Honey Cake.

Last week I made an orange poppy seed Bundt cake.  Well, I tried to.  When I went to take the cake out of the Bundt pan, of course the top of the cake stuck in the pan and only the bottom half came out.  It was still really delicious and we ate it all but I was really upset about not being able to get the whole cake out of the pan!

I was determined to make a Bundt cake that would look as beautiful as it tastes and I had a jar of honey crystallizing in the cupboard - honey cake!  This recipe is from the super cute Best Bake Sale Ever cookbook with a few adaptations.  I didn't have dark brown sugar and only 1 cup of honey so I added in 1/4 cup of molasses to compensate and used 3/4 cup light brown sugar instead of the full cup of dark brown that's called for.  I increased the amount of spices, added salt, and I used tea and brandy for the liquids. The book gives many options - you can use coffee or tea for the main liquid, orange juice, brandy or whiskey for the smaller amount of liquid.  I imagine you can also substitute 1 cup of any dried fruit you'd like here, I stuck with raisins and apricots but next time I'd love to try dried cherries, golden raisins, dates or dried blueberries!

I admit a big reason I decided to make this cake is because of the lack of fat needed - a mere 1/3 cup of oil!  This is a great dense, moist spicy cake for breakfast, snack or dessert.  I hope you enjoy it!

Honey Cake
Adapted from The Best Bake Sale Ever Cookbook
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup vegetable (or canola) oil
1 cup honey
3/4 cup cold brewed tea or coffee
1/4 cup brandy, orange juice or whiskey
1/2 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. and grease a 10-inch Bundt pan well.

In a large bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking powder and soda, spices and salt until everything is incorporated and well mixed.  In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, molasses, oil, honey, coffee or tea and brandy, juice or whiskey, then add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until almost completely mixed.  Fold in the dried fruit, then pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in the center of the oven for 45 minutes to an hour and 15 minutes.  It will be done when it has risen and cracked slightly on top and turned golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.  Let it cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then run a butter knife around the edges to loosen and invert onto a serving platter or cake stand to cool completely.

This cake will stay fresh up to 5 days stored airtight.