Christmas Honey Cake

Christmas Honey Cake

Easy recipe for a rich, moist honey cake: perfect with a cuppa. Coffee And Tea.Winter Special.

Preparation time less than 30 mins

Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour

Serves Serves 8

Ingredients

• 170 g / 6 oz clear honey
• 140 g / 5 oz butter
• 85 g / 3 oz light Muscovy sugar
• 2 eggs beaten
• 200 g/7 oz self raising flour, sieved
• water

For the icing

• 55 g / 2 oz icing sugar
• 1 tbsp clear honey
• hot water
  

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 C / 350  F/Gas 3 and butter and line the bottom of a 7 in / 18 cm cake tin.
2. Measure the honey, butter and sugar into a large pan. Add a tablespoon of water and heat gently until melted.
3. Remove from the heat and mix in the eggs and flour.
4. Spoon into the cake tin and bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the cake is springy to the touch and shrinking slightly from the sides of the tin.
5. Cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack.
6. While the cake is still warm, make the icing by mixing the sugar and honey together with 2 to 3 teaspoons of hot water. Trickle over the cake in whatever design takes your fancy.
   

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Christmas Coffee & Walnut Cake

Christmas Coffee & Walnut Cake

The classic combo is made extra sumptuous with mascarpone frosting - a traditional sponge for cake sales and parties
PREP: 45 MINS
COOK: 30 MINS
plus cooling
EASY Cooking 
Serving
CUTS INTO 10 SLICES
Coffee & walnut cake
Coffee & walnut cake
12345(19 ratings)
By Sarah Cook Magazine subscription – 5 issues for £5
PREP: 45 MINS
COOK: 30 MINS
plus cooling
EASY CUTS INTO 10 SLICES

Ingredients

250g pack softened butter, plus extra for the tins
100ml strong black coffee (made with 2 tbsp coffee granules), cooled
280g self-raising flour
250g golden caster sugar
½ tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
85g walnut, 2 tbsp roughly chopped, the rest finely chopped
For the filling
100g icing sugar, sifted, plus a little extra for dusting
150ml double cream
100 g mascarpone, at room temperature

Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter 2 x 20cm round cake tins and line with baking parchment. Set aside 1 tbsp of the coffee for the filling.
Beat the butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, eggs, vanilla and half the remaining coffee in a large bowl with an electric whisk until lump-free. Fold in the finely chopped walnuts, then divide between the tins and roughly spread. Scatter the roughly chopped walnuts over one of the cakes. Bake the cakes for 25-30 mins until golden and risen, and a skewer poked in comes out clean. Drizzle the plain cake with the remaining coffee. Cool the cakes in the tins.
Meanwhile, make the filling: beat together the icing sugar, cream and mascarpone, then fold in the reserved 2 tbsp coffee. Spread over the plain cake, then cover with the walnut-topped cake and dust with a little icing sugar.

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