Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day!

My Mom. my daughter and myself in front of the flowers my daughter gave us for Mother's Day. We celebrated on Saturday, a day early, as we knew the restaurant where we wanted to celebrate would be less crowded that day and we would not be rushed.

We had a wonderful time and I hope everyone has an enjoyable day celebrating today!



This is a honey lemon pond cake I made for dessert using my new Nordic Ware beehive pan! Sorry for the slightly blurry photo, I think my camera batteries might be dying. I was really lucky to find this pan on sale in Williams- Sonoma a few months ago, and this was the first time I was able to use it. Unfortunately they don't have it for sale any longer, but it is available at Amazon.com and other retailers.

This is the recipe that came with the pan --it made a delicious dense, pound cake textured cake.

Honey Lemon Cake

Ingredients:

For the cake:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
16 Tbs. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
3 tsp. lemon zest
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice


For the glaze:

1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt


For the quick buttercream:

4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 Tbs. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt


For the royal icing:


1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 to 3 tsp. milk


Sugar honeybees for decorating (optional) I found them at King Arthur Flour


Directions:
Have all the ingredients at room temperature.Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 325°F. Grease and flour a beehive cake pan; tap out excess flour.
To make the cake, over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and lemon zest and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla just until incorporated, about 30 seconds.
Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Beat each addition just until incorporated, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the lemon juice and beat for 30 seconds.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, spreading the batter so the sides are higher than the center. Bake until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes.


Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together the honey, lemon juice and salt and bring just to a simmer, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Tap the cake pan gently on a work surface to loosen the cake. Set the rack over a sheet of waxed paper, invert the pan onto the rack and lift off the pan. Using a pastry brush, brush the warm cake with the glaze. Let the cake cool completely, at least 2 hours, before assembling and decorating.


To make the buttercream, in a small bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners’ sugar, milk, vanilla and salt and continue beating until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes more.


To make the royal icing, in a small bowl, stir together the confectioners’ sugar and the 2 tsp. milk until smooth. If necessary, add more milk 1/2 tsp. at a time until the icing is thick but still pourable.


Stand one half of the cooled cake vertically on its base. Using a serrated knife, level the flat side of the cake by trimming off 1/8 to 1/4 inch from the edge. Repeat with the other cake half.
Using an offset spatula, spread a thin layer of buttercream, about 1/2 cup, on the cut side of one of the cake halves. Place the cut side of the other cake half against the frosted side and gently press to secure the two halves; using the spatula, smooth the buttercream at the seam.
Using a large spatula, carefully transfer the cake to a serving platter. Drizzle with the royal icing, making sure to cover the frosted seams of the beehive.

Decorate with sugar honeybees.

Serves 16

Happy Mother's Day!

24 comments:

Cynthia Pittmann said...

What a lovely idea to celebrate a day early and enjoy the day in freedom and relaxation! You all look so happy and content together in the photo. I love the bee hive mold- cute idea. Imagine you made that...the work involved!

Happy Mother's Day to you. May love surround and protect you and all of your loved ones <3

Ciao Chow Linda said...

How lovely to see you with your daughter and your mom. Lucky you to celebrate with three generations. The beehive cake is gorgeous too, but doesn't match the ladies in the photo! Happy Mother's Day.

aliceinparis said...

Happy Mothers Day! You all look so great in that picture! I love the cake you made. What a delightful mold!!!!!

Vee said...

What a wonderful photo of you three beautiful ladies! I'm so glad that you had time together to honor this day. What a fantastic cake! You and Suzanne (Farmer's Wife) would get along famously...she's forever falling in love with a Williams-Sonoma bundt pan. Happy Mother's Day!

(P.S. Wouldn't you know that I had figured out collages a titch better and had today's post "in the can" when you said that you don't care for them. I might've changed my mind about the whole thing! ;D)

Jojo said...

Happy Mother's Day! Its nice to celebrate a little early since it helps spread the celebration out over a couple of days.

May you relax and enjoy the blessings of the day.

P.S. The beehive cake is beautiful!

Unknown said...

Happy Mother's Day to you Pat. That is a great picture of all of you!

Judy said...

Celebrating a wee bit in advance of Mother's Day is a good idea...much more relaxing in the restaurant, I'm sure. We are having brunch at my DIL's, since the place they had intended to reserve was totally booked. I'm so glad you took a photo of the three of you to mark the occasion...so special.

Your cake looks amazing! I just passed by those pans somewhere recently...and now I know what they are for!

Happy Mother's Day, Pat!

Sue said...

Happy Mother's Day back to you, Pat! Glad you "Girls" had a lovely time! Your cake is so cute... I was trying to figure out how you did it as I looked at the pic. Of course, I hadn't completely read the post, yet! A little backwards here... But it caught my eye and I went from there.LOL Have a glorious day. :-)Sue

Catherine said...

Happy Mother`s Day to you and your lovely mother. We celebrated yesterday as well. No crowds. We had a beautiful day.

Tracy said...

Happy Day, Pat...such a lovely photo of you all, and sounds like you're having a great day! That cake and shape is marvelous...mmm...((HUGS))

Kathy said...

Love the photo Pat of the three lovely ladies. Happy Mother's day to you and your Mama and also to the cutest little lad Leo's Mama. I am catching up and really enjoyed your photos of Colorado (those houses are beauitful) and the photo with Leo and his Nonna is precious.
Hope you have a lovely relaxing day today. Your bee hive cake looks delicious and fun.

Lavinia said...

Happy Mother's Day Pat. What a cake, its one honey of a dessert!

Willow said...

So cute! Happy Mother's Day!

Rue said...

That cake looks divine!!

Happy Mother's Day sweet friend :)

(((hugs)))
rue

Barb said...

That is the cutest cake,beautiful flowers you got for mothers day....Barb

Le Crunchy Mama said...

Happy Mother's Day! Love the cake!

Unknown said...

Happy MOthers Day Pat, we didnt celebrate anywhere but the lovely hubby did all the housework for the week...that's bliss for me. Hugs and much love...M

Anonymous said...

I love William Sonoma Too. The cake and recipe is wonderful. I will definitely use it. I am so glad you had a great day.

CatHerder said...

I saw that pan in williams-sonoma in the mall, I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT IT!! I am SO going back to get it..the cake comes out awesome. I bought the rose one a few years ago, it was kind of pricey, but the cakes come out gorgeous. Hope you had a nice mothers day

Joyce said...

I am a cake pan junkie myself. My daughter wanted to buy this one for me but I said I had no room for another one. It looks so cute and the recipe sounds wonderful. Is it the recipe that comes with the pan? Last year I bought the train pan. We have made that train cake so many times for her little guy and he adores this cake. It is a must for you for when Leo visits. WS now has one that looks like a giant Oreo. I am so addicted to these cute pans. I am glad that you had a nice Mother's day dinner out with your Mom and daughter. I often go the day before to avoid the crowds.
Joyce

Nola said...

Hope your Mother's Day was wonderful. That cake is adorable; I immediately thought of Pooh and Tigger when I saw a beehive!

black eyed susans kitchen said...

That cake is a delight for the eyes and I am guessing was just as delicious. Looks like you had a lovely Mothers day.
♥, Susan

Laura @ the shorehouse. said...

Happy belated Mother's Day, Pat! I love to see the three generations together. And how smart are you going out the day before?!

That cake is fabulous! I just love those fancy Williams Sonoma pans...I have a lemon loaf one that I bought on super sale and it makes a pound cake look terrific!

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Wonderful photo of three special women, Pat! And that cake looks like something out of a magazine! how cute it is!

Love to you...

XO,

Sheila :-)