I want a hamburger.
with cheese and pickles and too much ketchup.
And chocolate milk.
This is not that… but this is still good.
Why would I crank up my oven and make a spice cake in the middle of summer? I dunno.
Why would I make this cake when what I really want is a giant hamburger and chocolate milk? I dunno.
Why haven’t I gotten my stupid shaggy hair cut yet? Don’t know.
What the heck is going on with Frank on The Bachelorette and why did he have to go all the way to Tahiti to drop bombs? I do not know.
Why the deep V? Why?
We’re going to get to the bottom of this Bachelorette thing. We’re going to talk about it. I really have a few things I need to get off my chest.
Seriously.
This spice cake with beer and honey is from a book called Booze Cakes. Pretty self explanatory, right? It’s a pretty cute book from two Los Angeles based ladies. If you have a sweet tooth for things like Jello Shot Cakes, or if you were just dying to find a way to get tequila into your cakes… this is totally the book for you.
This spice cake is pretty interesting. It’s got a heartwarming combination of spices, and a super moist crumb. This cake stays moist for daaaaays. The recipe called for granulated sugar, brown sugar aaaand honey. That’s a lot of sugar. Even after cutting back on the sugar I thought it was dang sweet. You might be able to cut back on the sugar just a touch more.
Can you taste the beer? Just barely… and it’s not really beer-y. The hoppy beer is a great compliment to the spice and honey. It really rounds everything out.
Can you replace the beer with anything not beer like? No… It’s a Honey and Beeeeer Cake. Just go with it.
If beer offends you, how about Honey Whole Wheat Pound Cake? Super yum. Trust.
With barely sweetened cream and salty roasted nuts, I say this cake is pretty swell.
If you have a mega sweet tooth, Cream Cheese Frosting would set this cake over the top!
Honey and Beer Spice Cake
adapted from Booze Cakes
makes one 9×13-inch cake
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (next time I’ll use a combination of all-purpose and white whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon all-spice
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup honey
12 ounces (1 1/2 cups) pale ale beer or honey beer
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9×13-inch (don’t use anything smaller, seriously) pan and set aside.
I a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, cream together butter, sugars, spices and lemon zest. Mixture may look crumbly, but mix for about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition.
Beat in the lemon juice and honey.
Add the flour mixture and beer. Alternating. First add a third of the flour mixture, mix. Add half of the beer, mix. Add the second third of flour, the rest of the beer. Mix. Then finally add the last third of the flour. Beat the batter on high speed for 30 seconds. The batter will be loose and smooth.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the upper third of the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Serve with barely sweetened whipped cream and salty roasted nuts. This cake would also be pretty delicious with a cream cheese frosting.
Karlene
This cake looks delicious! I’ve been on a hunt for a honey cake recipe that can be made in multiple layers for a tall celebration cake. Does anyone who has made this recipe have an recommendations on whether or not this cake would have the right texture and structure for stacking?
joythebaker
Good question! I think this cake will be too soft for stacking.
leytonjay1
Might try this this week using Sharps Atlantic Pale Ale – my new favourite liquid.
spency
hi I`m in the uk a 9x13inch cake sounds like an odd size is it a large loaf tin???
Velvet
ooooh, love the idea of the lemony kick in this… just popped this in the oven in big muffin cases for my hubbies birthday today!…. using his own home brew ;D
laura @ in widening circles
Hi! Just wanted to pop in and let you know that this cake is currently cooling on my kitchen counter, filling my whole apartment with delicious scents! I am making it for a family member’s birthday (a Texan who swears by spice cake, I guess?) but spice cake was brand new to me! I split it into 2 8″ rounds and baked it for 30 minutes at 350. Looks like they came out beautifully, can’t wait to taste tomorrow. Thanks for this!
Kat
Just made this for my dad for Father’s Day – it’s so good, and so interesting! I cut the white and brown sugars by a quarter cup each and I think it’s plenty sweet. But not too sweet to frost – I love frosting!
I also used a Double-Wide IPA for my beer…I really love good beer so that was important to me. I don’t know about you but I love the hoppiness of IPAs, I think it’s great in the cake!
Meghan
Hi Joy!
I love your site, so much fun to read!
I wanted to ask if I could feature this recipe on CraftBeer.com? CraftBeer.com is the consumer facing website of the Brewers Association (the national trade association for craft beer). Along with educating users about craft beer we also work to share craft beers amazing ability to pair with food and its usability in the kitchen.??
I would create a recipe post similar to this one: https://www.craftbeer.com/pages/beer-and-food/recipes/recipes-list/show?title=lambic-beer-sorbetto and would include a bio/photo and link to Joy the Baker. Please let me know if this would be possible. THANKS!
joythebaker
Go for it!
Lora
This was absolutely fantastic… and the best part is that there is so much of it. Six of us only got through half of it, can’t wait to dig into it tomorrow as soon as I wake up! I’d like to try it with all sorts of different beers. Used Flying Dog Belgian style IPA… wonder what a stout might do, mm mmmm.
McKinley
dear joy,
i think you are my soulmate. anytime i need something especially naughty to make (which is pretty much all the time), i know where to go. thank you for writing this amazing blog!
love,
mckinley your soulmate.