Honey Bee Cake

[Raine]

Honey Bee Cake


Note: This recipe is a bit complicated, so read all directions carefully before making dessert.

Tools Required:

2 pastry bags
One No. 3 writing tip
1 leaf tip
1 flower tip
1 pair scissors
One 4" x 6" piece card stock paper for hive template
1 spatula
1 candy thermometer

Ingredients for the Butter Cream:

1-1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
5 egg whites at room temperature
Pinch of salt
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
3 sticks unsalted butter

Preparation for the Butter Cream:

In a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and water, and bring to a boil, covered, until candy thermometer reads 245 degrees. Beat egg whites and salt until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and beat to soft peaks. Add hot sugar syrup very slowly while mixing the egg whites. Add butter a little at a time until well-blended. Chill covered until firm but not too hard to spread.

Chocolate Butter Cream (for the bees): Blend 1/2 cup butter cream with 1 Tbs. cocoa powder.

Honey Butter Cream (for the filling and frosting): Combine 1 cup of room-temperature honey with remaining butter cream. Mix well. Set aside 1/3 of honey butter cream for the cake filling. For the frosting, add yellow food coloring to remaining honey butter cream until it is a medium-yellow color.

Ingredients for the Honey Bee Cake:

2 7" rounds of buttermilk, pound or white cake
1-1/2 lbs. butter cream (recipe above)
1 cup honey
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1 Tbs. cocoa powder
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Yellow food coloring

Assembling the Cake:

Split two cake layers in half, and fill first two layers with uncolored honey butter cream. Top second layer with thin layer of apricot preserves. To create a hive shape, shave the top sides of the outer edge of the third layer, and save cake remains.

Place third layer on top of preserve-coated second layer, and top the third layer with uncolored honey butter cream. Cut an inch off around the fourth layer to create the hive shape. Place uncolored honey butter cream onto fourth layer, and press in cake remains to create top of hive. Save remaining uncolored butter cream for blossom decoration.

Shape top of cake with spatulas to make an even hive. Chill cake for 1 hour. Spread yellow butter cream evenly from top to bottom. Use precut cardboard template to form ridges in hive.

To Decorate with Vines, Bees and Flowers: Pipe vines on hive cake with chocolate butter cream in pastry bag with No. 3 writing tip. Add chocolate leaves to vines with leaf tip. Pipe flowers on vines with uncolored honey butter cream and flower tip. Pipe 3 or 4 almond-sized and shaped bee bodies on some flowers using the No. 3 writing tip and yellow butter cream.

Pipe three chocolate lines across bee bodies, add a stinger and a small head. Stick four even-sized slivered almonds into body for wings (2 slices per wing).Pipe 2 eyes on bee heads with honey butter cream.

Yield: 8 servings

[mudbug]

How cute. This looks like a fine project for PA Baker! Make us one, PA!