St. John the Baptist Honey Cake and Homemade Pesto

I have a lovely cake to share for today. 

My darling daughter gave me Cooking With the Saints for my birthday back in February.  Since June 24th was the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist, I made the recipe in the book for Honey Cake and set a tea time with my bee tablecloth that a friend had sent me, and covered my beehive cakes with netting to protect against flies.  My lantana are in a cleaned out local honey jar. 

This pretty Grace's teacup looks so bee-u-tiful with my teapot. 

 

This beehive teapot makes me smile; it's so cheerful and happy!

 

My dear friend, Pat, gave me a set of these most adorable bee napkin rings!!  Aren't they sweet as honey??

Any chance I get I love using my Nordicware beehive cakelet pan, and the Honey Cake was the perfect opportunity.

Yield: 10-12

Author: Kitty, but the recipe is adapted from Cooking With The Saints

St. John the Baptist Honey Cake

History tells us that St. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness on a diet of locusts and honey. This incredibly delicious dessert is a reminder of the honey part. The cake has a long list of ingredients, but goes together quickly and is moist and reminiscent of gingerbread.

Ingredients

• 3-1/2 cups flour
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 T. cinnamon
• 1 t. ground cloves
• 1 t. ground allspice
• 1 t. baking powder
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup honey
• 1 cup strongly brewed coffee
• 3 large eggs, well beaten
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup brown sugar ( I omitted as I didn't see the need for this, and the recipe never said when to add it.)
• 1/4 cup whiskey, brandy or orange liquor, optional (I omitted)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a bundt pan and one 8"x4" loaf pan, or three loaf 8"x4" loaf pans, with non-stick spray. Sprinkle them with flour and set aside. (I used Baker's Joy.)
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir together until well combined. In a separate bowl, beat together the oil, honey, coffee, eggs, orange juice whiskey (if using). Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and add the liquid ingredients, whisking together until well combined.
3. Pour the mixture into the prepared pans, filling them only 2/3 full. Place in the oven.
4. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the pans from the oven and let them sit for 15 minutes before removing the cakes from the pans. Turn them out onto cooling racks.

Notes

I made 6 beehive cakelets, 4 mini loaf pan cakes, and 4 mini bundt cakes from this recipe and was able to share with neighbors and family. The cakelets and mini bundt cakes took about 20 minutes, and the mini loaf cakes took around 35 minutes.

My friend Carol, shared her herb bounty with several of us, and I was happy to get some basil, thyme, oregano and lemon balm.  I do have some basil  growing in a pot, but didn't have enough to make some pesto.  Thank you, Carol!

Author: Kitty

Pesto Sauce

I came up with my own version of pesto. Recipes usually call for pine nuts, but those are expensive. Walnuts make a good alternative, or even almonds. You can serve by adding it to cooked pasta and add cooked shrimp or chicken, if you like. It's fabulous!

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup walnuts, toasted (See NOTE)
• 2-3 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Instructions

1. Place the walnuts and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until coarsely chopped, about 10 seconds.
2. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper and process for about 1 minute. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly blended. Add the Parmesan and process a minute more. Use pesto immediately.

Notes

You can store pesto in the fridge by covering it with a thin layer of olive oil, and you can also freeze it in ice cube trays to have for later.

I "toast" nuts in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes. Just be careful as they burn quickly!

Thank you for your visit!  xo

I am sharing this with:

Love Your Creativity Link Party

Full Plate Thursday at Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Encouraging Hearts and Home