Salted Honey & Orange Blossom Naked Cake

• Vegetarian

• Condiments

  • 175 g Honey

• Baking & Spices

  • 1/2 tsp Baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp Baking soda
  • 200 g Caster sugar
  • 100 g Icing sugar
  • 315 g Plain flour
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 tsp Salt, fine
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract

• Dairy

  • 185 ml Whole milk

• Liquids

  • 1/2 tsp Water, orange blossom

Found on mattersofthebelly.com

Description

Ingredients

• FOR THE CAKE:
• • 115g honey
• • 1 tsp. baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
• • 200g unsalted butter at room temp.
• • 200g caster sugar
• • 3 eggs at room temp.
• • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• • 315g plain flour
• • ½ tsp. baking powder
• • ½ tsp. salt
• • 185ml whole milk
• FOR THE ICING:
• • 60g honey
• • ½ tsp. baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
• • 170g unsalted butter at room temp.
• • 100g icing sugar
• • ¼ tsp. fine salt (I used pink Himalayan salt)
• • ½-3/4 tsp. orange blossom water

Directions

• Preheat oven to 180 C (350F)
• Butter three 18cm (7 inch) round cake pans and line the base and sides with baking paper. Set aside.
• Make the cakes: Place the honey in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and cook until it just begins to boil. Turn off the heat and add the 1 tsp. of baking soda, and whisk well to make sure there aren’t any lumps. The honey with bubble and froth like crazy! If it looks like it will overflow from the saucepan, just bang it gently against the stove or counter to release some of the air bubbles. Set aside to cool.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar for 5 minutes on high, until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition on medium until incorporated. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. Add the vanilla and beat till combined. Add the cooled honey syrup and beat till combined.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour , baking powder and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low until combined, followed by half the milk. Repeat with the second half of the flour and the milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat the batter on high for a final minute to ensure everything is well mixed.
• Divide the batter between the three prepared pans and spread it out and smooth out the surface with a spatula. Bake in preheated oven on the middle rack for 18-20 minutes, until deep golden brown and risen, and a skewer inserted in the centre of each cake comes out clean. Don’t open the oven door to check on the cakes before at least 16 minutes have gone by to avoid deflation.
• Remove the cakes from the oven and leave the pans to cool slightly for 10 minutes, before removing the cakes from the pans and placing them on a wire rack to cool completely.
• While the cakes cook/cool, make the icing: Again, place the honey in a small saucepan and heat on medium until it just begins to boil, then turn of the heat, add the baking soda and whisk well. Set aside to cool completely.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter for 3-5 minutes until softened and light. Drizzle in the cooled honey syrup and beat till well mixed. Sift the icing sugar well to ensure no lumps, then add to the butter mixture a tablespoon at a time while beating on low. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, dd the salt and orange blossom water, then turn up the mixer and beat on high for a further 3-5 minutes until fluffy, well mixed and smooth.
• Assemble the cake: Once the cakes are completely cooled, use a cake leveller (if you have one) or a serrated knife (that’s what I used) to remove the domed tops of the cakes to make them flat.
• Place a dab of icing on your preferred dish or cake stand, then place the first cake, bottom side down, onto it. Dollop approximately 3 tbsp. of icing onto the centre of the cake, and use an offset spatula to spread it out evenly all the way out to the edge of the cake.
• Place the second cake, bottom side down, directly onto the icing and repeat with another 3 tbsp. of icing.
• Place the third and final cake, bottom side UP (so that it is totally flat on top), and dollop another 3 tbsp. of icing on top. Use the spatula to spread it out very thinly, leaving parts of the cake barely covered to peek through, removing excess icing as needed.
• To ice the sides, dab on small amounts of icing along the sides of the cake, then start spreading them out as you rotate the cake stand until everything is smooth, without adding too much as to completely cover the cakes. You can take some off with the spatula as you go around if the icing is too thick; you want bits of the dark cake to peek through! After finishing the icing, I recommend placing the whole cake in the fridge for just 10-15 minutes to firm it all up a bit and avoid any slanting issues, especially if the weather is hot.
• Decorate the top of the cake with flowers of your choice, and serve! This cake keeps well, covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Just take it out an hour or so before eating to soften up the icing again.