Spiced Honey Cakes

Adapted from Catalan Food: Culture and Flavors from the Mediterranean by Daniel Olivella

You can use regular cupcake or muffin paper cups to bake these in, or what are called "tulip" muffin liners, such as these. The ones I used were 2 inches wide, across the bottom, and roughly 3 1/2 inches high. (5 x 9cm) They're called caissette en papier, in French. I tried these with 25% less honey, thinking that would be the sweet spot for me, in terms of honey-flavor, but found that the amount called for here was spot-on. Try to find a good brand or variety of honey. Light, very runny supermarket varieties tend to be very sweet, but not so flavorful. If you go the grocery store route, look for a slightly darker, richer, wildflower honey, called miel multifleurs or miel de fleurs. I did make a few modifications to the original recipe. Instead of red wine, I made a syrup with sparkling apple cider for dipping the cakes. (You can use hard sparkling cider, or non-alcoholic.) I also swapped out dried ground ginger for the nutmeg but you can use either.

Servings cakes

For the cakes

1 cup (320g) honey
1/4 cup (45g) (packed) light brown sugar
1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (140g) rye flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger or nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground aniseed
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup (125ml) whole or lowfat milk
2 large eggs, at room temperature

For the syrup and rolling the cakes

1/2 cup (125ml) sparkling apple cider, hard or non-alcoholic
1/2 cup (100g), plus 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar

To make the cakes, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line a muffin tin with 12 cupcake or baking molds. (See headnote for size.)
In a small bowl, whisk together the honey and brown sugar. If your honey is super thick, you may wish to warm it slightly before mixing.
Sift together the all-purpose and rye flour with the baking powder, cinnamon, aniseed, nutmeg or ginger, and cloves, into a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the milk and eggs, stirring until partially combined. Add the honey mixture and stir until everything is well-combined.
Divide the batter into the muffin cups; each should be about two-thirds full. Bake until the cakes feel just barely set in the center and the tops are lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely.
While the cakes are cooking and cooling, bring the cider and 1/2 cup granulated sugar to a boil in a small saucepan or skillet, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
Put the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Remove the cakes from the muffin cups and roll each in the sugar, coating the sides. Dip the tops of each cake in the syrup after you roll each one, and set them on a serving plate.

Notes

Serving: The cakes can be served with the remaining syrup. The author suggests crème fraîche served with each, although I found them a good snacking cake served on their own.

Storage: The cakes can be kept for up 4 or 5 days at room temperature in an airtight container. They can also be frozen for up to two months. If you do freeze them, do so without dipping them in the sugar or syrup first, and save those steps for after you defrost them.