Twice baked honey cakes

I am a huge fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit". Naturally, I couldn't resist when I found a recipe for Beorn's twice baked honey cakes, which I adapted to my taste. The honey cakes mentioned in The Lord of the Rings are a travel food and keep for long. Not convinced that this is the case for these, however, I doubt they'll last longer than a couple of days in your house anyway.

When I started googling Beorn's honey cakes, a million and one different takes on the recipe showed up. This is one of the few that didn't have any refined sugar in it, which I loved (and which I think Beorn would approve of too ;)). 

When I first looked at the recipe, I thought they would be overwhelmingly sweet and sticky. With the addition of lemon juice and zest to the glaze used before the second baking, however, they are utterly delicious. Sweet and satisfying, with a slight honey taste. In addition to the vanilla and nutmeg, I added a teaspoon of ground cinnamon to give the cakes even more warmth.

Next time I make them I will whip up some vanilla custard to go with it. The combination already makes my mouth water. I might have to pause writing this blog and make another batch of these right now! 

Since the honey is the star ingredient, I advise you to use a good high quality honey as this will ultimately define the taste of the honey cakes. I used clover honey for the cakes and bush honey for the glaze as well as Meyer lemon zest and juice.

I am planning to try out these with orange zest and juice instead of lemon. I imagine this would be a fantastic variation for Christmas time.

Twice baked honey cakes

makes 12 small cakes

250 g all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
scant 1/2 tsp sea salt

scant 1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 eggs at room temperature

180 ml whole milk, slightly heated

120 g butter, room temperature + extra to grease the muffin tins

250 g runny honey

zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp vanilla essence

For the glaze 

50 g runny honey

zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

A handful of sliced almonds as topping

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease your muffin tins generously with butter. I used silicone ones and still greased them as you will need to take the cakes out of the tin after the first bake. 

In a medium bowl, mix all dry ingredients including salt and spices together and add the lemon zest. Cut the butter into small cubes and work it into the flour mixture with your hands or a fork until it resembles grainy sand. Set aside. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the slightly heated milk, eggs, vanilla and honey. Mix well until the ingredients are really well combined. 

Pour the wet ingredient into the bowl with the flour mix and mix until just combined. Spoon the batter in the prepared muffin tins and bake for about 15-16 minutes until very light golden. 

In the meantime, heat the honey over low heat until really runny. Whisk in the zest and juice of half a lemon to make the glaze. Let sit until the first bake of the muffins is complete.

When the first baking time is up, take the muffins out of the oven and out of the muffin tins. Put on a baking tray lined with a silicone mat or baking paper and brush liberally with the honey lemon glaze. Stick some sliced almonds on top of each cake. Let sit for about 10 minutes to allow the cakes to absorb the glaze.

Put the muffins back in the oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes until they are golden brown and slightly crisp on the outside.

Enjoy fresh out of the oven. The still taste amazing the day after.