Cinnamon Honey Cake

This recipe is largely based on Arman Liew's excellent recipe, but with a couple of additions to spice up the end result. This honey-forward dessert brings back warm memories from three continents for me, I hope it brings similarly warm feelings to you if you give it a try!

Cinnamon Honey Cake

(9 servings)

Ingredients

3/4 cup of honey (divided)

2 eggs

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

2 teaspoons of orange blossom water

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Zest of half an orange (optional)

1/2 cup of hot water

1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Cinnamon (to taste)

Directions

1) Set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius (or 350 degrees Fahrenheit if you live in 19th century England) and grease a 20-centimeter (or 8-inch) round pan or a square brownie pan.

2) In a large mixing bowl whisk together half a cup of the honey, the eggs, oil, orange blossom water, vanilla, and orange zest before gradually whisking in the hot water.

3) In a separate bowl stir together the dry ingredients (be sure to break down the clumps of brown sugar!), then add them to the wet ingredients and thoroughly combine.

4) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes before covering with some aluminum foil and continuing to bake for about 10 more minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted near the middle comes out clean. (The original recipe only needed 30 minutes to achieve perfection, but that hasn't been the case with my oven!)

5) After the cake is done remove it from the oven and drizzle the remaining honey evenly over the top while it's still hot.

6) Once the drizzled honey has soaked in and the cake has cooled down somewhat slice and serve as is or with your beverage of choice, and enjoy!