Day 273.
Rosh Hashanah starts at sundown tonight. Last week, Brenda emailed me ask if I've ever made a honey cake in the crockpot. I hadn't. After I called my friend, Jennifer (yes, I realize all my friends are named Jennifer), I learned that honey cake is usually pretty dry and dense. She said "I don't like it, I won't eat it. But my dad does." I really like Jennifer's dad, and was on a mission to make a moist honey cake---the crockpot delivers moist cakes.
Unless you burn it.
I messed this up completely. The cake was rising properly, smelled delicious, and was brown and pulling away from the sides of the crock. The top was still pretty jiggly, so I felt comfortable leaving it for 45 minutes on high while we went to swim lessons. I came home to a horrible burnt-cake smell. The top and middle was okay, but I threw the rest away. That said! If I had taken the lid off, and watched it for about 30 minutes, I think this would have been wonderful. I'd love to hear back if anyone tries this;I was happy with the texture and flavor of the non-burnt portions. The Ingredients. The Directions. I used a 4 quart round crockpot. The batter fit nicely.
--2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I used Pamela's baking mix. I DID add the additional baking powder and soda, and would recommend doing so.)
--2 tsp baking powder
--2 tsp cinnamon
--1/2 tsp baking soda
--1/2 tsp salt
--1/2 tsp cloves
--3 eggs, room temperature
--1 cup honey
--1 cup sugar
--1 cup oil
--1/2 cup coffee
--1/4 cup water
Grease and flour the inside of your crockpot. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients, and then add the wet. Cook on high for 2 hours, then check. When the cake is beginning to pull away from the sides of the crock, uncover and continue to cook on high, checking every 20 minutes. The cake will be moist, but a toothpick should come out clean. The Verdict.
Mix on high speed for 2 minutes. Pour into your prepared crockpot.
Cover, but vent with a chopstick or the end of a wooden spoon.
Other than the horribly burnt parts, this was very tasty, and I enjoyed it a lot. Jen? Sign me up for honey cake next year for your dad. I won't burn it, I promise. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was interviewed at Work It, Mom, and the interview is now live. Thank you, Nataly, for featuring A Year of CrockPotting!
Posted by: Stephanie O'Dea | A Year of Slow Cooking at September 29, 2008
Labels: baking, crockpot, dessert, gluten free, Holiday food,
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What they say about this article
SaraK9/29/2008
Awww, sorry it burnt. I won't have time to try this before the holiday tonite, and I don't really think anyone would eat it at any other time, but I hope to try it next year!
Anonymous9/29/2008
The picture makes the cake look so tasty that I can't even tell that it's burnt. At least the inside of the cake is still edible. I would probably just scoop it out and eat it with Cool Whip. I've never had a Honey Cake, but I wanna try one.
Anonymous9/29/2008
That sounds yummy! Sorry that you burnt it. I hate when I do that!
I just may give this a try!
Kim9/29/2008
That same thing happened to me when I tried to make the crock pot coconut cake you posted. Not sure what went wrong, except I should've checked it more often and not relied so much on a specific number of minutes!
Anonymous9/29/2008
Ah, sorry it burned Steph. It sounds pretty good although i have yet to be brave enough to do a cake in the cp (although i did your blueberry buckle and that rocked :) )
Anyway, i tried the Moroccan Lentil Soup this weekend and that was FANTASTIC. i didn't have pintos, thought i grabbed a can of white beans but wound up using 2 cans garbanzos. it was still great.
The turkey meatloaf w/cherries and blue cheese is up next.Thanks again for all the great recipes. can't wait to see what's next.
Lisa
Jennifer P.9/29/2008
Hasn't it been like an ETERNITY since I've been here?!?! Haven't done much cooking through the summer, but now that fall is upon us--can't wait to pull out Alice the Crockpot again :)!
Honey cake sounds great to serve along side chili! :)
See AlsoCrockPot Honey and Orange Tofu RecipeThai Coconut Soup CrockPot RecipeCrockPot Fillet of Sole with Pesto RecipeClean-Out-The-Pantry Minestrone Soup CrockPot RecipeGlad to see you're still cooking Steph!
BT Laurie9/29/2008
If I use flour - that doesn't have the extra stuff that Pamela's has - will it rise enough?
LaurieStephanie ODea9/29/2008
Laurie,
yes. I'm beginning to think that the added leavening just makes Pamela's behave like AP flour.xox
stephAnonymous9/29/2008
OH NO - I have all the ingredients for this! Mixed it all together and added some golden raisins and steel cut oats (to help my cholesterol) and a couple of chopped apples.. to make it healthier... the batter is WAY too yummy.... I'm gonna go walk for two hours so I can eat a piece without too much guilt. Thanks for all the great recipes.. when the crock is free of cake I'm making turkey meat balls.. they were yummy! Shalom y'all!
Baby Bunching9/29/2008
Ok, I just found your blog. I couldn't imagine going a year with just my crockpot...even though I love it so. This is so awesome!!! Love it!
JessicaLyn9/29/2008
So I'm sitting here planning our meals for the next week, so I can go grocery shopping tomorrow--you can say it, "wow, Jessica, you're so organized. You're such a planner" haha! You have so inspired me! : )
Anyway, my husband looks over my shoulder and points to my list of the days of the week and says "Chicken Spaghetti. Let's have chicken spaghetti one day this week."
What??? I haven't used the oven or the stove to cook a meal in weeks. Ever since I discovered the "Crockpot Lady" : )
Soooo, since I searched through all your chicken recipes and couldn't find chicken spaghetti, I'm going to experiment with making it in the crock.
wish me luck!!!
JessicaAnonymous9/29/2008
Mine came out a little burnt too - not too bad. I couldn't get it to cook all the way until I closed the lid; it was just a goopy mess in the middle....I'm a novice at this crock pot thing and my crock pot is from the middle ages. But overall I like it, ate too much of it. I sprinkled some powder sugar on it to get it a little more sweet tasting. It was good, gonna save a piece for my mom and then take the rest to work.. because it's good and I could eat the whole thing in a day or so. Thanks for another great recipe.
Stephanie ODea9/29/2008
lol, Julie, that's what I do with sweets! I eat my full, then give the rest away because I can't trust myself! I'm glad you liked it-----I'm interested in trying it out again, maybe in a cake or loaf pan, and elevating the pan a bit---I just got the neatest email that described putting an empty tuna can in the bottom of the crock to raise a baking dish.
xox
stephAnonymous9/29/2008
i have no idea what that holiday is about, never heard of a honey cake and no idea how the two correlate...but the cake does sound good. i hope im not the only one living under this rock cause i sure feel dumb... cant give my name
Unknown9/30/2008
JUST made this with the kids...OH SO GOOD and yummy for fall too! Try it out!
Crock Pot Carmels APples
Ingredients:
16oz. bag caramel squares
1/4 cup milk
Apple wedges (skin may be left on or taken off) 1-2 wedges for each student.Directions:
Combine caramels and milk in crock-pot.Cook on low for about 1 hour or until caramels melt and you have a thick dip. Add more milk for a thinner dip. Stir often.
Let student dip apple wedges in the caramel or drizzle the caramel on top of the apple wedges using a wooden spoon.
Noor9/30/2008
Oh I make a Yemeni version of this cake and its pretty good. Their prob pretty much the same since a lot of Jewish are Yemeni :)...
The pics does look good. You should not have told it was not, lol we would have never known :)
Anonymous9/30/2008
That cake sounds really good. I discovered your blog last week and have been pouring over it. I tried the smoked meat and my husband loved it. Next week I hope to try the steak, potatoes & corn. Have you considered trying a pineapple upside down cake? Ummm... caramelized brown sugar.
Anonymous9/30/2008
Hmmm...what a shame that your friend, Jennifer, has had only dry honey cake. My honey cake recipe is moist and delicious. It's not a crock pot recipe, but for Jennifer's sake, here it is:
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground clovesMix it all together. Pour into a greased 8" x 8" pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.
I'm sure the addition of the applesauce is what makes it so moist. And, what could be better than apples and honey together for Rosh HaShanah?
Anonymous10/01/2008
This was SO GOOD. Of course I had a comedy of errors: I only have a very old, huge crockpot and so i tried putting the batter in a Corningware dish....it started to overflow and burn. So i scooped out as much batter as I could, and put it in a greased cake pan and used the oven.
Still, this is the first cake I've had/made since going gluten free and IT WAS AWESOME. It is especially good with some applesauce on it.
I used Bob's Red Mill Pancake Mix that i had been ignoring, and it worked great.
Hippie Mama Kelly10/01/2008
This was really good! I made it last night. My only problem was that after I mixed all the ingredients up I realized that I didn't have enough honey. So I added what I had and it still came out great! Thank you so much for this blog. I have tried tons of your recipes and they are always a hit with everyone!!
Anonymous10/01/2008
This is my first time to your blog and I am SUPER EXCITED about trying these recipes! I'm on a limited budget these days (like most of America, it seems) and I want to get at least as much use out of my crockpot as I do out of my next-largest electric appliance (the microwave). I also have a teeny tiny kitchen, so everything in it needs to have a reason for being there!
I hope you haven't hit crockpot fatigue just yet...hang in there! Thanks so much for this blog.
Feisty Irish Wench10/04/2008
THIS would be why we own more than one crockpot, despite my husband's objections. He's going to see soon enough, that the entree goes in the oval 6 quart, and the dessert goes in the round 5 qt. I just haven't gotten around to doing that yet. Just like he hasn't gotten around to finishing the kitchen renovation.
Sarah7/11/2009
I was so excited to try this but unfortunately it came out terrible! I followed all directions and read the comments, but to no avail. I took the lid off after a little more than two hours when the edges were pulling from the sides, and then checked every 20 minutes for the next 3 hours. The top surface layer of the cake just wouldn't cook, even after I put the lid back on for about 25 more minutes, per a comment posted above me. After a total of 5 hours on the crock, I gave up and scooped off the gooey top layer and tried to slice off the very burned sides. The bottom also had about 1/4 inch of burn. We haven't tasted it yet but we'll see if the middle is any good. I'm not sure what went wrong but I'm definitely disappointed. I was so excited about baking in the crock!
Tracey9/29/2009
I just took the top off of the crock pot and the smell was amazing! I used my smaller rectangular shaped slow cooker and it was done after 90 minutes. The kids are about ready to chew the countertop to get to the cake before it cools. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Unknown10/18/2009
I just tried this recipe in my 6 quart slow cooker. I lined the bottom with tin foil because I was worried by all the reports of the cake burning. I let it cook for 2 hours and 20 minutes on high when the sides were visibly pulling from the sides but the top/middle never really set. I scooped off the uncooked portion and the cake is really good. The tinfoil allowed me to easily remove the cake from the pot and check to see how dark the bottom and sides were getting. I'm glad I pulled the cake out when I did!
Thank you for all the wonderful recipes!
Miss Mused 7/01/2013
Hey Stephanie,
I have been making this recipe since I got your book for christmas a couple of years ago, and have replaced the honey with molasses in the recipe (as the first time I made it I didn't have enough honey on hand), and what a serendipitous "mistake" it was! I'm a molasses lover, but god was this cake good. Who would have thought?! Cake in a crock pot?!
Thank you!
Sam
