Elizabethan Honeycakes
“She still remembered the innkeep, a fat woman named Masha Heddle who chewed sourleaf night and day and seemed to have an endless supply of smiles and sweet cakes for the children. The sweet cakes had been soaked with honey, rich and heavy on the tongue…” -A Game of Thrones
Modern Honey-ginger cakes
Our Thoughts:
We had initially intended to make two versions of this dessert, but after some trouble tracking down a suitable old one, and after tasting the modern version, we couldn’t wait to share.
While the Elizabethan version is very light, fluffy, and ohsotasty, it is more of a bun than a cake. As such, it didn’t respond well to my initial attempts to soak it in honey. It would accept a honey glaze once it had cooled down, but still lacked that really over the top sweet honey kick. So I went a step further, and filled them with honey. YES.
The modern cakes are also wonderful. They make these dense, doughy little cakes bursting with honey flavor and the subtlest of spices. We finished ours with lavender icing, and can’t imagine a better pairing. We thought they couldn’t get any better until we tried soaking a few in about 1/4″ of honey overnight. Result? Sheer decadence. The honey hits the tongue, the lavender hits the palate, and the whole thing is amazing. Our batch lasted about 5 whole minutes…
If anyone has a solid recipe for an older honeycake, we’d love to see it. In the meantime, we’ll be in the kitchen, eating these cakes until we run out, or can’t fit through the door.
Elizabethan Honeycake Recipe
Elizabethan Almond Cakes- Take one peck of flower, one pound of sugar, one pound of almons, beaten & strained with as much ale as will stiffen your paste, put theirto three spoonfulls of barme, & a few annisseds, then woork it well together, then make it in little cakes, prick them thick for rising & bake them. Elinor Fettiplace’s Receipt Book, 1604
Makes about 12 buns
Prep: 10 minutes Rising: 1.5 hour, minimum Baking: 15 minutes
Our changes: No aniseseeds, don’t like ’em. You are more than welcome to include them if you do, however. We basically used the original recipe, but added honey to the batter, as well as soaking the cakes in honey for a while.
Ingredients:
- up to 3 1/2 cups flour
- 3 Tbs. honey
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 3 Tbs. ground almonds
- 1 packet yeast, or 2 1/4 tsp.
- 1/2 pint ale (1 bottle)
- pinch of salt
- honey for soaking, probably around 1/2 cup at least
Modern Honeycake Recipe
Makes: never enough
Prep: 15 minutes Bake: ~30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 egg
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cup buttermilk
Sift together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add egg and beat thoroughly, followed by the honey. Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk in alternating turns, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Pour into paper lined cupcake tins, or a greased muffin pan, filling each cup 2/3 full. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until the cakes are a golden brown.
Martha Stewart’s lavender icing recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/340910/lavender-icing
I would think that substituting mead for the ale would also yield a richer honey taste.
Well now I clearly have to try that! Great suggestion!
It wouldn’t froth up like beer, though with most of the meads I’ve seen. I’ll probably be trying this with something like Fuller’s Honey Dew or Waggle Dance. Both are beers brewed with honey in them as well as malt.
I tried it this evening. I replaced the ale by mead, but did not mix the yeast directly with the mead (12% alcohol may be quite a lot for yeast for bakery purposes), but mixed the yeast with 100ml water plus the sugar. Then I used 150ml mead and mixed it with the honey. I combined the liquids after the yeast frothed up. Worked great. Beer made from honey is also a great idea.
“Makes: never enough” – this made me smile :)
me too! :)
Yum! I’m betting I could easily eat myself sick on these and I agree wholeheartedly with Shoshana’s comment; I think mead would be simply fine with these.
What about using your Elizabethan Lemon Cake recipe, or something similar, minus the lemon and poppy seeds, and plus some honey and maybe another spice? Maybe thyme, or cardamom, or anything really (I dunno if those two would be any good…) And mead instead of ale to bloom the yeast? Just a thought…
Saffron honey cakes
6 eggs
½ lb. clear honey
¼ lb. white flour
1 tsp. saffron
Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Dissolve saffron in a few teaspoons of warm water. Beat eggs until stiff, drizzling in the honey as you do. Add dissolved saffron. Fold in flour, pour into greased muffin tins, bake for 25 minutes. Serve with warm honey.
I found this recipe for Crispels
http://www.godecookery.com/mtrans/mtrans38.htm
Take and make a sheet of good pastry as thin as paper; carve it out with a saucer & fry it in oil; or in grease; and to finish them, take clarified honey and baste there-with. Do them up and serve them forth.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61677792@N00/2400438071/
I think it fits the book pretty well, because I can just picture a jolly innkeeper having a steady supply of these to hand out to children, made from the leftover pastry bits from other dishes.
Personally, when I read about these I imagined Namoura, the honey-drenched semolina cake of Lebanese cuisine (it goes by different names in Egyptian and Jewish cuisines also). Although not a western dessert, I wouldn’t be surprised if the recipe was very old.
the elizabethan above looks amazing, i imagine it warm with a cold drink. i agree though that honey cake makes me think of something that turns out looking like it is solidified honey as a bread. semolina cake would fit that well, and i found a recipe i’ve been really wanting to try: http://thecookieshopinenglish.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/sfouf-semolina-cake/
I’m also imagining the semolina cakes of the Middle East. The cakes are perforated after baking and then a sweet syrup is poured over the top and allowed to soak into the cake. Another possibility is baklava which is made of filo pastry and walnuts drenched in honey.
The modern honey cakes were delicious! Made them for a season 2 finale party. I used vanilla icing, worked just as well (didn’t feel like hunting down lavender).
Firstly I’d like to mention how huge a fan of all your wonderful recipes I am (some of which I’ve even managed to whip up). I decided to make both a mixture of the modern and Elizabethan honeycakes for a Game of Thrones themed supper for my husband’s birthday. (Also thanks for the tips on the cocktail banners we made some of our own which went down a storm). I mention these because as I was putting the final touches on the dining table my two sons raided the kicthen, upon finding them the eldest shouted ‘FOR WINTERFELL’ before they both made off with the honeycakes. Considering how fussy they are when it comes to food I’d like to thank you for such a wonderful recipe that my whole family can enjoy.
The North remembers
Let me say I love your blog and your new cook book. I made both these recipes and have to say i prefer the modern version. The Elizabethan recipe had more or a bread consistency as you described, but was still yummy. I brushed the modern cakes with honey while still warm and they were delicious!! They lasted about two hours!
Thank you so much for all your amazing recipes!
The modern version is my favorite, too. It’s one of the only desserts I always make time for amidst perfecting new dishes for both blogs, but then, I’m a sucker for honey… :)
I made the Elizabethan version, but added hard cider instead of ale and it gave it a apple-y hint that was quite good. I think I may try it with pear cider next.
I’m trying the Elizabethan recipe and the dough is very tough and flaky after 3 1/2 cups of flour… Is it supposed to be this tough? I’m worried I’ve done it wrong :-/
Hmm, that does sound odd. If I recall correctly, the dough should be soft but pliable, such that you can pull the ends around to the bottom and tuck them in for a nice round shape. All dough recipes are a bit fussy, so it might just need some tweaking. If you try it again, gradually work your way towards that 3 1/2 mark, stopping when it seems like a good consistency. In the meantime, I’ll double check things on this end, and alter the ingredients list to reflect the change.
Oh thank you for getting back to me so quickly! For the time being I just added more ale until the dough became workable again. Next time I do this I will definitely try it that way. Thanks again! :)
First time poster reporting that I made the medieval version a few weeks ago, and they were a massive hit. I did have to use walnuts instead of almonds and my dough turned out extremely sticky, to the point of having to ask my father to sprinkle flour on my hands so I could get the dough off during kneading. Aside from that, as I mentioned, these were fantastic, and my sugar sensitive mother has a treat she can enjoy a bit more often than most. Thanks so much for the blog and book(got it for Christmas), I’ve been having a lot of fun!
I just made the modern honey cakes, and oh my! I immediately knew that one batch would not be enough, so I sent my husband to the store for more honey! I did use a little less honey for the second batch, and they came out exactly how I wanted them. For the icing, I couldn’t find lavender, so I used vanilla and poppy seeds instead. It turned out perfect. I’m sure the lavender is amazing, but this was lovely.
I almost cried when they were gone! (modern ones) Just perfect, thank you so much for the recipe!!!
both recipes sound good!
I made the modern cakes for a season 3 finale feast – amazing! My coworkers saw the photos on Facebook and begged me to bring some in to work, so I ended up making another batch the next day. They were a huge hit both times! I soaked the cakes in 1/4″ of honey as suggested, which enhanced the moistness and flavor. I have one note on the lavender icing: the Martha Stewart recipe calls for 3 cups of powdered sugar, which turned the mixture into a solid paste. I remade it with only 2 cups of sugar and it turned out perfect. I also sprinkled lavender on top of the icing, which looked really pretty and added a little more flavor.
How long do you let the honey soak into the buns after filling them?
By the way, I think this is a great site. I’ve been asking for the cook book since I first knew of it’s existence and after trying this recipe just ordered the cook book. I tried the Elizabethan cakes and the dough was easy to make, smells divine in the oven and I can’t wait to taste them. I’m letting them stand currently to really let the honey soak.
Did George RR Martin work with you guys on any of this?
So, I’m attempting the Elizabethan recipe, and being a terrible cook, I am following it very closely. I note that the recipe calls for 3Tbsp of honey and also 1/2 cup of honey for soaking. I don’t see any mention of adding any of the honey into the dough, only using it as a filling. Is there bonus honey listed in the ingredients or should some of that honey go in the dough? I assume it’s the latter? Anyway, all the recipes sound interesting! Definitely going to try a couple of them and then get the cookbook if it turns out that I am actually able to cook them successfully (I did mention I’m a terrible cook, right?).
Thanks for the research and obvious care that you put into this!
I think they meant to say
Grind the almonds and sugar in a food processor, then combine with the HONEY and salt in a large bowl.
And then add in the flour gradually.
I think. I just made these tonight too and noticed that there was a missing honey somewhere. This turned out fun, heavy, but good.
Absolutely love the old Elizabethan Honeycake recipe. I love collecting and sharing old recipes as well. Found two from the 19th century – one for traditional honey cake and another for eggless honey cake. Several members of my family don’t eat eggs so the eggless recipe is great for them. http://www.simplyoldschoolcooking.com/honey-cake.html
What temperature should the ale be warmed too?
Room temperature is fine, or a little warmer. Just not so hot it kills the yeast!
Are there any modifications for high altitude?
what van you use besides ale? Have to make something like this for my daughters Elizabethan school party and can’t use alcohol? Thanks
I also don’t use alcohol in cooking, and good substitutes include fruit vinagers, fruit juice, even soda. For this recipe finding something with a honey flavor or another complimentary flavor would be ideal. I made the modern version for the season 5 premiere and they were delicious even without frosting or soaking in honey. We also made the roast duck with cherries and lemons and it was unbelievable! Ill definitely use recipes from this blog again.
What adjustments would need to be made for the buns if almond flour was removed? I (and tbh a notable amount of my family) am allergic to nuts, but the recipe sounds neat.
I’m guessing you could just sub in regular flour, making small allowances one way or the other until you got a good consistency!