Incredibly moist, light, fluffy, and full of winter spices. This pretty and delicious cranberry honey cake deserves an honorable place on your festive table.
Not a very traditional honey cake
In childhood, honey cakes were my favorite. I can still remember that palate-tickling feeling when eating them as a kid and I’m not even sure if I knew that other types of layer cakes existed. Only a few decades later I tried to bake one myself and found out that traditional honey cakes are pretty dry and take a lot of effort to make. Rolling out every layer, that’s actually a huge cookie, baking them one by one, then waiting 24 hours or longer while layers will absorb the moisture of the cream and get delicious. After my first honey cake, which I did not really like, the journey of creating a lighter, easier-to-make, more moist, and tastier honey cake began. And here is the result of it.
Fluffy, light, and with a tart note
Instead of honey cookies, I layered this cake with fluffy honey sponge cake. It absorbs a lot of moisture from the cream and still stays very light. I also added cranberry layers, to make this cake even more wintery and festive. Cranberries add sourness and balance out the sweetness of the sponge cake perfectly. If you prefer sweeter cakes, feel free to add more sugar when cooking cranberries.
Swiss meringue buttercream
To cover this cake I used Swiss meringue buttercream, which is probably the most difficult part of the recipe. Feel free to change it with another type of buttercream, if you have your favorite, or simply cover the cake with cookie crumbs. But if you are willing to add more effort, this version of Swiss meringue buttercream will not disappoint you, I promise.
Cranberry Honey Cake
Incredibly moist, light, fluffy, and full of winter spices. This pretty and delicious cranberry honey cake deserves an honorable place on your festive table.
- Prep Time2 hr
- Bake / Cook Time50 min
- Rest / Chill Time8 hr
- Total Time10 hr 50 min
- Yield10-12 serv.
- Cake Pan Size15 cm / 6 inch
Ingredients
Honey Sponge Cake Layers
- 60 g / 2,1 oz honey
- 80 g / 2,8 oz unsalted butter
- 75 g / 2,6 oz light brown granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs (120-140 g in total without shells)
- 120 g / 4,2 wheat flour (cake or plain flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ⅛ tsp salt
Cranberry Jam
- 200 g / 7 oz cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 30 g / 1 oz / 2 tbsp light brown granulated sugar
Sour Cream Based Inner Cream
- 250 g / 8,8 oz sour cream (30-40% fat)
- 125 g / 4,4 oz whipping cream (30-35% fat)
- 30 g / 1 oz icing sugar
Swiss Meringue Buttercream to Cover the Cake
- 100 g / 3,5 oz egg whites (~3 medium egg whites)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 160 g / 5,6 oz sugar
- 150 g / 5,3 oz unsalted butter (room-temperature, cubed)
- 70 g / 2,5 oz white chocolate (melted)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp salt
Directions
Honey Sponge Cake Layers
Preheat the oven to 160°C / 320°F (without a fan).
Line the 15 cm / 6-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
In a bowl mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves together well. Set aside.
Combine honey and butter in a saucepan and melt them on medium heat.
Using a handheld or stand mixer beat room-temperature eggs with the granulated sugar at a high speed till the mixture triples in size and gets a very pale yellow color. When you lift the whisk attachment, the batter should fall back in thick trails which will stay on top of the batter, remaining clearly visible on the surface for at least a few moments before slowly disappearing (ribbon stage). Beating may take about 5 mins.
Add warm honey and butter, which you’ve melted before, and beat a bit more, till everything is well combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl, to make sure no liquid is left sitting in the bottom. The batter will get slightly thinner at this point.
Sift the flour and spice mixture into the batter. Add salt.
Fold in flour carefully using a silicone spatula or a spoon just until combined. Rotate the bowl all the time to remove flour pockets easier.
Transfer the batter to the previously prepared cake pan. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 45-50 mins. Test for doneness by inserting a wooden stick in the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done, but if there is some wet batter on it, bake it for a few more minutes and test again.
After taking the cake out of the oven, leave it in the pan for a few minutes, then take it out and transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Cranberry Jam
Combine cranberries, brown sugar, and spices in a saucepan. Put the saucepan on medium heat and cook, stirring from time to time, till the cranberries release their juice and get softened (about 5 mins.)
Remove from heat and blend cooked cranberries with a stick blender. You will get a thick jam consistency. Set aside to cool.
Sour Cream Based Inner Cream
In a bowl mix sour cream with icing sugar.
In a separate bowl, whip the cold whipping cream until medium-stiff peaks form. Be careful not to overbeat.
Fold the whipped cream in the sour cream carefully by hand, with a silicone spatula or a spoon. You will get a medium-thick cream.
Assemble the cake
After the cake has cooled completely, split it into 4 thin layers using a big serrated knife.
Put the first cake layer on a cake board or a flat plate. Wrap an acetate strip around it and secure with a metal cake ring.
Spread ⅓ of the cranberry jam on top of the cake layer, leaving ~2 cm / 0,8 inch edge.
Spread ⅓ of the cream and level the top.
Put the second cake layer on top of the cream, press gently, and repeat the process. Finish with a fourth cake layer on top.
Chill the cake in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream to Cover the Cake
In a metal bowl combine egg whites, sugar, and lemon juice. Boil some water in a saucepan, then reduce the heat to medium to keep the water steaming but not bubbling vigorously. Put the bowl with egg whites on top of the saucepan with steaming water making sure that the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Heat the mixture stirring all the time, till sugar fully dissolves and the mixture reaches 72°C / 161°F. It will take about 5-7 mins. At this moment your egg whites are pasteurized.
Remove the egg whites from the heat and start beating them with a handheld or stand mixer at high speed. Beat till the meringue is glossy, holds its shape when you lift the whisk attachment and the bottom of the bowl is cool to the touch. With my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, it takes about 15 mins.
If you are using a stand mixer, switch to the paddle attachment.
With the mixer running on medium speed, start adding softened butter to the meringue, one cube at a time allowing each piece to incorporate before adding the next.
Add melted white chocolate, vanilla extract, and salt. Mix on a slow speed for a few more minutes, till you get an even creamy texture.
Cover and decorate the cake
Remove the cake from the fridge, and remove the metal ring and acetate strip. Level the sides of the cake using a metal spatula or a knife.
Crumb coat the cake with Swiss meringue buttercream. This buttercream layer does not have to be thick, it keeps stray crumbs and inner cream from coming loose during the cake decorating process. It’s totally fine if the cake does not look perfect at this point. Chill the cake in the fridge for at least half an hour, till the buttercream layer firms up.
Remove the cake from the fridge and cover it with the remaining Swiss meringue buttercream. Decorate to your liking. I used cinnamon sticks, fresh cranberries, a few sugar cookies, and thyme twigs. Chill the cake in the fridge for at least an hour, till the top buttercream layer firms up.
Store the cake in the fridge for up to a week, if you manage to save it for so long.
notes
- Eggs for cake layers have to be at room temperature or they will not reach a full volume. So take them out of the fridge at least half an hour before beating them or soak them in warm water for 5-10 mins.
- The baking temperature of this cake is lower than usual because cakes with honey tend to burn. Also, lower temperature helps it to rise more evenly.
- If you prefer sweeter cakes, you can increase the sugar amount both in cranberry jam and inner cream.
- Make sure that all the tools that will be touching the meringue are perfectly clean and grease free, or the meringue will not whip properly.
- When you start adding butter to the meringue, all ingredients have to be at room temperature. If the meringue has not cooled enough, you’ll get soupy buttercream. If your butter is too cold, your buttercream will curdle.
- In case your buttercream got soupy, put the bowl with it in the fridge until it sets a bit, then re-whip it.
- In case your buttercream got curdled, place the bowl with it on top of the saucepan with steaming water, and warm the buttercream stirring until it starts melting on the sides. Remove from the steam bath and whip the buttercream again until it comes together.
- You can make swiss meringue buttercream in advance and keep it at room temperature for a few hours or in the fridge for a few weeks. Bring it back to room temperature and re-whip it before using.
- This cake is very moist and soft, that’s why it’s so delicious, but because of the same reason, it’s a bit challenging to crumb coat. Especially if you are more used to covering cakes, frosted with buttercream. Adding the second buttercream layer is a lot easier.
