Honey Crunch Cake

I love the spring. First there’s my birthday, then there’s Kori’s. Yay! More parties on the shore!

I love my little sister so much (more than she even knows!), and I’m always so happy to spend a weekend with her. I’ll admit, this wasn’t always the case. Back when my sister my born in fact, I was downright mad. You see, my parents were painting my birthday gift (a playhouse) and then suddenly, they had to rush to the hospital. In the eyes of a five year old, this is an unforgivable offense. But somehow, the next year, my six year old self got over it, and Kori and I have been tight ever since!

Kori actually asked for this cake LAST year for her birthday, but I goofed. She told me she wanted “the honey cake they serve at the California Grill” which she and her boyfriend, Larry, had enjoyed during their first anniversary dinner at the restaurant. Somehow I only got the “honey cake” part and Kori ended up with a Jewish honey cake. Still tasty, but definitely not the same!

This year though, I got it right. I located the recipe. I made the cake. And since we were staying at Art’s for the weekend, I had a place to assemble, ice, and store in a cool place until serving! Always important, since I don’t want to make my darling sister sick on her birthday!

Honey Crunch Cake
Adapted (just barely) from this recipe on the Orlando Sentinel’s Daily Disney Blog

I’m not gonna lie here people–this cake is over the top AWESOME. It’s very rich and very sweet, but everyone who ate it loved it. And you know what? For being the signature dessert at a fancy restaurant, it was really easy to put together. Making the crunch is the hardest part, and really, you just have to watch the sugar cook to the hard crack stage. In fact, Noel actually ended up making the cake we ate, since one of the cats decided to *sample* the first cake I made, so I had to throw it out. No kitchen magic required for this magnificent dessert!

Ingredients:

Sponge cake:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Honey crunch:

1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons each: water and corn syrup
2 1/4 teaspoons sifted baking soda

Honey simple syrup:

1/2 cup each: water and sugar
2 teaspoons honey

Honey whipped cream:

3 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
5 tablespoons honey

For cake: Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine milk and butter in saucepan on low heat, stirring, until butter melts, but do not boil. Remove from heat. Mix flour and baking powder. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip eggs to break up. Whip in salt. Gradually add sugar, whipping until mixture lightens, about 1-2 minutes. Add extracts. Gently whip in milk and butter mixture. Mix in flour mixture in 4 additions, mixing until smooth after each addition. Pour into buttered and flour-dusted 9-inch pan. I used an 8 inch pan lined with buttered parchment. Bake 15-25 minutes, until cake is light golden brown and a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

For crunch: Combine water, sugar and corn syrup in pan. When temperature reaches 310 F (aka the hard crack stage), whisk in sifted baking soda. Make sure your soda is sifted, or you’ll get clumps in the candy. Turn off heat. Let mixture rise up without stirring. Pour onto a Silpat mat. Cool completely. Break into pieces; if you hard time breaking it apart, make sure you’re pushing from the side that was against the mat. Store in airtight container.

For syrup: Bring water and sugar to boil. While still warm, whisk in honey. Refrigerate.

For Cream Icing: Whip cream and sugar on medium 2 minutes. Add honey. Increase speed. Whip to medium soft peaks.

To assemble: Cut cake in half. Drizzle bottom layer with syrup. Spread whipped cream on bottom layer. Arrange honey crunch on whipped cream and press into cream. Spread with a little more whipped cream. Set on top layer. Drizzle syrup on top layer. Frost top and sides with remaining whipped cream. Keep cake in refrigerator until ready to serve. Serve with remaining honey crunch.

Be ready for an over the top dessert!

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