honey – My Whisk and I

Russian Honey Cake

October 26, 2025October 25, 2025by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

Burnt honey:
190ml honey
63ml water

Cake:
63ml burnt honey
190ml honey
280ml granulated sugar
200g butter, cubed
6 eggs
12,5ml baking powder
3,7ml salt
5ml ground cinnamon
940ml flour

Honey-cream:
125ml burnt honey
360g tin of caramel treat
2,5ml salt
600ml whipping cream

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Cut 11 pieces of baking paper to the size of a large baking sheet and trace a 22cm circle onto each. Set aside.

For the burnt honey:
Pour the honey into a small saucepan and place it over high heat. Turn the heat down to medium when it start to bubble.
Cook until it becomes an amber colour – about 3 minutes.
Take the honey from the heat and add the water – stand back as it will sputter!
Whisk together once it stops bubbling.
Pour the burnt honey into a measuring jug and set aside to cool.

For the cake:
Pour the burnt honey, honey, sugar and butter into a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.
Stir until the butter has melted and then whisk by hand to combine.
Add the eggs one at a time while whisking continuously, still over the simmering water.
Add the baking powder, salt and cinnamon and whisk together for 30 seconds.
Remove the bowl from the heat.
Sift the flour into the mixture in 3-4 batches, whisking after each addition until the batter is smooth. (You may use an electric hand-held whisk)
Scoop a heaped 125ml measuring cup of the batter onto the baking paper circle and spread it out evenly with a spatula.
Bake each layer/disc for 7 minutes until it is a dark caramel colour.
Place the baked discs on a flat surface to cool completely.

For the honey-cream:
Add 125ml burnt honey, the caramel treat and salt into a mixing bowl and whisk by hand to combine.
Add 190ml cream, a little at a time, while whisking.
Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Pour the remaining 410ml cream into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat to medium soft peaks.
Add the honey and caramel mixture and beat to medium stiff peaks.

Assembly:
Assemble the cake on your serving plate so that you don’t have to move it later on.
Place the first cake disc on the plate and scoop a generous amount of the honey-cream on top. Spread out evenly not worrying that it will crawl down the sides.
Keep going until all the cake discs have been stacked.
cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining honey-cream and smooth it out.
Place the cake in the refrigerator for a minimum of 8 hours.

If you would like to, blitz up a selection of salted nuts and cover the sides and top of the cake with it before slicing to serve.

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Pistachio, Date and Honey Cake

July 31, 2023June 28, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

175g butter, cubed
100g brown sugar
30ml + 15ml honey
2 eggs
225g self-raising flour
2,5ml ground cinnamon
2 ripe bananas
100g stoned dates
50g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped

Preheat your oven to 160℃ and line a medium loaf tin with baking paper.
Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together.
Add the honey with the mixer running and then add the eggs one at a time.
Scrape the mixture down and mix for another minute.
Mix the flour and ground cinnamon and add a tablespoon of flour to the mixture while mixing. Continue adding flour until you have none left.
Mash the bananas and cut the dates into small pieces with scissors.
Add the fruit to the the batter and mix for 2 minutes.
Spoon the batter in to the prepared loaf tin and level out the top.
Scatter the pistachios over and bake in the oven for 1 hour 10 minutes – check the loaf with a skewer to see if its done.
Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes before lifting it out of the baking tin.
Drizzle the remaining 15ml honey over the warm cake and allow to cool.
Slice into thick slices and serve along a cup of Turkish coffee.

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Honey and Pear Flapjacks

July 1, 2023June 25, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

1 egg
62ml sugar
125ml milk
15ml melted butter
250ml flour
10ml baking powder
1ml salt
3 pears, cut into 0,5cm thick slices
250ml mascarpone cream, room temperature
80ml syrup

Add the egg and sugar to a mixing bowl and whisk together.
Pour about half the milk and all of the melted butter into the bowl and whisk until amalgamated.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl and whisk again.
Now gradually add the rest of the milk and whisk to form a silky smooth batter.
Place a non-stick pan on medium-high heat, add a splash of vegetable oil and fry spoonfuls of the batter until golden. Flip the flapjack after three minutes and cook for another minute or so.
Add a small knob of butter to the pan and fry the sliced pear over high heat until slightly charred.
Build a stack by layering a flapjack, slice of pear, dollop of mascarpone and then repeat twice more.
Drizzle the syrup over and serve.

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Fig and Honey Tart

February 12, 2023February 11, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

Pastry:
250g butter, cubed
170g icing sugar, sifted
500g cake flour
2 eggs, beaten together

Crème Pâtissière:
40g corn flour
500ml milk
4 egg yolks
100g sugar
5ml vanilla

100g pistacchio nuts, roughly chopped
about 16 medium figs
50ml honey

For the pastry:
Add the butter and sifted icing sugar to the bowl of a food processor.
Run the machine until the mixture is well combined and pasty.
Add the flour and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand. Scrape down.
Drizzle a few drops of the egg into the bowl with the engine running. Add a few more drops at a time until the mixture comes together. (You may have egg left and that is okay – the less you need the crispier the pastry!)
Shape the pastry into a disc, wrap it with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 190℃.
You will use a 22cm loose-bottom flan tin but do not spray or butter the tin!
Roll the pastry to a 3mm thickness and line the bottom and sides of the tin.
Dock the pastry with a fork and bake blind for 15 minutes.
Remove the baking paper and weights/beans and set aside to cool.

For the Crème Pâtissière:
Add the corn flour to a mixing bowl. Pour a small amount of the milk into the owl and stir to make a slurry with the corn flour.
Add the egg yolks and half the sugar.
Whisk by hand until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
Pour the rest of the milk and the rest of the sugar into a small saucepan.
Set over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Take the milk from the heat as soon as tiny bubbles start to appear around the edge of the saucepan.
Drizzle the warm mixture onto the egg mixture in a very thin stream while whisking continuously.
Now pour the mixture back into the saucepan and place on a medium-low heat.
Stir until the mixture is thick and smooth. Allow to cook for about 30 seconds.
Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
Pour the mixture into a shallow bowl, place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface and allow to cool completely.

Whisk the mixture by hand once it is at room temperature, until it is smooth.
Spoon it into a piping bag and pipe into the prepared pastry shell.
Scatter the chopped pistachio evenly over the surface.
Cut a cross into the top third of each fig and place the figs side-by-side on the pistachio.
Drizzle the honey over the figs before serving.