Honey Cake with Honey Frosting

I tried many, many, many recipes for iron chef honey. Honey was a very difficult ingredient to make work for a dessert. You would think it'd be easy, but, nope; it wasn't. I really did like the honey sesame brittle, but it was too sticky to eat. The doughnuts were delicious but they are best eaten right away. The recipe that I probably should have stuck with was this honey cake with honey frosting from The Cake Blog. It really tasted like honey and it was actually pretty good. I think I just really wanted to do something different than making yet another cake. But, sometimes it is best to stick with the tried and true in the end. The recipe was posted as cupcakes, but since one of our friends isn't a big cupcake fan I just made it into a cake. I didn't change up this recipe at all. I think you will like it. I know I did. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Cake:
1 stick butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

First set your oven to 350 degrees. If you are making cupcakes take out one dozen cupcake pan and line with cupcake holders. Or, use an 11x7x1.5 inch baking dish and spray liberally with cooking spray.
Now, in a medium sized bowl stir together the dry ingredients (salt, flour, and baking powder). Set aside. Next, take a small bowl and stir together the honey, buttermilk, and vanilla. Set aside. Then, take your mixing bowl and add in the butter and sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat well. Gradually add in the wet and dry ingredients alternating between the two until you end with the dry ingredients. Mix well. Pour into your cupcake liners and/or the baking dish. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or when a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cake. Set aside to cool.

Ingredients for Frosting:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
3 Tbsp honey
yellow food coloring (optional)
yellow sugar sprinkle

Clean out your bowl from the standing mixer, and then add in the butter and cream cheese. Stir well. Gradually add in the powdered sugar. Stir in the honey, next. Add in a couple drops of the food coloring if desired. Spread on the cupcakes or cake and sprinkle with yellow sugar sprinkles if desired. Enjoy!

(click for printable recipe)