Tag: lemon and honey cake

Bee Hive Cake

I decorated this 3 layer lemon and honey cake (recipe here) with lemon Swiss meringue buttercream (recipe here) and fondant bees.

I started by covering the cake drum in green fondant. I lightly wet the drum using a pastry brush dipped in water, then draped the green fondant (which had been rolled out to around 2mm) over the top. I smoothed the fondant with a smoothing tool. Using a sharp knife, I trimmed the edges of the fondant so that it was in line with the edge of the cake drum. I then stuck the green ribbon around the edge using double sided tape. For a bit of extra fun, I stuck little bees around the edge.

Next I made the bees. I rolled small amounts of yellow fondant into cylinders. Then I rolled out black fondant to about 1mm thick and cut out strips. I used a small amount of water to stick the strips to the yellow fondant; a fine paintbrush is the easiest way to apply the water. I used a cocktail stick dipped in black food colouring to make the eyes, and an icing tool shaped as a D dipped in black food colouring to make the smile. I pushed in almond flakes for the wings, then pushed cocktail sticks in so it looks like the bees are flying.

Finally, I made the little hive door with black fondant by cutting an arch out of paper then using that as a stencil.

I completed the fondant parts in advance so that the fondant dried and hardened in time.

I made the lemon and honey cake recipe twice. The second batch I made as a 2 egg version and poured it into a 6″ (15cm) heatproof bowl which I had greased with margarine. I popped this in the oven for 20 minutes at 155C, then dropped it down to 140C and checked every 5 minutes until the top sprung back when touched.

I made a full batch of Swiss meringue buttercream, adding 3 tsp of lemon extract to get the lemon flavour I wanted.

Then I started assembling the cake. I cut the tops off the round layers to make them flat. I used a 6″ (15cm) cake board and put a blob of buttercream in the centre to keep the cake in place. Then I put the first layer on and covered the top in buttercream. I repeated this with all three layers, then gave the cake a crumb coat.

I popped this in the fridge for a few hours so that the buttercream firmed up. While the cake was firming up, I added yellow colouring to the remaining buttercream to give it a golden colour.

Once the cake had finished firming up in the fridge, I started getting things ready for decorating. I put a large round piping tip into a piping bag and transferred the golden lemon buttercream into it. Starting from the bottom, I piped rings around the cake. I used a smaller piping tip to fill in any holes I saw. Once finished, I popped the cake back in the fridge.

Once the buttercream had firmed up, I moved the cake carefully onto the covered cake drum. I then placed the little door and put the bees in position.

Enjoy!

Lemon and Honey Cake

Using honey instead of sugar makes this cake quite rich and moist, and the classic pairing of honey and lemon will have your tastebuds buzzing.

This recipe makes two 6″ (15cm) cake layers.

Ingredients

  • 150g honey
  • 175g margarine, plus extra for greasing
  • 3 large eggs
  • 175g self raising flour
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp plant based milk

Process

  1. Preheat the oven to 155°C fan assisted and put a shelf in the middle. Grease and line the bottom of two 6″ (15cm) cake tins to ensure your cake doesn’t stick
    • Lightly grease the inside with margarine. Cut a circle of non-stick baking parchment the size of the tin and use it to line the bottom – the margarine on the bottom of the tin will keep the parchment in place. Dust the side with some flour, making sure to knock off the excess
  2. Put the honey and margarine in a bowl together and beat them until light and creamy (at a medium speed if using a stand mixer)
  3. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure they are fully incorporated before adding the next one
  4. Add the lemon zest and juice, and mix until combined
  5. Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda, and fold until combined. If the mixture feels stiff, add the plant based milk to slacken it slightly
    • This is still a very thick mixture that shouldn’t be runny, but you should also be able to stir it without difficulty
  6. Pour the mixture evenly between the two prepared cake tins and level off with an offset spatula or butter knife
    • I tend to weigh the tins to make sure the quantities are even
  7. Bake for 25 minutes, at which point the tops should spring back to the touch. You can’t trust a skewer with this cake, and this recipe gets dark really quickly because of the honey
  8. Allow the cakes to cool for 15-20 minutes in the tin before removing onto a wire rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely on the wire rack before storing or decorating

I coated this cake with just a crumb coat of lemon buttercream (recipe here, I swapped out the vanilla extract for lemon extract), but you can decorate it how you wish.

Enjoy!

As you can see, the cake gets really dark once baked

Amazon Associate Links

Most of the baking equipment I used can be found on Amazon, find them here