Converting a recipe to a honey version is usually quite easy, as long as the recipe already calls for a liquid. I will begin with a basic chocolate pudding cake recipe link. I chose this one because it has a lot of good reviews. Look at the original ingredients list.
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups hot water
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups hot water
The original instructions tell you to first make a cake batter out of some of the ingredients, sprinkle others on top, and pour hot water over all before baking. In theory, the water dissolves the ingredients sprinkled on top, the cake batter rises through this syrup, and a pudding layer forms on the bottom. I can work with this.
The original recipe cake batter ingredients are:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbsp oil
This calls for both sugar and a liquid. Since honey is about twice as sweet as sugar, you want to use half as much honey as it calls for sugar, and reduce the liquid by that amount. I will also replace the oil with butter because it makes everything delicious. This changes the recipe to:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup honey
scant 1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp melted butter
Obviously, there is no way to tell if these proportions are right without testing the recipe, but they should be close enough to make a good product.
In the original recipe, the next step was to sprinkle cocoa and sugar on top of the cake batter, and pour hot water on top. Here is where the recipe will diverge from the original. The original sprinkling ingredients were:
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
and the hot water to pour on top was:
1 1/4 cups hot water mixed with
1 tsp vanilla.
In my version it will all be mixed together into a syrup which will be poured on top of the cake batter. I will reduce the water by the amount of honey I replace the brown sugar with, and replace the chocolate chips with a little extra cocoa powder. I will also add a dash of cinnamon to cut the honey flavor without being detectable itself. Leaving us with:
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp cinnamon
and that's it for the most part. All that's left is testing and fine tuning the recipe. The final version is:
Honey Chocolate Pudding Cake
Cake
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup honey
scant 1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp melted butter
Syrup
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the honey, milk, and butter. Spread into an 8x8 cake pan.
In a small pot, mix together the honey, cocoa, hot water, and cinnamon. Heat to near boiling. remove from heat, add vanilla, and pour over the cake.
Bake in a 350* oven for 30 to 35 minutes until the top looks dry. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.
** disclaimer**
This is an untested recipe, put here to demonstrate the ease of converting a recipe to honey. I will test it as soon as I can, because I love chocolate, but I don't have any cocoa powder right now. It might be that the proportions are off. The cake might not rise up through the syrup, it might not be sweet enough, or too sweet, or not rich enough, or too rich. I don't know. The water in the syrup might need to be replaced with milk, or some other flavor extract might need to be added (rum and maple come to mind). The syrup might need to be added to the pan first, the cake batter spooned on top. Only testing will tell, but this recipe should be reasonably close to good.
</perfectionist>
The original recipe cake batter ingredients are:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbsp oil
This calls for both sugar and a liquid. Since honey is about twice as sweet as sugar, you want to use half as much honey as it calls for sugar, and reduce the liquid by that amount. I will also replace the oil with butter because it makes everything delicious. This changes the recipe to:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup honey
scant 1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp melted butter
Obviously, there is no way to tell if these proportions are right without testing the recipe, but they should be close enough to make a good product.
In the original recipe, the next step was to sprinkle cocoa and sugar on top of the cake batter, and pour hot water on top. Here is where the recipe will diverge from the original. The original sprinkling ingredients were:
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
and the hot water to pour on top was:
1 1/4 cups hot water mixed with
1 tsp vanilla.
In my version it will all be mixed together into a syrup which will be poured on top of the cake batter. I will reduce the water by the amount of honey I replace the brown sugar with, and replace the chocolate chips with a little extra cocoa powder. I will also add a dash of cinnamon to cut the honey flavor without being detectable itself. Leaving us with:
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp cinnamon
and that's it for the most part. All that's left is testing and fine tuning the recipe. The final version is:
Honey Chocolate Pudding Cake
Cake
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup honey
scant 1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp melted butter
Syrup
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the honey, milk, and butter. Spread into an 8x8 cake pan.
In a small pot, mix together the honey, cocoa, hot water, and cinnamon. Heat to near boiling. remove from heat, add vanilla, and pour over the cake.
Bake in a 350* oven for 30 to 35 minutes until the top looks dry. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.
** disclaimer**
This is an untested recipe, put here to demonstrate the ease of converting a recipe to honey. I will test it as soon as I can, because I love chocolate, but I don't have any cocoa powder right now. It might be that the proportions are off. The cake might not rise up through the syrup, it might not be sweet enough, or too sweet, or not rich enough, or too rich. I don't know. The water in the syrup might need to be replaced with milk, or some other flavor extract might need to be added (rum and maple come to mind). The syrup might need to be added to the pan first, the cake batter spooned on top. Only testing will tell, but this recipe should be reasonably close to good.
</perfectionist>
SO, I tried to read your babysitting yarn post, but when i clicked it it brought me here. Same with your smell of coffee post...
ReplyDelete@kimber
ReplyDeleteIt was mistake. There was some damage done when I moved my blog from Vox (which closed) to Typepad, which I didn't like, and finally to Blogger. I was trying to fix things, and then realized I was spamming everyone with irrelevant updates and stopped.