sheet cake. - Goat (or Greek) yogurt or kefir instead of buttermilk - Spices are changed to roughly 1Tsp of each: Cardamom, star anise (Fresh), clove (fresh), nutmeg (fresh), ginger (fresh), 1TBSP vanilla extract. I don't use cinnamon bc my partner is allergic. - Use a decent quality honey - it adds complexity and will be less runny (pro-tip, oil your measuring cup before you do anything sticky and it won't stick.) - Fresh squeezed oranges > orange juice. - Cake will collapse a little if you pull it too soon because it will dome a little with steam. Poke if necessary, & wait until it is a darker brown to pull and it will have settled naturally without collapsing. - Let the cake rest a full day or night before frosting/serving. It's a cake that takes well to setting. - Frosting can be made subbing goat cheese for cream cheese. It's amazing. I also add a splash of bourbon, sub the cream for a splash of oat milk bc I don't want to go through the effort of the coconut milk thing, and generously zest.

• Harlan

• Norman, OK

• 11/24/2022

This cake is delicious! There was a really helpful review below that suggested using a 9-in round, 3-inch deep pan to resolve the multiple complaints of this cake not cooking in the middle. I do not have a 3-inch deep round pan, but I used BUNDT PAN, and it worked wonderfully. Highly recommend using a Bundt pant if you have it. Came out perfectly done in 55 minutes at 350F. I think potentially the other issue people are having with this recipe is the icing. I think people are using the entire can of coconut milk, rather than just the coconut cream (just the solid bit that congeals at the top of the can), which I think would result in a runny icing.. However if you just use the coconut cream, it comes out beautifully. I also added the juice of 1 lemon to the icing to really punch up the lemon zest flavor. Overall presentation was beautiful with bee pollen and fresh berries (couldn’t find any edible flowers in the store) and it tasted amazing.

• Mary Z

• Houston, TX

• 5/8/2022

i am baking right now and it had risen significantly. if you don't have coconut milk just make regular cream cheese frosting because who doesn't like cream cheese frosting. it smells wonderful and i am so excited to try. making it with my friend. Food is love.

• mia

• Atlanta, GA, United States

• 2/16/2022

WOW. wow. I can't think of a better word to describe this cake other than that. I firmly believe anyone who is interested in attempting this masterpiece should do it now! ... But first, a few easy precautions that will ensure your success. Now I must say, I am no expert baker, and I certainly do not have a fancy oven or the tools to make every delicious creation, but I have learned to work with what I can scrounge up and have learned from hours in front of many baking shows in my free time. With this in mind, I want to add my advice for getting around some of the challenges that others ran into in the previous comments. Let's talk about the cake itself - you need to be using room temperature ingredients in order for everything to incorporate beautifully and to be using regular all-purpose flour (for those with gluten allergies, I may suggest adding a gluten substitute like xanthum gum to the flour). The batter is already a loose consistency with heavy sugars like the honey, so working with gluten-free flour, which lacks the sticky binging agent of gluten, could cause your cake to have difficulty cooking in the middle (especially with those of us with less fancy ovens). Now if you forget everything else, please remember this; you must bake this cake in a 3" tall baking pan (8" or 9" in diameter) with a parchment lining. This cake will GROW and needs the room to do so. I was sweating (mostly from the heat) while waiting for this cake in my oven because the sides quickly crept up and the middle was still liquid, but rest assured, the middle will spring up at the very end (~50 in my oven on 350) of the bake like a beautiful muffin-like dome. I highly recommend using a light-colored aluminum baking pan that is NOT non-stick because the reflective nature of light-colored pans, the even heating or convection of aluminum as a metal, and the lack of a nonstick surface (believe it or not) will lead to a successful cake that is even in texture, color, and yummy taste. Now in regards to the icing, which I must say is always my least favorite part of a cake because I find most icings a bit cloying and overbearing to the flavor of the cake. This icing was heavenly - not too sweet, smoother than butter, and as visually appetizing as it was to taste. Again, use room temperature ingredients for better incorporation and be very modest with the coconut milk to achieve the perfect stiff but smooth consistency and hold (even on a hot day!). Mind you that the coconut milk is used predominantly for shine and texture in this recipe and doesn't have a strong taste to start with, so don't be surprised if you don't taste it in the final form of the icing. I ended up using 2 tablespoons of coconut milk (shaken not separated) for the icing. Now if you want to enhance the flavor of the icing to really complement the cake (and you are a fan of lemon), I added 3 tablespoons of lemon zest instead of 1, and the flavor POPPED and the color of the bright yellow specks with the black specks from the vanilla bean complemented each other perfectly. Also, ice the cake when it is completely cool to avoid your frosting running, but I found that this icing was extraordinarily durable, if you are careful with how much coconut milk you add to the icing. After icing the cake, I found that the PERFECT garnish to the lemon color and flavor of the icing was a few stems of dried lavender, a sprinkling of bee pollen, and a cut strawberry for a pop of color! Et voilà - that's it. I just wanted to show this cake some love, since it has for me and my family. Bon appétit!

• Anonymous

• Ann Arbor, MI

• 6/28/2020

I used a 10" pan, which obviously makes the cake slightly thinner but the center didn't sink. The frosting wasn't runny, but the coconut cream makes it less thicker than regular buttercream frosting and has a duller shine. It was easy to spread, but personally, I would've preferred regular frosting because of the texture and taste. I also didn't get much coconut flavor.

• Anonymous

• San Francisco

• 4/1/2020

Based on the other comments' mentions of sinkage in the middle, I decided to bake it in two separate layers and use regular flour. The cake turned out fine and was pretty good! It's like a carrot-less carrot cake.

• Anonymous

• Washington, DC

• 1/8/2019

The cake tasted fine, but collapsed in the middle! The frosting was also very runny and rather difficult to work with. This recipe should be re-examined and adjusted— I’m sure it can be great!

• Anonymous

• Sacramento

• 12/26/2018

I don't know what I did wrong, but the cake cratered in the middle. I was really looking forward to serving this dessert at my holiday dinner tomorrow with my gluten-free guests, but now I'm going to have to find something else. Also, just an FYI in case you decide to try the cake, you need to use a 9X3" pan; a 9X2 would definitely not be high enough (for the sides of the cake anyway! my sunken middle would fit!)

• Anonymous

• Orinda, CA

• 12/23/2017

It is in the oven, and I'm looking forward to the final product. There appears to be an error in the instructions. There was no way all that batter would go into a 9 in CAKE pan. I instead used a 9 inch SPRINGFORM pan and am hoping that will work out well.

• Anonymous

• Camas, WA

• 11/4/2017