Honey Saffron Christmas Cake Recipes

HONEY AND SAFFRON CAKE RECIPE - (4.2/5)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, CARDAMOM and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat the honey and butter at medium speed for 2 minutes. Slowly add the sugar, beating constantly. Add the saffron water and the eggs, one at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Gradually add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Spread evenly into the pan. Bake at 325° for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. While the cake cools, combine the syrup ingredients and allow to cool slightly. With a long wooden skewer, poke holes in the cake, poking through to the bottom of the pan. Coat the cake with the syrup, using it all and covering the whole top of the cake. Cool completely. In a medium bowl, beat the whipping cream at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Drizzle in the honey, beating just until blended. Serve the cake with dollops of the whipped cream. Store any leftovers (in the unlikely event that there are any) in the refrigerator. Prep. time: 20 minutes Baking time: 40-45 minutes Serves: 16-24

MILK AND HONEY CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper and grease the parchment.
• Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl.
• In a small bowl, beat eggs until smooth.
• In a medium bowl, stir together buttermilk, honey and vanilla.
• Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium speed to break it up, then gradually beat in sugar, continuing to beat until very light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
• With the mixer on medium speed, add eggs, 1 tablespoon at a time. If the mixture looks curdled at any point, add 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture to bind it back together.
• Reduce mixer to low and mix in a third of the flour mixture. Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula, then mix in half the buttermilk mixture. Mix in another third of the flour mixture, scraping down sides of bowl, then mix in remaining buttermilk mixture followed by remaining flour. Scrape down bowl.
• Scrape batter evenly into prepared pans and smooth tops with a spatula. Bake until the cake springs back when lightly pressed, and a toothpick inserted into center of the cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Run an offset spatula or butter knife around edges of pan to loosen cakes, then unmold onto the rack, remove parchment and allow to cool completely.
• Just before serving, whip the cream with a drizzle or two of honey, to taste (up to 2 tablespoons if you like it sweet). Frost the top of one cake, top with the remaining cake then frost the top of the stacked cake. Drizzle with additional honey and garnish with berries, if you like.

ALMOND CAKE WITH SAFFRON AND HONEY

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch diameter cake pan and line with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, mix together the semolina, sugar, almonds, baking powder and salt. Whisk in eggs and melted butter. Add the orange and lemon zests and almond extract and beat well. Pour into prepared pan.
• Bake for about 45 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Invert onto a wire rack and let cool.
• As cake cools, make the syrup: Put orange juice, sugar, honey, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, saffron and apricots in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve sugar, and then simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Set aside. Transfer cake to a serving plate. Use a skewer to poke holes all over and slowly pour syrup evenly over cake. Once the syrup has cooled slightly, arrange the spices and apricots on top of the cake to your liking. Leave cake for at least an hour to fully absorb syrup, or, if possible, wrap and store in a cool place (don't refrigerate) for up to 5 days.

HONEY SAFFRON CHRISTMAS CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Butter and line a round, deep 20cm cake tin with two layers of baking parchment (see Knowhow, below). Tie a few sheets of newspaper around the outside of the tin, level with the top of the baking parchment.
• Heat the brandy in a small pan, then add the saffron and leave to infuse off the heat for a few mins. Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl, then beat together until creamy and smooth. Mix the fruit, nuts and brandy saffron mix into the batter and stir well.
• Spoon into the prepared tin, smooth the top and make a slight dip in the middle. Bake for 1½ hrs, then cover loosely with foil to stop the top over-browning. Turn oven down to 140C/fan 120C/gas 1 and cook for 1 hr more until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin then, while it's still warm, prod the cake all over with a skewer.
• Mix the brandy and honey together and spoon over the cake. Wrap up well in foil and keep in an airtight container until Christmas, feeding with more honeyed brandy every so often.

PEARS IN HONEY & SAFFRON

Steps:

• Peel the pears leaving stems in tact.
• Put the honey and lemon juice in a heavy saucepan (one into which the pears will fit snugly) and place over a moderate heat.
• Stir until the honey has melted then add the water and spices.
• Keep stirring until the liquid comes to a boil, then turn down the heat and leave to simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add the pears to the liquid and simmer for 20 minutes, turning carefully halfway through and basting pears regularly with the sauce.
• Leave pears to cool in the syrup before serving.