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.
Jade
This post sprang up in my bloglines at just the right time, as tonight we’re off to our weekly dinner with my parents and I always make dessert. Plus, we had a few boutique wheat beers that didn’t really hit the spot as a drink.
It’s baking right now and smells DEVINE!!!
I used 2 cups plain flour and 1 3/4 cups wholemeal, which I tend to do because I like the chewyness. I also used 3/4 cup honey rather than the full cup because it was taking too long to come out of the squeezy thing. I used Yellow Box honey, which may be something we only have here, but it’s a nicer flaour than regular honey.
What else? I used a 9×9 square pan because that’s what we had, and I made 6 fairy cakes out of the leftover batter. Then, I went onto the book depository site and ordered a copy of the book for myself and one for my old drinking pal who lives in the UK now.
Thanks Joy!
Katrina
This looks so tasty. Beer in cake is my friend.
Bonnie Riffle
wow! very interesting ingredient…beer in a cake! I love it! Spice cakes are the best! Yesterday I made applesauce stack cake with cinnamon whipped cream for my mother in laws birthday…..holy cow!! it was the best cake ever! Everyone totally gobbled it up and raved about it. I was thinking…since you are Joy the Baker, you might like to try this recipe! I found it on Country Living website. Here is the link. https://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/stacked-applesauce-cake-3478
It shows the top of the cake without the whipped cream, but there was plenty enough to spread it on top too. It made the cake look all the more beautiful. It was a show stopper. I will be featuring it on my blog either today or tomorrow.
Natalie
Oooh wow this sounds different, I bet it was so tasty!! Yummy yum!!
Jenna
Joy,
I made this cake tonight, and it was a hit. I skipped the white sugar entirely (just used the brown and honey for sweetener) and used half white flour/half white whole wheat flour. Then I put a cream cheese/vanilla/honey frosting on top. My dad made an “eeew” face when i said that I was making “beer spice cake,” but I saw him taking seconds just a few minutes ago. . . (also, all of the younger brothers that live in my house had both 1sts. and 2nds. and possibly 3rds.)
Shush-mi
oooooh! *drools* This looks delicious! gonna make it for sure! xxx
Leah
I am TOTALLY with you on the deep V… it’s not okay.
jaclyn@todayslady
Moist cakes are best and so are spice cakes. That is how I know this cake is a winner!
Julie Anne Rhodes
Now I’m a burger queen, but I would take this over a burger any day! Yum!
Lina
Cool– too bad my parents won’t let me eat or drink anything that contains alcohol (Not that I’d want to be a 14-year-old alcoholic…) Have you tried using white whole wheat flour? It’s just like whole wheat flour, but doesn’t have the strong taste or color, and isn’t as dense.
bakericious
this cake sound interesting, must be yummy too
Silvia
So good and yet so far… yes, it’s 40°C here, all damp and sticky, I’ll try the cake later on in the season, maybe september, my favourite month!
XXX
hannah {thepastrykook}
this sounds incredibly delicious. i hate beer but i definitely would love this.
Aimee
This cake sounds wonderful and I may even turn the oven on for it– if not, it’ll be the first one I make when the weather turns cooler!
As for Frank, well, he’s just a basket-case who acts like he’s about 16 with his first crush. Personally, I’m wondering why the heck is he still around?!
Katie @ Cozydelicious
I really can;t handle the idea of turning on the ove right now, but this loos SO good. I have never baked with beer… I have got to try it! The weather man says Sunday will be cooler… cake on Sunday!