gill's honey cake

gill's honey cake

• 23 Apr 2023

I was a late convert to the joys of honey so I really haven't used it a great deal in my baking. I've had this Gill Meller honey cake recipe bookmarked for quite some time and with the changing seasons my fruit options have narrowed, so it seemed the perfect time to make this simple almond topped butter cake.

What makes this cake a bit special - well it uses wholemeal self raising flour and almond meal, a combination I don't think I've tried before. My wholemeal self raising flour was so old I had to turf it out and start afresh. Once baked, the cake is doused with runny honey whilst still warm.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17cm cake. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Gill's honey cake
Ingredients
150g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and softened
125g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
75g self-raising wholemeal flour
½ tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
75g almond meal

15g flaked almonds
2 tbsp runny honey (or set honey, warmed sufficiently to trickle)

Equipment

17cm springform cake tin, lightly greased and base-lined with baking parchment.

Method
Peheat the oven to 170°C, conventional. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter to a cream. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat thoroughly until very light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a spoonful of the flour with each and beating thoroughly before adding the next.

Combine the remaining flour with the baking powder and salt and sift into the bowl. Using a large metal spoon, carefully fold into the mixture. Stir in the ground almonds until evenly mixed.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, spreading it evenly with the back of the spoon. Scatter over the flaked almonds. Stand the tin on a baking sheet (as the cake may leak a little butter during cooking). Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, until springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

On removing from the oven, trickle the honey over the surface so that it soaks into the hot cake. Leave in the tin for half an hour or so before turning out and placing on a wire rack to cool completely. 

This cake is best kept for a day or two before eating. It keeps well for at least a week, stored in an airtight tin.

This might be a simple cake but it's a mighty tasty one. It would be delicious served as a dessert with some stewed fruit or berries and a dollop of cream.

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen.

Bye for now,

Jillian