Honey Cakes

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Xiao Rong
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Honey Cakes

Post by Xiao Rong »

This recipe comes from Gode Cookery, a website for medieval cooking. This particular recipe is not authentically medieval (it calls for caster sugar, which is from the New World), but I was looking more for something that would do well for an Ostara celebration with my coven. I cut them into rounds, but they would work just as well cut into crescents or any other shape. The nice thing about these cakes is that they have somewhat more of a shortbread consistency, and the cakes themselves are not very sweet at all, but you can easily adjust how sweet they are by adding more or less honey on top. I felt like they were great "ceremonial" cakes - tasty, but not distractingly so, good to share or use in a ritual. (maybe I am just a fan of not-so-sweet, milder pastries). In my opinion, they are best hot out of the oven, but my coven liked them just fine when they had been sitting out for a day.

Ingredients

For the cakes:

1 lb (4 cups) sifted flour
1/4 lb (1/2 cup) butter
2 Tbs. caster sugar
2 Tbs. honey
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 pt. (1 cup) milk
pinch salt
1 egg white

For the topping:

1/2 lb (1 cup) thick heather honey
3 Tbs. ground almonds


Directions

Rub the butter into the flour, and gently heat the sugar and honey until it is well mixed, then stir in the baking powder. Add this to the flour mixture, alternately with the egg yolks beaten with the milk. Mix very well, and finally add the salt and mix again. Roll out on a floured board very lightly and cut into rounds or shapes. Put on a greased baking sheet and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees F) for about 20 minutes. Remove to a rack, paint the tops with lightly beaten egg white, and spread over the thick honey mixed with the ground almonds. Put in a very cool oven for no longer than 5 minutes to set*. Eat either hot or cold. An alternative method is to serve these light little cakes hot from the oven with warm, melted heather honey poured over. Makes approximately 24 cakes**.

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* I don't have an extra oven lying around, so I just cooled them on the counter.
** When I made these, I only did half the recipe (1 lb. flour seemed excessive for my small coven), but I must have rolled them a little on the thin side, because I made about 24 cakes anyways, but they were each more the size of a cookie.
~ Xiao Rong ~ 小蓉 ~ Little Lotus ~
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Alura Noel
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Re: Honey Cakes

Post by Alura Noel »

This sounds really good!

Thinking back on it now, how thick would you say you'd roll out the dough the next time you make it? An Inch thick, 1/2 inch thick?

I think it would be fun to experiment with some garnishes with these cakes. Do you think fresh mint or dried cranberries would taste good on them? Cinnamon sprinkled on top (lightly)? What do you think would go well for the flavor of the cakes?

I'm definitely thinking about trying out the recipe.
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Xiao Rong
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Re: Honey Cakes

Post by Xiao Rong »

Hmm, I am thinking probably 1/3-1/2 inch thick? That was what I did before, and I liked the size of it, so I probably wouldn't change it. I would prefer to have a lot of small cakes rather than a few big ones, but that's my personal preference, and it was good for my coven because we didn't make a mess like we would if the cakes were larger and could get crumbs everywhere.

Ooh, mint, cranberries, and cinnamon sound delicious! I actually didn't have almonds on hand so I just drizzled some honey over it. I imagine that any number of toppings would go really well ... Since this is supposed to be a medieval recipe, I imagine chopped, dried dates would complement the cakes too ... Let me know what you find out!
~ Xiao Rong ~ 小蓉 ~ Little Lotus ~
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SpiritTalker
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Re: Honey Cakes

Post by SpiritTalker »

Bumping 2020
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