My Honey Cake 我的蜜糖蛋糕

My dear friend is a Jew from Australia. When we were living in DBay, both our units were located on the same bay and I could always see her unit from my living room. We were so close, emotionally and in terms of distance, but I was suffering from mood disorder and refused to meet people, even close friends. I finally made up my mind and visited her and she baked a honey cake for us, that was the first honey cake I ever tried. She has already moved back to her home country for a few year. To me, honey cake is not only a delicacy, but a loving memory of the moments we shared.

I had been searching for honey cake recipes for a while, but most of the recipes have very high fat content, which were not what I was looking for. I was very excited when I found a recipe called for very little oil in a cookbook. After baking the same thing for many times, I knew what I want: a cake with more moisture and tender crumbs, with more intense aroma of spices and a stronger note of rum.

In the past three weeks, I had tried to bake 4 different versions and sent to my friends as guinea pigs and I managed to please the palates of people who had a bite of it. This is a relatively light cake but not fluffy, to be served with just a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar, may be a dollop of whipped cream with a dash of liqueur. I always have this with a cup of Nespresso for afternoon tea. So yum! Please be reminded: the cake tastes even better after sitting overnight! Do not ever serve this right from the fridge, take it out 30 minutes before serving.

This is a heart-warming gift to friends and family! It's a sort of healthy delicacy even those whom are health-cautious will feel comfortable to devour. 

Here is the version I'm most satisfied with lately:

Equipment: ONE 9" pan or TWO 6" pans, grease and line the pans


Ingredients:
(A)
All-purpose flour, sifted           120g
Finely ground almond, toasted 55g
Baking powder                         1/2 teaspoon
Baking soda                              1/2 teaspoon
Ground cinnamon                     2 tablespoons teaspoons
Freshly grated nutmeg             1/4 teaspoon
Ground clove                           1/4 teaspoon

To prepare freshly grated nutmeg, you need whole nutmegs and a grater.
Whole nutmegs are available in some supermarkets or spice retailers.

(B) 
Egg yolks                                 4
Golden caster sugar                 20g
Cooking oil (Neutral- tasting) 3 tablespoons
Dark rum                                 3 tablespoons
Lemon juice                            2 tablespoons
Zest of 3/4 lemon
Honey                                      215g

(C)
Egg whites                               4
Golden caster sugar                 30g
Cream of tartar                        1/2 teaspoon


Preheat the oven to 160C.
If you are using Toshiba Microwave oven ER-GD400HK, preheat the oven after step 4 and reduce the temperature to 150C when you started baking.


Method:

1. Combine (A) in a bowl with a whisk.
2. Mix all ingredients (B) in a medium bowl with a mixer except honey until blend. Add honey to the mixture and blend until homogeneous.
3. Add dry mixture (A) into mixture (B), mix until just blend and smooth. Do not over-mix.
4. In a clean mixing bowl, whisk the egg white in (C) until frothy. Stop the mixer, add the cream of tartar, continue to beat until foamy. Add sugar in 3 batches, beat until stiff peak formed.
5. Fold in beaten egg white into the batter in 3 batches, until no white streaks. The final cake batter shall be just blend without over-mixing.
6. Pour the batter into the lined pan(s). For 6" pan(s), bake 35-40 minutes. For 9" pan, bake 45-50 minutes.
7. Test with a cake tester for doneness.
8. Unmold the cake and allow to cool completely on a rack.

Hope you'll like this too!



我的蜜糖蛋糕

好友是猷太裔澳洲人，當年我們先後搬入愉景灣，又剛巧我倆的單位都坐落在同一海灣，我可以由客廳望到她的家。雖然我倆很親蜜，住處又很接近，但我當時有情緒病，不願與人接觸，包括好友。我最後都立定決心去探望她，而她正是用蜜糖蛋糕招待我們，亦是我人生第一次嚐到蜜糖蛋糕。她幾年前己經搬回老家。蜜糖蛋糕對我並非只是一種美食，而是滿載着我和她一同分享的美好的回憶！

自此我花了一段時間在網上搜尋蜜糖蛋糕的食譜，但往往因為要用太多油而令我卻步。後來在一本烹飪書找到少油食譜，非常興奮。重覆做過同一個食譜令我非常清晰知道我的要求：較濕潤和細膩的蛋糕體，香料的香味要較濃、有層次和加強一點冧酒的芳香。

我最近三星期試過四款不同材料份量的蜜糖蛋糖，每次都有找朋友當「白老鼠」，每次都能滿足他們的味蕾。這是一個不肥膩又帶質感，不是輕飄飄那種。只要撒上糖霜己可，又或配上添了酒香的忌廉就更加美味。我最喜歡下午茶時間配一杯無糖 Nespresso，太美味了！不要急着從焗爐取出就要吃一件，這蛋糕焗好後放一夜味道更醇和。如果焗好放入雪櫃，請提早半小時取出，待至室溫才吃。

我最喜歡的品嚐方法！

這是我暫時最滿意的版本：

焗盤：直徑 9" 一個；或 6" 兩個

材料：
(A) 
中筯粉，過篩 120克
杏仁粉             55克
泡打粉             1/2 茶匙
梳打                 1/2 茶匙
肉桂粉             2大匙
鮮磨肉豆蔻     1/4匙
丁香粉             1/4匙

大型超巿或香料店都可以買到原粒肉豆蔻。只需用刮皮器磨出所需份量。

(B)

蛋黃                 4
原細砂糖         20克
煮食油 (淡味) 3大匙
冧酒                 3大匙
鮮榨檸檬汁     2大匙
檸檬皮屑        大半個
蜜糖                215克

(C)
蛋白 4
原細砂糖 30克
他他粉 1/2 茶匙


把焗爐預熱至攝氐 160度
如果你用東芝水波爐 ER-GD400HK，可於完成步驟 4才預熱焗爐。

方法：

1. 把材料 (A) 倒入碗中，以手動打蛋器拌勻。
2. 除了蜜糖，把材料 (B) 倒入另一碗中，以電動打蛋器拌勻。再拌入蜜糖至均勻。
3. 把 (A) 加入 (B) 中拌勻，注意不可過份攪拌。
4. 把蛋白加入一個絕對無油的大碗中，以電動打蛋器打至出現大氣泡。加入他他粉繼續打拂。分三次加入砂糖，繼續拂打至有光澤的細膩蛋白，取起打蛋器時呈筆尖狀。
5. 把蛋白分三次拌入入麵糊，手法要輕要快，直至均勻。注意：過度攪拌會消減蛋白霜的氣泡。
6. 把麵糊倒入焗盤，放入焗爐：6" 盤約 35-40分鐘；9" 盤約 45-50 分鐘。
7. 以鋼針或竹簽測試是否熟透。
8. 把蛋糕脫模，在架上放涼。

希望你喜歡！