The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

ITJB Week 5: Honey Cake (12/31/11 - 1/7/12)

Urchina's picture
Urchina

ITJB Week 5: Honey Cake (12/31/11 - 1/7/12)

Happy New Year, everyone!

I thought we could start the New Year off sweetly with this rye-based Honey Cake. I've never made anything like this before, so will be very interested to see what it's like and to hear what experiences others have. I have  a secret, hidden hope that it's like the honey cake with glorious chunks of crunch sugar in it that is sold commercially in Belgium, where I've spent some time. Regardless, I'm sure it will be delicious!

Also -- sorry for the tardiness in getting this forum post up. Thanks for your patience!

gmagmabaking2's picture
gmagmabaking2

We three sisters enjoyed making this Honey Cake... the crumb is denser than we would call cake, put us more in mind of a bread, such as zucchini bread, or banana bread... loved baking together. Are there any other "teams" that have baking day together? This bundt cake was made by the elder sister gmabaking... she is the expert of the family. She spread some apricot jam on top and sprinkled with sliced almonds.

carlene's picture
carlene

I think using a Bundt pan was a good idea.

Carlene

gmagmabaking2's picture
gmagmabaking2

Ours had a low center like your's with the almonds, but were not gummy on top... the crumb looked about the same. Barb's in the picture I posted had a bit of a low center, but the beauty of the bundt is the bottom becomes the top! 

Diane

carlene's picture
carlene

I ordered my white rye flour online, because I couldn’t find it anywhere local.  I did find Buckwheat honey.  I topped one loaf with sliced almonds, which I had left over from the Almond Buns, and I used candied orange peel on the other loaf.  I really liked the candied orange peel, but my husband didn’t.  I baked them a bit more than 2 1/2 hours, about another 15 minutes.  If you look at my slices I have a bit of somewhat gummy dough at the top, is it supposed to be that way?  Or did I still under bake them?  This wasn’t just in the center, it is the whole loaf.  Should a cake tester come out clean as with other cakes when they are done?  It was hard to tell when they were done.  The cakes still taste really good.  It reminds me of gingerbread.

Carlene

GermanFoodie's picture
GermanFoodie

I made this according to recipe, but had to do the molasses substitution thing b/c I couldn't get my hands on buckwheat honey. The taste was WAY too overpowering for me, and I can tell this won't be a family favorite. That said, I am intrigued by the fact that a recipe that read this weird and looked this strange before baking would turn out so nicely. :)

 

Urchina's picture
Urchina

I love the almonds on top! Very pretty!

 

GermanFoodie's picture
GermanFoodie

I was very pleased w/ the result myself. Thank you for initiating this challenge, it has been very worthwhile so far!

Nici's picture
Nici

I made half quantities and the only other alteration was that my egg weighed 50g and so I reduced the amount of water accordingly.  The cake took exactly 2 hours to bake, and although nice, was not quite tasty enough to put on my "have again" list.

gary.turner's picture
gary.turner

I've made this twice. Both tasted great, kinda like a gingerbread without the sharpness of ginger. A slice with a schmear of butter and a cup of coffee is a wonderful mid-morning snack.

The first try, I thought was a bit too thick; it was very slow pouring. For the second try, I used two eggs for a bit more moisture, and stopped mixing as soon as the DLX pulled strings across the bowl; about six or so minutes after the flour was incorporated. Since I made two changes, I haven't a clue which caused the improvement. I'm pretty sure both contributed. The cake had more rise and was somewhat less dense; still with small, regular alveoli.

It took about three hours to bake. My oven is recently temperature calibrated and I use thermometers to verify temps. That may have been overlong simply because I don't know cakes. A cake tester, it seems to me, will always come out wet due to the honey. Again, due to the honey, there was little or no springiness to the top until the very end, when internal temp was 200+℉. I did get a pulling away from the sides of the pan toward the end of baking.

I'd appreciate comments regarding 1) the wetness factor, 2) comparable time/speed between the KA and DLX, and 3) how one tells when this cake is done.

cheers,

gary

loydb's picture
loydb

To make white rye flour I milled rye and then sifted to 80% extraction. I think the walnuts were a little heavy, the centers never really rose. I cooked for 3 hours as well, until it started pulling away from the pan a bit. There is no gumminess at all -- it's surprisingly light! My wife also thought it was gingerbread. :) I'm in the "tasty, but not crazy enough about it to make again" camp.