This cake is a tribute to both the elegance
and ingenuity of honeybees. The shape of
the cake is based on an ancient beehive
called a skep, which was made of a coiled
basket. Under the hovering marzipan bees
are layers of banana cake, pecans and
honey-scented buttercream.
Beehive Cake Recipe
Makes one 8 inch cake
Prep Time: 1 hour
Baking Time: 40 minutes
Level: multiple steps, but all of them are easy
Banana Cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups banana puree (about 4 bananas)
1/2cup buttermilk
Honey-Pecan Buttercream:
1 cup egg whites
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 pounds (6 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups pecan pieces, lightly toasted and cooled
yellow food coloring
Marzipan Bees:
1/4 cup marzipan
1/4 cup sliced almond
black food coloring
To bake the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter and flour an 8-inch cake
pan and an 8-inch metal mixing
bowl.
Line the cake pan with a parchment
paper round. Set aside.
In a medium bowl whisk together
the flour, baking powder, baking
soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a mixer fitted with the paddle
attachment, cream together the
butter and sugar until light in
color and fluffy.
Mix in the honey and vanilla.
Add the eggs one at a time,
mixing well after each.
Add the banana puree and mix
until incorporated.
Alternate between adding the
flour mixture and buttermilk,
starting and ending with the
dry ingredients.
Divide the batter between the
cake pan and the prepared bowl.
Bake the cakes for about 40 minutes,
or until a tester comes out clean.
The cake in the bowl may take a few
more minutes.
Remove and allow to cool completely.
To make the buttercream:
In the bowl of a stand mixer combine
the egg whites and sugar.
It will be very thick and grainy.
Put the bowl over a double boiler
and stir it with a rubber spatula
until the sugar is completely
melted.
Brush the sides down with the spatula
to make sure all the sugar is melted.
Feel the egg mixture between your
fingers to check for graininess.
Once it is completely smooth, put the
bowl on the mixer and beat with the
whip attachment on medium-high speed.
Whip until it is light, fluffy, glossy and
the bowl feels just about room
temperature.
If the egg whites are not cooled off
sufficiently it will melt the butter
when you add it.
Once the egg whites are whipped and
cooled, add the butter, 2 tablespoons
at a time on medium speed.
WARNING:
After you have added about half of
the butter, it may look curdled and
runny; this is normal and you
should continue adding the rest of
the butter.
Once you have finished adding the
butter and it has mixed on medium
speed for about a minute the
buttercream will be creamy and
glossy-looking again.
Add the honey, salt and vanilla.
Divide the buttercream in half
and add the pecans to one
batch and the yellow food
coloring to the other.
Cut each of the cake layers in half.
Start with the cake-pan layers and
fill them with the pecan buttercream.
Repeat with the rounded layers
baked in the metal bowl.
Use a small portion of the yellow
buttercream to create a crumb
coat on your cake.
The crumb coat locks in the crumbs
and guarantees that your cake will
have no unwanted crumbs on the
outside.
Now you are ready to add the final
coat of buttercream.
Put on a nice, thick, smooth layer;
you will end up scraping some of it
off as you create the spiral.
Use a decorating spatula to gently
press the cake as you slowly spin
the cake turntable.
Start at the top and make your
way down the cake.
To create the marzipan bees:
Take a small piece of the marzipan
and roll it between the palms of
your hands until it is lozenge-shaped.
You can taper one end slightly to
be the back of the bee.
Paint the stripes on the marzipan
with a clean paintbrush or toothpick
and black food coloring.
Allow it to dry until it is no longer
tacky.
Once the stripes are dry, press the
sliced almonds into the sides to create
the bees’ wings.
You can use toothpicks cut at different
lengths to suspend the bees over the
cake or lay them right on the surface.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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