Apple Cake with Honey-Bourbon Glaze ~ #TheCakeSliceBakers

 This Apple Cake with Honey-Bourbon Glaze is chock-full of apple and 

spice flavor and would be the perfect treat on a cold fall afternoon.

Honey-Ginger Sour Cream Cake ~ #TheCakeSliceBakers

The honey and ginger in this Honey-Ginger Sour Cream Cake just pair stogether so perfectly, providing a sweet and spicy baking 

match made in heaven. The lemon and honey syrup adds a wonderful stickiness to the cake and the addition of

some candied ginger adds a nice textural element.

Chamomile Cake with Honey Crème Fraîche ~ TheCakeSliceBakers

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” C.S. Lewis

With the delicate flavor of chamomile, a beautiful crumb, and a honey-flavored crème fraîche

frosting, this cake is sure to be a favorite and have everyone asking for another slice.

Pear Honey Rosemary Bundt Cake ~ #BundtBakers

Pear, honey, and rosemary are just flavors that work together so well.  

Do yourself a favor and make this bundt, you will be so happy that you did.

Carrot-Honey Layer Cake ~ #TheCakeSliceBakers

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake.

Morning Glory Bundt Cake with Yogurt & Granola Topping ~ #BundtBakers

"I love breakfast, and I don't see any reason it has to be cereal and eggs and toast." Ruth Reichl.  I totally agree and this Morning Glory Bundt with Yogurt Granola Topping would be the perfect something else.

Chocolate-Dipped Sesame Nut Bars ~ #CreativeCookieExchange

Summer went by in the blink of an eye.  Make going back to school a little easier with these easy-to-make and even easier to eat Chocolate Dipped Sesame Nut Bars - you won't be able to stop at just one!

Honey Mixed Nut Bars - #CreativeCookieExchange

Nuts in Cookies! is the theme for #CreativeCookieExchange this month.  I had trouble picking just one type, so I used all the nuts - well almost.

Orange Blossom Honey Madeleines #CreativeCookieExchange

April showers bring May Flowers, and that leads me to the theme for this months #CreativeCookieExchange - May Flowers.  I think that this theme really allows us to be creative with our cookies, whether it be with the addition of edible flowers, a floral extract, or even the shape of the cookie.

Honey and Beer Spice Bundt Cake ~ #BundtBakers

It is time for some bundt baking with the #BundtBakers. The theme this month is Spice - and considering that it is still so cold in some parts of the country, I think adding a little spice to our lives is a good thing to warm us up a little.

Honey-Ginger Spiced Pecans

This is a super quick recipe that I whipped up to decorate my November cake from the Cake Slice Bakers. A quick search revealed a honey-glazed pecan recipe, and I added some ginger for an added kick.  They paired really well with the Applesauce Spice Cake, and I could not stop nibbling on the leftovers.  I think they would be a great addition to a salad too.

Honey-Ginger Spiced Pecans
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup honey
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1½ cup pecans
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350℉.
2. Whisk together honey and ginger, add pecans, tossing to coat well. 
3. Spread pecans in 1 layer in a shallow baking pan and sprinkle with sugar. 
4. Bake in middle of oven 15 minutes, then stir and bake 5 minutes more.
5. Transfer while still warm to a sheet of parchment paper or foil and, working quickly, separate pecans with a fork. 
6. Cool completely (about 1 hour) and remove nuts from parchment, breaking up any large pieces.
7. Pecans keep, layered between parchment or wax paper in an airtight container, at room temperature 3 days.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious

The Cake Slice Bakers March 2012 - Honey Bee Cake

The time has once again flown by and it is time for the March edition of the Cake Slice Bakers.  Votes were counted and the winning recipe this month was the Honey Bee Cake.  This is our 5th cake from Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson, and I have to say that this is my favorite so far.





I decided that I wanted to use a local honey for this recipe.  After visiting the Kapi'olani Farmers' Market last week, and trying a few different samples, I decided upon an Ewa Kiawe honey from Nalo Meli Hawaiian Honey, which specializes in unique local raw honeys that are fresh from the hive.






It was amazing how quickly this cake came together.  I know the recipe calls for sifting the dry ingredients but to be honest I put them all in a large bowl and gave them a good whisk and that was that. Before I knew it the cake was in the oven and I was getting the honey glaze ready.  After 45 minutes the cake was out of the oven and ready to be drenched in the honey mixture and a sprinkling of toasted almonds.

My family raved about this cake - both the texture and flavor - so I know it will not last long.  I think that the only change I would make would be to double the amount of the honey glaze.  After pouring half of the glaze over the cake I didn't feel like it had covered enough of the cake, but I knew I needed the remaining amount to pour over the top of the almonds.  I ended up using a little more glaze on the cake, pouring what was left over the nuts, and then drizzling a little pure honey over the top for good measure.

It is always interesting to see different interpretations and opinions of the same cake so please click here to see the cakes of my fellow Cake Slice Bakers.  Also, the Cake Slice Bakers now have a Facebook page now so make sure you check it out soon.

Honey Bee Cake

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Ingredients

Cake

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup sugar
• ⅓ cup honey
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 egg yolk, room temperature
• ¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature

Glaze

• ½ cup honey
• ¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• ½ cup of sliced almonds, toasted 

Preparation

1. Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 350℉. 
2. Prepare a 9″x3″ non-stick springform pan (grease the pan with butter and line the bottom with parchment).
3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then whisk to combine. 
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, honey, and vanilla on low speed until blended; increase the speed to high and cream until very light and fluffy, about 5 to 7 minutes, stopping the mixer frequently to scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle paddle.
5. Blend in the eggs and egg yolk one at a time.
6. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk in two parts, beginning and ending with the flour. After each addition, mix until just barely blended and stop to scrape the bowl. Stop the mixer before the last of the flour has been incorporated and complete the mixing by hand with a spatula to make sure that you don't over-beat the batter.
7. Spread the thick batter evenly into the prepared pan.  Tap the pan firmly on the counter to release any air bubbles.
8. Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes. The cake will be a deep golden color and be firm on top, and a skewer inserted in the middle will have moist crumbs attached. The cake may crack on the surface as it bakes, but this provides a way for the cake to soak up the honey glaze.
9. While the cake is baking, make the glaze in a small saucepan by combining the honey, sugar, and butter over medium heat until combined.  Bring the mixture to just barely to a simmer.  Turn off the heat but leave the saucepan on the burner to keep warm. 
10. Remove the cake from the oven and poke holes all over the top of the cake with a wooden skewer. Pour half of the glaze on the cake, evenly sprinkle the cake with the almonds, then pour the rest of glaze over the almonds. 
11. Place the cake back in the center of the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
12. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for about 1 hour.  To remove the cake from the springform pan, remove the side before gently flipping the cake over onto a plate to remove the parchment paper. Then place serving plate over the cake and flip it back over again.
13. Serve just barely warm.
14. Thanks to the honey, this cake will keep for 5 days when wrapped and stored at room temperature.

Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson

Cup O'Joe Baked Beans

I have to say hats off to people like Bush's, Heinz, Van Camp, etc - not because of their beans, but because they can get an appetizing photo of said beans.  Ok, they have a professional staff for things like this but I was really struggling to get something decent.  Don't let this dissuade you from trying these beans as they are so easy to make and pack a wallop of flavor in each mouthful.

It has been a few years since I last made baked beans.  I remember that I wasn't thrilled with the results last time, and was determined this time to get the flavor I wanted in the beans.  I searched for a few days for the perfect recipe before I decided that it did not exist, well not for me anyway.  Instead I chose to take the flavor profiles I liked from three recipes and reinvent the beans to suit my family's tastes.  I did have a couple of considerations - I wanted the beans to be vegetarian, I wanted to use my slow cooker, and I wanted a sweet BBQ flavor.  The three recipes I chose were Vegetarian Baked Beans (Squawkfox), Crockpot Vegetarian Baked Beans (Blade & Cauldron),  and Barbecued Beans (Slow Cooker Revolution via Cooking Light), and then I went to work choosing what I liked from each recipe.

I decided to soak my beans over night even though I was using the slow cooker.  Remember to sort through them to pull out any rocks or clumps of dirt that may be hiding, and give them a good rinse.  I covered them with water and then left them until the next morning.  Apparently you don't have to soak the beans if you are using a slow cooker but I didn't want to take any chances of them not being ready in time, and it really isn't that much work to soak them. 

A few recipes I found mentioned adding barbecue sauce, but I really wanted to add my own ingredients to achieve the flavor of a sweet barbecue sauce.  I went with molasses, honey, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup and a good dose of my favorite Coffee's of Hawaii coffee that had been brewed fresh that morning.  Two of my daughters are vegetarians so I did not want to add bacon, and I found that adding the coffee provided that roasted flavor.  Honestly I did not miss the bacon because the ingredients I added managed to be sweet and smokey by themselves.  Don't get me wrong, I love bacon as much as the next non-vegetarian so add it if you would like too, I just didn't want anyone to wonder if these would still be good without the smokey flavor that bacon can impart to a dish.

Once they had finished cooking and I was happy with the texture of the beans I found that they were still a little "soupy".  Some people prefer their beans to have a bit of liquid, but I added a corn starch mixture to thicken them up a little.  For those making these beans the day before don't add too much corn starch because they will thicken overnight.  We had some leftovers the next day and I will definitely make them a day or so before next time. The flavors really developed overnight and they tasted amazing after being gently reheated.

Cup O'Joe Baked Beans

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2½ cups dried navy beans, picked over and soaked overnight 
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup strongly brewed coffee
• ¼ cup molasses
• ¼ cup honey
• ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 6oz tin tomato paste
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup ketchup
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons corn starch dissolved in water, if required

Preparation

1. Heat oil in pan.
2. Add onion and cook for two minutes, add garlic and continue cooking until both are soft and golden.
3. Drain pre-soaked beans and add to the slow cooker insert.
4. Add cooked onion and garlic to slow cooker insert.
5. In a separate bowl whisk together the vegetable stock, coffee, molasses, honey, dark brown sugar, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, and ketchup - add to slow cooker insert and stir to combine.
6. Set slow cooker to high and cook for approximately 6 hours.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. If there is too much liquid in your bean mixture dissolve 2 tablespoons corn starch in water.  Add to bean mixture and stir until thickened.

Recipe by All That's Left Are The Crumbs©

To Try Tuesday - Honey Buttermilk Bread

I made a pact with myself that I would try to use my bread maker more often after the recent success I had with a challah recipe.  I went searching for bread machine recipes and found today's To Try recipe for Honey Buttermilk Bread on the About.com website.  It seemed nice and straightforward, and I was definitely tempted by the combination of buttermilk and honey.

There is something magical about the smell of bread baking.  I don't think have I ever met one person who isn't enticed by the smell.  This recipe was no different.  Sometimes I think there is a decadence about almost throwing the ingredients into a machine and having a beautiful loaf of bread emerge after a few hours, but it is a decadence that I can definitely live with.

The only changes I made were to use on a teaspoon of salt (rather than the 1½ suggested), I melted my butter, and I used warm water. A steady rain falling outside, warm bread with a little butter on top, a cup of Ka'u coffee makes for a rather nice afternoon.  I'd like to know how this bread is after being toasted for breakfast but I can tell it is not going to last beyond dinner.  I may just have to make another loaf for the morning.

Honey Buttermilk Bread

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons yeast (I used 1 packet)
• 3 cups bread flour 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• ¾ cup buttermilk 
• 3 teaspoons butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons honey 
• ½ cup warm water

Preparation

1. Put all ingredients in bread machine, in order suggested by bread machine manufacturer.
2. Choose basic or white bread and light or medium crust setting (I chose basic and light and it was perfect). 

Recipe from About.com - Southern Food 

Pumpkin Joy

What you call squash in the US, I still call pumpkin most of the time.  Even after all these years I still revert back to calling it pumpkin.  I don't know why because I manage quite well with baking soda, self-rising flour, and cornstarch.  It doesn't matter because either way it is one of my favorite fruits.  No, that is not a typo.  Did you know that butternut squash is actually a fruit?  Though considered a vegetable in cooking, botanically speaking, squash is a fruit.


I recently discovered a blog by Michael called Verses From My Kitchen.  I have found that since I discovered it that I just keep bookmarking more and more recipes, for example Puréed Squash and Pear Soup,  Blackberry and Pear Crumble, and Chocolate Crinkles with Sambuca and Coffee Extract.  He also has a cool gadget on the side with his iPod playlist that plays when you load the page.   I have to get these songs.  I totally loved having the music playing whilst I was cooking.

I have been purchasing a lot of the pre-cut butternut pumpkin from Costco lately.  Not only is it much cheaper than the equivalent amount of pumpkin at a grocery store, but all the work has been done for me.  Who wouldn't love that?  I had two dishes in mind - Michael's Puréed Squash and Pear Soup and a Roasted Butternut Pumpkin with Honey & Rosemary, which is my own creation.

The soup is so easy to prepare.  I actually added an extra cup of pumpkin and an extra cup of pear to my soup.  I decided to use a Korean Jumbo Shingo pear and I didn't want the other half to go brown, so I just threw it in the roasting pan too. After roasting the vegetables I added a little vegetable stock and pureed them right in the pan with my Cuisinart Hand Blender.  The only problem with the hand blender is that it can tend to splatter the food so my solution is to put a plastic bag around the pan, cut a hole in the top, blend away, and then dispose of the bag. We wanted a chunkier soup so I skipped running it through a sieve.  I just returned the soup to the heat, added the remainder of the stock, and gently reheated it.  It is a wonderful soup with great flavor.  A little yogurt and chives on top and we were all in pumpkin soup heaven.

With the remainder of the butternut pumpkin I decided to roast it.  We ate some of it tonight for dinner and the rest will probably be used on a mini pizza.  I just love the combination of pumpkin, honey, and rosemary.

Pureed Pumpkin and Pear Soup
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients 

• 2 cups diced butternut squash 
• 2 cups diced Bartlett pear
• 1 cup chopped white onions
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed
• 2 celery, stalks chopped
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1 tsp. all-spice
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt, garnish
• 3 tbsp. toasted squash seeds, optional garnish
• 1 bunch fresh chives, chopped, optional garnish

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°F degrees.
2. Place the squash, pear, onions, celery, allspice and garlic on a baking sheet and season with coarse sea salt and pepper and spread bits of butter throughout. Bake for 30 minutes.
3. Move to a stockpot and, using a hand blender, puree until completely liquid, adding as much of the stock as necessary.
4. Combine the puree with the rest of the stock and heat. Find the correct thickness and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste
5. Serve with a dollop of yogurt and chopped chives.

Recipe adapted from Verses From My Kitchen 

Roasted Butternut Pumpkin with Honey and Rosemary

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 2 cups pre-cut butternut pumpkin
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons rosemary, roughly chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Pre-heat oven to 450°F.
2. Place pumpkin in a small roasting pan.
3. Top with honey, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
4. Roast for approximately 30 minutes.