Woah. Right?! It is no secret that we love cake. We love to eat them, we love to make them, we love to look at them. We want to marry them. It’s also probably no secret that we don’t often experiment with new flavors. Vanilla and chocolate are just the perfect go-to for most occasions. HOWEVER, we are starting to be more experimental with our desserts and taking baby steps. This was a tiny little puppy step but it definitely paid off.
The first part of this cake that’s out of The Cupcake Chronicles norm is the honey base. We have never used honey as a main flavor before. It is one of those things that we just never think to bake with even though it is so sweet it is just screaming out to be baked into something delicious. The honey makes for a very delicious and slightly mild cake flavor which pairs perfectly with the frosting on top.
This frosting is a mix between a cream cheese icing and a whipped cream. It has a similar consistency to a whipped cream but with the tangy flavor of the cream cheese. It goes perfectly with the honey cake.
Now let’s talk figs. Chances are if you are anything like us your only experience with figs is when you were given a fig newton to eat as a child. But, even then a fig in your mind is just the weird brown paste inside the cookie. Maybe this is an assumption but you have probably never seen an actual fig in your life. Have you?? We definitely have not. Before this cake, we honestly couldn’t have even drew you a picture of a fig. Do you eat the skin? Do you just scoop out the middle? Do they grow on trees? In the ground? On a vine? Help.
That is until we walked into Trader Joe’s for one of our multiple “Let’s just browse around because we are bored” trips. They had a giant mountain of figs and we had to buy them. Like…we had to. What would we use them for? WHO KNOWS. WHO CARES. WE WILL FIGURE THAT OUT LATER. Same thing we said when we impulsively bought carrot cake spread that has been sitting in the back of the cupboard for months. For now, the figs were just used as a garnish but like we said before…baby steps.
If you are thinking to yourself “wow, that cake looks like it’s burnt to a crisp…”. You wouldn’t be totally wrong. Listen, not everything can be a complete success the first time. We used an 8 inch pan when realistically we should have either used a 9 inch pan or 2 eight inch pans. Don’t make our mistakes. The middle wouldn’t bake while the outside continued to get more and more brown. Resulting in a slightly over baked outside.Still tastes good though!
If you don’t have access to figs or you just don’t like them, you can substitute an fruit you would like. The honey and cream cheese would go with pretty much anything! We also garnished with some crushed pistachios. Again, you can leave off nuts completely, or use walnuts, or almonds, or pecans, or literally anything else you want. Don’t forget an extra little drizzle of honey for garnish at the end!
Happy baking and Happy Fall!
Honey Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese and Figs
Ingredients
for the cake
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
Cream cheese frosting
- 6 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For Garnish
- crushed pistachios
- figs or fruit of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides. You could also us 2 8 inch pans for 2 thinner layers.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the butter, sugar, honey and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time. Mix until combined. In a separate bowl mix together the flour and baking powder.
- Slowly add in half the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until combined and then add in your buttermilk. Slowly add in the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
- Put the batter in your pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
For the frosting
- Beat together the cream cheese and the sugar until combined and smooth. Slowly pour in the heavy cream and beat until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla.
Assembly
- Once the cake is completely cool, spread your frosting on top. Garnish with fresh fruit of your choice and nuts if desired. Store in the fridge