Honey Spice Beer Cake
Seven thousand years ago, people in the region of what is present-day Iran brewed yeast into the first alcoholic drinks, inventing what we now know as beer. Unfortunately, they had no cake. The ancient Egyptians also drank beer, and although they used yeast to make the first cakes sweetened with honey, they didn’t think to combine beer and cake to make one of humanity’s greatest inventions: beer cake. For this tremendous recipe you can try lager, Guinness, or your favorite brew; each one imparts a different flavor.
Recipe from Booze Cakes by Krystina Castella and Terry Lee Stone/Quirk Books, 2010.
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon all spice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup salted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup honey
Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
1 bottle honey beer
1/2 cup salted butter
3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup honey beer
2 tablespoons honey
FINISH:
2 cups mixed nuts
Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch sheet cake pan.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg; set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars 3 to 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in honey, lemon juice, and zest.
Mix in flour mixture and beer in three alternating additions. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool.
For the frosting: In a mixing bowl, cream butter with about 1/3 of the confectioners’ sugar. Mix in beer and the rest of the sugar in alternating additions, beating until smooth and creamy. Stir in honey.
Remove cake from the pan and place on a plate large enough to hold the cake and nuts. Cover with frosting and scatter nuts on top and around the plate.
Recipe Source: huffingtonpost.com