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.
Vanessa
I made this for dinner yesterday afternoon and holy fuck it was so good! I think I only ever want to bake with booze now….
Tiffany
I didn’t have all of the ingredients. I didn’t have a lemon so I added 1 t. orange oil and instead of honey I used maple syrup. For the beer I used an alaskan IPA. It was yummy all the same! Great recipe! My daughter and I ate some for breakfast this morning.
Ashley
This looks delish! I agree with you about Frank. . . he made me SO mad too this season. I just wrote a blog post about my thoughts on the finale. I’d love it if you’d come follow my blog too! I’ve been following yours for awhile and I love it!!!
Jane
Joy, Joy, Joy, oh Joy! I just had a hunk of beer cake for dinner with barely whipped cream, roasted hazelnuts, and vibrant raspberries as sides. Thank you for supplying single girls everywhere with such a delicious meal!
yasi
the cake is baking as i type…smells so good. really enjoy your blog!
Cassidy
that looks delicious !
i adore your blog; you have the best recipes
Tess
I only have Lager, will that work? this looks so yummy!!
melanie
Thanks for posting! Not normally a spice cake fan, but was inspired to make this. Had to sub the 9×13 for a bundt pan and the pale ale for a hefeweizen, but the cake came out awesome.
Ken Topham
This was a fun and easy cake to make and very very good! I did it for the conversation value and it definitely got the attention. Everyone loved it! The people in the office who don’t like desserts had to try it simply because of the “beer in the title.” I didn’t realize until I had already started that all I had was Coors Light so I went with it. I went with the Buttercream Frosting from your site and it was a hit here. I have had 3 people ask for the recipe. Thanks for a fun one!
Catherine Crehan
I made this Saturday night. It was great.
I didn’t know it made such a big cake,so I gave some to my friends across the street. I don’t think it needs any iceing,it’s great plain.
I love you site and your storys.
Thanks for doing it.
Love,
Catherine
Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking
Beer + cake? Yes, please!
Julie
You are funny!! Thanks for the laugh:)
Ellen
Joy,
Does your recipe reflect the reduced amount of sugar? I reduced it slightly, and found the cake to be not sweet at all, and could have actually been a touch sweeter. And I don’t like things too sweet. But I still LOVE it, and the notes that the beer contributes.
Thanks !!
joythebaker
the recipe as i wrote it above reflects my sugar reduction changes. sorry for the confusion!
Ellen
Thank you Joy. The cake is still disappearing, so my take on the recipe couldn’t have been too far off!!!
Travel safely,
Ellen