Chamomile Honey Almond Cake Food

CHAMOMILE HONEY ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan and line with parchment paper.
• Heat the almond milk in a small saucepan. When it comes to a simmer, add the chamomile and let it steep for 10 minutes. Strain and press leaves to extract as much infused liquid as possible. You will need 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (75g) of almond milk. Measure out the infused liquid and add more almond milk as needed. Set aside to cool.
• Sift the flours, almond meal, baking powder, and salt together. In another bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and honey together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one and then add the chamomile infused almond milk. Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients in two additions.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth out the top of the batter and sprinkle the top edge with the sliced almonds. Bake for 35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool inside the pan for 15 minutes.
• While the cake is cooling, make the chamomile syrup. Bring the honey, sugar, water, and chamomile tea to a boil. Reduce until the liquid becomes slightly thick. Strain and discard the chamomile.
• Remove the cake from the pan and remove the parchment paper. Place on a wire rack and spoon or brush the syrup onto the top of the warm cake. Use as much or as little syrup as desired.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

FLOURLESS ALMOND-HONEY CAKE WITH CANDIED LEMON

Steps:

• Make the cake: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Brush the bottom and side of a 9-inch springform pan with olive oil and line the bottom with parchment. Brush the parchment with more olive oil and dust with almond flour, tapping out the excess.
• Whisk the almond flour, potato starch and salt in a medium bowl. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup honey, the lemon zest, 4 egg yolks, vanilla and almond extracts, and the olive oil in a large bowl; beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low; beat in the almond flour mixture until just incorporated.
• In a separate bowl, beat the 6 egg whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar until stiff glossy peaks form, about 3 more minutes. Gently fold about one-third of the beaten egg whites into the batter, then fold in the rest until just incorporated (it's OK if some white streaks remain). Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake is golden and springs back when lightly pressed, 50 to 55 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. (Don't worry if the cake falls slightly in the center.)
• Meanwhile, make the topping: Place the lemon slices in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a simmer over high heat, about 3 minutes; drain and return to the pan. Cover with fresh water; bring to a simmer and drain. Repeat one more time with fresh water. Return to the saucepan and add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup honey, the lemon juice and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the lemon slices are tender and the liquid is syrupy, about 20 minutes. Set aside.
• Run a thin knife around the edge of the cake, then remove the springform ring. Use a spatula to transfer the cake to a serving plate (remove the parchment). Remove the candied lemon slices from the syrup with a fork. Brush the cake all over with some of the lemon-honey syrup, then top with the candied lemon, almonds and pomegranate seeds. Serve with the remaining syrup on the side.

ALMOND HONEYCOMB CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Thoroughly butter a 12 1/4-by-11 2/3-inch honeycomb pull-apart dessert pan, making sure to cover all the detailed nooks and crannies. Lightly dust the pan with all-purpose flour (sifting the flour over the top of the pan works best; tap out excess).
• Beat the butter, salt and 1 3/4 cups of the sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, scraping down the sides as needed, until well combined (the butter does not need to be fluffy), about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until incorporated (the mixture will first appear loose and broken, but will eventually come together). Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and beat into the butter mixture; reserve the pod for another use.
• Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the almond flour until combined. Add the all-purpose flour and beat on low until combined. Add the whiskey and beat on low until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Tap the pan firmly on the counter a few times to force batter into the edges of the pan.
• Bake the cake until golden brown, the edges begin to pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center and edges of the cake comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a serving plate; carefully remove the pan and very lightly brush away any excess flour from the top of the cake.
• Meanwhile, use a vegetable peeler to peel wide strips from half of the orange (about 6 strips).
• Boil the cardamom pods in 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat until most of the water has evaporated and the mixture is very fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup of the honey and the orange peels. Let sit for 5 minutes. Strain the mixture through a mesh sieve into a small glass measuring cup; discard the solids. The mixture should be very thin and slightly warm; gently re-heat if necessary. Slowly drizzle the mixture over the warm cake, allowing the cake to soak up the honey before adding more. Let the cake cool, about 1 hour.
• Just before serving, heat the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon water in small saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves, 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup honey until combined, then remove from the heat and drizzle over the top of cake, allowing the honey to slowly drip over the sides and into each honeycomb.

CHAMOMILE-AND-ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 320 degrees. Butter a 9-inch cake pan, then dust with flour. Shake out excess flour. Sprinkle the sliced almonds on the bottom of the pan.
• In a food processor, grind the tea, whole almonds, sugar and a large pinch of salt into a paste. If the mixture is dry, add 1 egg white to form a paste. Otherwise, add the white at the end of the processing.
• Transfer the almond paste to a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add 1 yolk and 1 egg and beat on medium-low for 1 minute. Add another egg and beat for another minute. Add the last egg and the lemon zest and beat on medium for 5 minutes.
• Using as few strokes as possible, fold in the cornstarch and baking powder with a rubber spatula until mostly combined. Pour in the melted butter, a little at a time, folding just until combined. Do not overmix.
• Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake until the top is just set, about 40 minutes. Let cool for 3 minutes. Grease a cake plate with cooking-oil spray. Turn the cake out onto the plate. Cool fully, then cover with foil until ready to serve. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

CHAMOMILE TEA CAKE WITH STRAWBERRY ICING

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon chamomile to a large mixing bowl. Pour the hot melted butter over the chamomile and stir. Set aside to steep and cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Use the same saucepan (without washing it out) to bring the milk to a simmer over medium-high heat, keeping watch so it doesn't boil over. Remove from the heat, and stir the remaining 1 tablespoon chamomile into the hot milk. Set aside to steep and cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with the nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper so the long sides of the pan have a couple of inches of overhang to make lifting the finished cake out easier.
• Add the sugar and salt to the bowl with the butter, and whisk until smooth and thick, about 1 minute. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, vigorously whisking to combine after each addition. Zest the lemon into the bowl; add the baking powder and vanilla, and whisk until incorporated. Add the flour and stream in the milk mixture while whisking continuously until no streaks of flour remain.
• Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until a skewer or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean (a few crumbs are OK, but you should see no wet batter), 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes.
• While the cake cools, make the icing: Into a medium bowl, squeeze 2 tablespoons juice from the zested lemon, then add the confectioners' sugar. Place the dehydrated strawberries in a fine-mesh sieve set over the bowl and, using your fingers, crush the brittle berries and press the red-pink powder through the sieve and into the sugar. (The more you do this, the redder your icing will be.) Whisk until smooth.
• If needed, run a knife along the edges of the cake to release it from the pan. Holding the 2 sides of overhanging parchment, lift the cake out and place it on a plate, cake stand or cutting board. Discard the parchment. Pour the icing over the cake, using a spoon to push the icing to the edges of the cake to encourage the icing to drip down the sides dramatically. Cool the cake completely and let the icing set.

CHAMOMILE CAKE WITH HONEY BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350F; Grease and line pans or cupcake tins, set aside.
• Over a low heat, warm the milk to a simmer and stir in the tea leaves. Bring back to a simmer and then turn off and set aside to cool and steep for at least 15 minutes.
• In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and combine. Beat in the oil and vanilla. Gradually incorporate the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the mixture. Strain the tea leaves out of the milk. Stir in the milk, mixing until well combined.
• Transfer batter to prepared pans, filling half way and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until risen, golden and a toothpick when inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven, allow to cool before icing.

HONEY CAKE WITH HONEYED ALMOND CRUNCH

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease a 900g/2lb loaf tin and line with a strip of baking parchment that overhangs each end - this will help you lift the cake out when it is cooked.
• Put the butter, honey, caster sugar, ground almonds, flour, baking powder, bicarb and yogurt into a large mixing bowl. Put the egg whites into another small bowl. Put the yolk and remaining whole egg in with all the other ingredients.
• Whisk the whites until stiff, then put your electric beater into the other bowl of ingredients and beat until just smooth. Stir in a third of the whites, then gently fold in the rest with a wooden spoon. Tip the mix into the prepared tin, scatter over the flaked almonds and bake for 55 mins on the middle-lower shelf of the oven until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Remove the cake from the oven. Quickly drizzle with 2 tbsp honey and scatter with a small pinch of fine salt. Put back in the oven for 5 mins more. Remove from the oven, drizzle with 2 more tbsp honey, then cool in the tin on a wire rack. Release stuck almonds from around the edge with a knife; then, using the parchment overhangs, carefully lift the cake from the tin. Eat in slices, drizzled with a little extra honey if you like.