Vanilla Honey Cake with Coffee Cream Cheese Frosting

an easy one layer cake with a long name

As promised, I’m back in your inbox this week with an all new cake recipe. Next week I’ll be back to the once a week posting schedule. See you then!

We’re deep into winter, the food is getting more and more beige, but you know what? Brown food is delicious, and this brown on brown masterpiece is packed with more flavor than can be seen with the naked eye. I’m talking golden honey cake with lots of vanilla topped with sweet and tangy and just slightly bitter frosting that you’ll definitely want to lick off of the spoon.

The cake comes together in one bowl in just a few minutes, bakes quickly and is just as good plain as it is with a nice little frosting cap. The edges get beautifully caramelized and slightly crisp. The center is soft and plush. If you refrigerate the leftovers, the frosting gets fudgy and chewy and somehow more delicious? And may I say, it would be a nice little something to make for your honey. You need this.

I like to use a mild clover or wildflower honey for the cake, but you can use something a bit more bold if that’s what you keep around. The frosting benefits from the deep flavor of espresso powder to cut the sweetness, but you could use the zest of one lemon instead. Use a microplane or other fine grater and grate it directly into the butter and sugar mixture. The flavor will be lighter and brighter if that’s more your mood these days.

Or, skip the frosting all together, but who can resist swooping and swirling frosting, certainly not me.