Honey and Almond Cake

This recipe comes once again from one of my favourite cookbooks - Baking, by Star fire and is a new favourite. The cake is a little different from a standard sponge type affair, with a slightly more denser crumb and therefore ideal for dunking into your cuppa! It keeps well too which is a bonus. Another bonus is that with the pretty flaked almonds on top, it doesn't require any icing and also travels very well!

I used a standard runny honey this time but am tempted to try different varieties, I did spot some orange blossom honey the other day out shopping so think will have to pick some up next time and report back accordingly!

The cake was made as I was heading down to my lovely family in Devon over the weekend, and I always try to bake something before hand, unfortunately the previous Lemon Drizzle cake has been so much of a hit its been hard to match up, though I will keep trying! Though this did seem quite popular at least and despite myself not having honey cake before, my dad said it was a good example, I guess thats a compliment?!

Along side baking the honey cake, on that particular night I had my baking-partner-in-crime over, who can't have almonds, so I made her a seperate one with the base recipe but with 2 tsp of Polish extra-dark cocoa powder and a handful of dark choc chips added to replace the almonds, its a little ugly but tasted good! As above, it has a denser crumb but this is no bad thing, is quite nice to have something a little different from the million other victoria sponges I bake!

Ingredients for one sponge:

50g butter
25g caster sugar
125g clear honey
175g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1 medium egg
2 tbsp milk
25g flaked almonds
1 tbsp clear honey, to drizzle over

Pre-hear oven 180/350/ mark 4 or about 160 max in a fan

Oil and line a 7inch deep round cake tin ( I only have sandwich tins, just used a parchment liner!)

Gently melt together the honey, sugar and butter

Sift together flour, bicarb and mixed spice. Seperately beat the egg and milk

Make a well in the flour, beat in the melted mixture, drawing in from the sides. Add the egg mix, pour into the tin and smooth over, sprinkle over the flaked almonds and bake for 30-35 minutes or until risen and golden. (Mine cooked in less than 25 mins but is a very hot oven)

Allow to cool in the tin for a couple of minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Drizzle with remaining honey and serve.

Suggests serving with greek yoghurt but we didn't bother!