Burnt Honey and Sesame Cornmeal Cake
Thank you, Bob’s Red Mill, for sponsoring this post!
Cake has been the topic of discussion that last few days because Reuben and I celebrated our joint birthdays over the weekend and we of course had to have cake! I bake a cake for us each year but for our 31st and 35th trips around the Sun, I thought an ice cream cake would be fun! It was wonky, weird, rustic, and delicious.
I should have made my life easier and just served a jenga-style assembly of all the Burnt Honey and Sesame Cornmeal Cakes I tested last week though. This cake required a lot of testing to get it just right but the end result was so worth it! I started out with the idea of making a sesame oil cake. I love sesame oil and sesame flavored anything, but even I found a sesame oil (like an olive oil) cake to be too overpowering.
So I took a step back and thought about how I could compliment the sesame oil flavor, which inherently is pretty savory. My enormous jar of honey was staring at me and then I started playing around with a burnt honey sesame candy-like topping (or bottom?) inspired by Chinese sesame candy (one of my favorites). Simmering honey will make you feel like a scientist! Once you heat honey up to a certain temperature it turns into a chewy candy once it cools. When the simmered honey combines with the sesame seeds it creates a gorgeous pattern.
For the cake base, i immediately wanted to use corn meal or cornflour because the texture of the honey and sesame topping is pretty firm, so I wanted a sturdy cake to balance it out. I love that the Bob’s Red Mill Cornflour is ground much finer than normal cornmeal so you get less of a gritty texture in the cake. Cornflour has natural sweetness which is only bumped up a little with some granulated sugar.
The final loaf cake make for a spectacular snacking cake. Even though there is a good layer of honey, the overall cake isn’t too sweet. It makes for a perfect treat for breakfast or afternoon tea. It also keeps really well if you’re looking to bring a baked good or edible gift to a friend!
Burnt Honey and Sesame Cornmeal Cake
makes 1 loaf cake
3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
150g (1/2 cup) honey
65g 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Flour
65g 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Cornflour
1 1/2 tsp Bob’s Red Mill baking powder
1/2 tsp coarse salt
2 large eggs
70g (1/3 cup) white sugar
30g (2 tbsp) toasted sesame oil
55g (1/4 cup) olive oil, more for brushing
Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Grease and line all sides of a 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Make sure the parchment paper extends beyond the lip of the loaf pan so you can use it to lift the cake out later.
Brush the bottom and up the sides of the parchment lined pan with olive oil. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the bottom of the pan, until fully coated.
Bring honey to a simmer over medium heat while continuously stirring. After a few minutes the honey will start to foam up. Continue to simmer the honey until the foam turns a deep amber color, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and immediately pour the bubbling honey over the sesame seeds. Gently tilt the pan side to side to create an even layer of honey. Allow the honey to cool. It will solidify as it cools.
In a medium bowl, whisk to combine cornflour, all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder.
In a large bowl, whisk to combine eggs, sugar, sesame oil, and olive oil. Whisk vigorously until pale and emulsified, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix to combine with a flexible spatula.
Pour the cake batter into the loaf and spread into an even layer. Bake until tender and cooked through (test a toothpick and see if it comes out the cake cleanly), 32 to 34 minutes.
Set the loaf pan on a wire rack and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes so the honey can solidify again. Lift the cake out the pan with the help of the parchment paper. Flip the cake over onto a cutting board and allow it to fully cool. Slice the cake with a serrated knife and serve.