Honey Saffron Christmas Cake Recipes

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

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.

Steps:

• Place an oven shelf in an upper position in oven, and preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 10-inch fluted tube pan (such as a Bundt® pan) with cooking spray.
• In a bowl, whisk together the unbleached flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg until thoroughly combined. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the canola oil, honey, white and brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, coffee, orange juice, and whiskey. With an electric mixer, beat the flour mixture into the honey mixture just until the batter is thoroughly incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake on upper shelf in the preheated oven until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs, about 1 hour. Cool for 20 minutes in the pan before turning the cake out onto a serving platter.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Line the base and sides of a 20cm cake tin first with a double layer of brown paper, then with a double layer of baking parchment. In a large bowl, mix the fruit, almonds, peel, figs and cherries. Turn well and add the flour, spices and lemon zest. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar thoroughly, then add the vanilla extract, honey and treacle. Still beating, incorporate the eggs, then stir in the fruit and flour mixture. Dissolve the bicarbonate of soda in the milk and stir in thoroughly. Add the brandy by the spoonful, until you have a soft dropping consistency.
• Turn the batter into the cake tin and make a dip in the middle using the back of a spoon. Bake for 3½ hrs, then insert a skewer - if it comes out clean, it's ready. If there is any cake mix on the skewer, give it 10 mins more and test again. When it's done, remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool in its tin. The next day, remove from the tin, wrap in fresh greaseproof paper, then put it into an airtight tin or wrap tightly in foil. The usual thing is to keep the cake for at least a month before icing it, and to unwrap and sprinkle it occasionally with more brandy.