German Baking: Honey Cakes (Honigkuchen)

This German recipe for Honey Cakes (or “honigkuchen”) is from my Great Auntie Betty and it’s a cake traditionally made at Christmas time. I find the taste and texture of this cake very unique, and incredibly festive (read: spicy and flavourful)!

These are like a cross between a cake and a cookie – the batter is cake-like, but you can still press it into a pan like a very, very soft cookie.

There’s a ton of honey in this cake (obviously) and that taste really shines through. There’s also a little bit of coffee, almond flavouring and spices to give it an extra kick.

These are supposed to be topped with almonds, but I ran out… gasp! I used pecans instead, and that seemed to work (and taste) well!

I just received a really fantastic early Christmas present from Hubby – a massive KitchenAid mixer (my first mixer EVER!) – so I used that on this recipe and I was really happy with the resulting texture.

My Hubby and I really enjoyed these, but my little girls weren’t huge fans. I’d say this is a dessert best saved for adults or kids with adventurous pallattes! Here’s the recipe:

Honeykuchen (Honey Cakes)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup honey or syrup (or mix 1/2 cup molasses & 1/2 cup honey)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter/margarine (I melted my butter completely – it seemed to mix well that way)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup brewed coffee
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp rum extract (I used vanilla extract instead)
• 4 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• pinches of anise, coriander (I didn’t use these for mine)

Directions:

Beat together the honey, brown sugar, butter, salt, coffee, egg and extracts (I used my KitchenAid mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes).

Mix in the flower, baking powder and spices.

Pour and press into a greased and floured cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

Ice with a mixture of icing sugar and milk, cut into diamond shapes, and place an almond on each diamond.