Walnut and Honey Cake by The Hummingbird Bakery

One of my resolutions for this year is to use my cookbooks more often. I am so used to looking up recipes online (usually on my Pinterest or my favourite food blogs) that I forget to check my books first, which is a shame as I have some amazing ones at home.

One of the most popular bakeries in London is The Hummingbird Bakery, considered the home of authentic American cupcakes in the UK. I received their Cake Days cookbook as a present and I love the recipes in it: simple, effective and well tested to work in any kitchen.

A few weeks ago, I made their Walnut & Honey Cake recipe. It was a last minute decision on a lazy Sunday and I chose it because I could use basic ingredients I had at home, such as flour, eggs, sugar.

I love loaf cakes such as banana bread or almond blueberry cake, especially when they are generously sprinkled with crunchy nuts. This Hummingbird Bakery cake is flavoured with the delicately sour flavour of yoghurt and the nuttiness of walnuts.

The key ingredient to this cake however is honey! Honey adds sweetness and a moist crumble to baking recipes, as well as a golden colour and crust.

I used Manuka honey from our recent trip to New Zealand. This variety of honey is quite expensive and perhaps is best used raw (drizzled on granola pots, bircher muesli or a skyr cake). When used in baking recipes, Manuka honey loses its peculiar taste and anti-bacterial properties. So for this recipe in particular you can use any clear, runny honey you might have at home or find at your local store.

This is a soft and moist cake, balanced in flavours with just a little hint of sweet honey flavour. It is perfect for breakfast or an afternoon tea break, as it pairs very well with coffee or tea.

Walnut and Honey Cake with Honey Glaze

Ingredients

• 190g unsalted butter, softened
• 190g white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 190g flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 25 ml natural yoghurt
• 1 tbsp runny honey
• 60g walnuts, chopped

For the honey glaze

• 50 ml water
• 1 tbsp runny honey

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease a loaf tin and dust with flour. In a bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one by one.

In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the cake batter little by little and keep mixing. When all is well combined, add yogurt, vanilla essence and one tablespoon of honey. Chop the walnuts coarsely and incorporate them to the cake mix using a spatula.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Bake in the middle of the oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Let cool for 5-10 minutes, then release from the tin and let cool completely.

Prepare the honey syrup. Combine the water and honey into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Let cook until the liquid has reduced by half. When you remove the cake from the tin, pour the syrup over it.