HONEY CHOCOLATE CAKE
 NIGELLA
Photograph by James Merrell
INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CAKE
100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
275g light muscovado sugar
225g soft butter
125ml runny honey
2 eggs
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon cocoa
250ml boiling water
FOR THE STICKY HONEY GLAZE
60ml water
125ml runny honey
175g dark chocolate
75g icing sugar
FOR THE BEES
25g yellow marzipan
12 flaked almonds
Serving Size : Makes about 10 slices
METHOD

1.Take whatever you need out of the fridge so that all the ingredients can come to room temperature. While that’s happening, melt the chocolate from the cake part of the ingredients list in a good-sized bowl, either in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool slightly.
2.Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C, and butter and line a 23cm springform cake tin.
3.Beat together the sugar and soft butter until airy and creamy, and then add the honey. Add one of the eggs, beating it in with a tablespoon of the flour, and then the other egg with another tablespoon of flour. Fold in the melted chocolate, and then the rest of the flour and the bicarbonate of soda. Add the cocoa pushed through a tea strainer to ensure you have no lumps, and last of all, beat in the boiling water. (I don’t suppose there’s anything to stop you doing this all-in-one in the processor, blitzing everything except the boiling water, and then scraping down the batter and pouring the water down the funnel with the motor running.) Mix everything well to make a smooth batter and pour into the prepared tin. Cook for up to an hour and a half, though check the cake after 45 minutes and if it is catching cover the top lightly with foil and check every 15 minutes.
4.Let the cake cool completely in the tin on a rack.
5.To make the glaze, bring the water and honey to a boil in a smallish, though not tiny, saucepan, then turn off the heat and add the finely chopped chocolate (I use my mezzaluna or 70 per cent cocoa solids buttons), swirling it around to melt in the hot liquid. Leave it for a few minutes then whisk together. Sieve in the icing sugar and whisk again until smooth.
6.Choose your plate or stand and cut out four strips of baking paper and form a square outline on the plate. This is so that when you sit the cake on and ice it, the icing will not run out all over the plate. Unclip the tin and sit the thoroughly cooled cake on the prepared plate. Pour the icing over the cold honey chocolate cake and smooth it down the sides. I should warn you that the glaze stays tacky for ages (this is what gives it its lovely melting gooeyness) so ice in time for the glaze to harden a little, say at least an hour before you want to serve it. You can then very gently slide out the strips of baking paper to reveal a clean plate. Keep the pan of icing, and don’t wash it up, as you will need it to make the stripes on the bees.
7.Divide the marzipan into six even pieces and shape them into fat, sausage-like bees’ bodies, slightly tapered at the ends.
8.Using a wooden skewer, paint stripes with the sticky honey glaze left in the pan. About three stripes look best, in my not enormously considered opinion, and then very carefully attach the flaked almonds at an angle to make the bees’ wings, two on each one (unsurprisingly). They might snap as you dig them into the marzipan bodies, so have some spare. I have to admit that, I also like to give them eyes by dipping the point of the skewer in the glaze and thence on the bees: they look more loveable with an expression, but this is where the Disney effect comes in. If a more imperial dignity is required, forgo the dotting of the eyes and present this as your Napoleonic Chocolate Cake.



REVIEWS

I have problems making this cake. It does not rise

Lovestoeat

I made this cake for the 1st birthday of my son. I had the same problem as lovesteoat, it dind't rise. Luckely nobody knew this, and they all loved it! The little bee's on top are a realy sweet touch.

Floortje81

I made this recipe last night and it was soooo good and delicious, thank you Nigella.

Haia

THe first time I made this, it took waaaay longer to cook than the recipe suggests, can't remember how long now but it was at least double time and I ended up increasing the oven temp! Anyway, it sank and wasn't great looking but tasted fab, so I've made it twice since and each time added less boiling water than in the recipe and it's getting closer. I just wonder if 250mls is the correct amount of boiling water to add? I thik I'm going to have to make this again now...

Sweetcakes

This cake rocks! I've made it heaps of times and it's perfect. It's easier to use a fine piping bag for the stripes but works the other way as well. Does anyone know how long it keeps??

cakemuncher

It is very nice, but very rich. I love the little bees!

filter

I plan to make this as it looks wonderful. To the members who had problems with cake rising, can I suggest it might have something to do with the flour. Although Nigella specifies 'plain flour' I know she is an advocate of Italian OO flour and it really does make a difference to cakes.

djsyclopz

I loved this recipe. I made it for my husband's birthday (he's a beekeeper) and it went down a treat with everyone. The cake was sweet and moist, dense but not heavy somehow. The kids loved the little bees and tried to grab them. The only real problem was that I was in Australia at the time and couldn't find marzipan at the local shops, so had to make it myself from blanched almonds. That proved to be ridiculously easy anyway and was well worth the effort. It did sink a little bit but that was fine by me.

MissUnleaded

I made this a few months back, it didn't rise, and took a long time to make, but tasted delicious when warm and even better chilled the next day.

DylanWilliams

I made this cake for my little girl's 3rd birthday, topped with almost twenty lovely and fatty bees, my daughter had so much fun "helping" me in making them....the cake and the bees were just a huge success, everybody absolutely loved it!

4robb

I've made this cake several times, though I don't always bother with the very cute little honey bees. I follow the recipe exactly, including covering the cake at the 45 minute mark. It takes just another 15 minutes to bake from there and is lovely and moist, dense-without-being-heavy cake. The aroma of warm chocolate and warm honey as it bakes......ooooooh lorty!!!

Coby

I made this for my daughter's 8th birthday. I followed the recipe to a T. I did check on the cake after 30 minutes and covered it then. At 45 minutes, I check the center and it was WET, wet, wet, so I thought this was going to take a lot more time then stated! But no, at the 1 hour mark, I checked and it was slightly moist in the center but I decided (happily) to remove it from the oven. It turned out perfect, the icing took a while to set and my mother and daughter made the bees using sugar craft. It looks SOOOOOO CHARMING and tasted moist and dark with just that hint of honey.

SamIAm

This cake is soooooooo good! The honey flavour is subtle yet crucial. The cake is moist yet unmistakably cakey with a tender crumb and the gooey honey chocolate icing takes it to a whole new level.

Shuz
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