Honey Cake

The beginning of spring is perfect for light cakes such as this one, which are full of flavor, but at the same time easy on the stomach. Orange juice and orange zest remind us that spring brings refreshment into our lives, while the main ingredient of this cake - honey - reminds us that this is the time of year when all living beings start stirring once more, and among them bees that start producing honey as the flowers start blooming.

You Will Need:

For the usual dose:	For the double dose:
2 1/2 cups flour	5 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder	6 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda	1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt	1 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar	1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon	4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup melted honey	1 cup melted honey
1/3 cup sunflower oil	2/3 cup sunflower oil
4 eggs	6 eggs
1 tsp orange zest	2 tsp orange zest
1 cup orange juice	2 cups orange juice

Notes: you can mix plain flour with hard flour if you like and you can also use more sugar if you prefer your cakes to be sweeter (I always put a lot less sugar than is usually state in a recipe and this cake was no exception).

How To Prepare:

1. Heat your oven to 175°C.
2. Oil and four your baking pan(s). It's really all the same what kind of pan you decide to use, just keep in mind that the cake(s) will rise quite a bit. If you decide to go with the usual dose, the one regular, circular cake mold about 22 cm in diameter will do.But if you are making a double dose, you can expect a lot more. You can even use unusual cake molds! For example, I used one mold in the shape of a four-leaf clover and one that is usually used for baking Yule log cakes.
3. Mix all dry ingredients using a wooden spoon.
4. Gradually add the wet ingredients and mix using an electric mixer.
5. Pour the dense mixture into the mold(s) and bake for ca. 30 minutes at 175°C.

If you like, you can take the cake out 5 minutes earlier, glaze it with honey and put it back in the oven so the honey creates a nice crust. Otherwise, you can just lightly sprinkle it with powdered sugar once its cooled down, or put a chocolate glaze over it. Whichever you prefer! Although, you can always leave it as a nice, plain biscuit cake. In this case (if you decide not to go with any kind of glaze), I recommend you mix together a bit of milk and rum and daub the cake with this mixture so it stays moist even longer.

Bon appétit and a blessed Ostara to you all! :D

Yours,

Witch's Cat