Honey cake with honey cream icing

There's something so comforting about the flavour of honey, especially when there's whipped cream involved too.

While this recipe is fairly simple, it's easy to burn before the cake is cooked through. If you notice this happening, cover the cake with some tin foil and turn down the oven temperature by 10 degrees.

Bee pollen is a pricey ingredient which isn't always easy to find, so top with toasted coconut or a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds if you prefer. 

Serves 12

Photo: James Lowe

Cake

Ingredients

• 150g butter, softened
• 150ml runny honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 organic eggs
• 100g spelt or regular flour
• 100g ground almonds
• 2 tsp baking powder

Honey cream icing

• 200ml fresh cream
• 1 tbsp Greek yoghurt
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

To decorate

• a sprinkling of bee pollen
• fresh flowers (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 170C fan bake. Line a 22cm cake tin with baking paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter, honey and vanilla.

Add in the eggs, one at a time. In two additions, fold through the flour, ground almonds and baking powder. Be careful not to overmix.

Pour the batter into the tin and spread out to the sides. Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until golden in colour, springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool for around 10 minutes before turning onto a cooling rack.

Meanwhile, make the honey cream icing. Whip the cream with an electric beater until you have a ribbon-like consistency, then gently fold through the yoghurt, honey and vanilla.

Once the cake is cool, apply a generous amount of the cream icing to the top of the cake and sprinkle with some bee pollen.

Serve at room temperature. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.