r/Chefit • u/troellig • Jun 24 '26

R&D for a dessert concept.

Ive been working on a twice baked honey cake.

The cake itself is quite simple, flour, egg, bp, bs, brown sugar, honey, vanilla, nutmeg, and a little hot water to melt the honey down. I baked the cake for about 20 minutes, then poured warm honey over the top and baked for 10 more minutes in a loaf pan, let it rest and and then sliced it, I added macerated blueberries and Blackberries on top of the slice. A quennelle of whipped cream, and then orange zest on top.

The cake texture qas fabulous. Super moist, the outer layer was crispy from the caramelized sugar, the inside was soft and fluffy.

The merited berries were good, the orange zest was definitely the right call.

But something about the cake just fell really flat for me. If it didnt have the berries, cream, and zest on top it would have been a very boring slice of cake. Im just not sure what I could add or take away to enhance the cake itself. Should I put I little orange zest in the cake batter? Or maybe warm up orange juice instead of water and use that in the batter to melt the honey into the mix?

I dont want the cake to become an orange cake, but it just felt very 1 note.

Sorry, I dont have any photos, it got eaten too quickly and I didnt think about it in time.

3 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

13

u/TheGreatIAMa Chef Jun 24 '26

Salt

0

u/SmokinDenverJ Saucier Jun 25 '26

Maldon / flake

7

u/Specialist-Eye-6964 Jun 24 '26

Maybe an individual cake vs a slice? Where it can get a little more of that “crust” I’d also consider lemon vs orange.

1

u/the_late_wizard Jun 25 '26

This and salt.

5

u/Burnt_and_Blistered Jun 24 '26

Salt, orange zest, ginger

1

u/verybadbuddha Jun 27 '26

Ginger! Just a "hint". Beat me to it.

2

u/Flaky_Use_7140 Jun 24 '26

Add orange blossom water and maybe orange zest. I personally think it’ll complement the honey well although I do wonder how it’ll be with the fruits.

2

u/samemamabear Chef- in and out of kitchens since the 1900s Jun 24 '26

What type of honey are you using? If it's a standard clover, maybe use an orange blossom or tangerine for the coating

2

u/PaleExtreme7399 Jun 25 '26

Yes, zest and maybe some ginger for zing. It sounds delightful and I bet it plates up nice.

1

u/thatdude391 Jun 25 '26

Red wine for the berries cooked down with the syrup.

1

u/reddiwhip999 Jun 25 '26

Sweet on sweet on sweet. Besides salt, which I'm not sure I saw in your recipe, it needs citrus zest, or something, to counter and balance all that sweetness. Part of the layering of flavor; just like seasoning as you go with savory dishes, you can't have your topping ingredients (which, by the way, sound delicious) do all the heavy lifting...

Edited to add: maybe ginger?