Beautiful Food

Honey.

Beer.

Spice.

Cake.

Four words together in a sentence. No, your ears do not deceive you! This is an absolute birthday cake WIN!  And I made it all for my dad’s 60th birthday.  Shhh….I mean 39th…

<Insert age jokes here>

I don’t know about you, but spice cakes at this time of year are about all I want to eat, well—besides apple pies, kettle korn, and caramel or pumpkin everything of course.

I have got to say this cake really blew me away.  I found it in a book I bought on vacation in Provincetown, Massachusetts last summer.  Provincetown is another blog post in and of itself, BUT, this book was one of my favorite treasures that I returned with.  Let me introduce to you “Booze Cakes: Confections SPIKED with Sprits, Wine, and Beer” by   Krystina Castella and Terry Lee Stone.  This one is definitely a great find and I will be sure to check out and post more great recipes from this amazing cook book!

Now, on to the recipe, which you will find in this book on page 31!  My whole family loved the crap out of it and I know you will too—well, that is, if honey beer is your thing!

This recipe just calls for “honey beer”— so I searched at Hy Vee and found this nice honey ale by Squatters Brewery:

It was darn tasty, but keep in mind that other beers will obviously yield different results!

 

You will need: 

A stand mixer and large bowl

A separate large mixing bowl

Wooden spoon

9 x 13 inch sheet cake pan

Cooling rack

Ingredients: 

For the cake: 

3 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 (1 stick) salted butter

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 1/4 cup honey

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 12 oz. bottle of honey beer

For the frosting: 

1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup honey beer

2 Tablespoons of honey

*Top with mixed party nuts

Directions: 

Preheat oven 325º F.  Grease and flour 9×13 sheet cake pan.

• Combine the flour, soda, powder, salt, spices in large bowl and set aside.
• Using stand mixer/bowl, cream butter and sugars for 4 minutes or until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition.
• Add honey, lemon juice and zest.
• Add flour mix and beer into stand mixture in three additions, mixing a little after each addition.
• Bake 45 minutes or until knife comes out clean and keep testing for doneness every 3-4 minutes if it’s too runny.
• Remove and let completely cool

Frosting: 

• Using another bowl on the stand mixer, cream the butter and one third of the powdered sugar.
• Mix in beer and the rest of the sugar in alternating additions.
• Beat until smooth.
• Stir in the honey by hand with a spoon.

You may choose to turn out the cake or leave it in the pan to frost and top with nuts.  Just be sure it’s completely cool to the touch before doing so.  Placing  it in the refrigerator will accelerate this process.

Don’t forget to top it with mixed nuts!  This is the best part!  I had to get creative here for sure: 

My dad’s 60th birthday party was pretty low key.  Just my brother, husband and I joined him at his cabin on the Missouri river for some fresh fried catfish, beans, bread, and this amazing cake.  It doesn’t get any better than this folks !

Oh yeah, my dad’s nickname is Wimpy…. long story behind this one:

Whether you’d like to make this cake for a birthday, football game, New Years party, or otherwise, it’s dense, moist, heavy, and goes great with an ice cold beer.  A delicious reminder of the end of summer and perfect treat to share with friends and family.

 

Enjoy!

-K