Honey bee mine cupcakes

In honour of this unseasonably glorious weather, I felt inspired to write a post about baking with honey, a quintessential flavour of Spring. It is true that my love of honey is somewhat ironic in light of my severe allergy to bees (!!), but nevertheless I do adore the sweet, resiny perfume and beautiful amber tones of this kitchen staple. For me, honey will always be associated with images of domesticity and comfort, from the nursery classic of toast soliders spread with honey (still my convalescence food of choice), to the tempting aroma of spiced ginger and honey loaf cake, perfuming the entire house with a sense of welcome. Perhaps my love of honey and the images of comfort it evokes is deeply rooted in my childhood fondness for 'Winnie the Pooh and the Honey tree'...

My beloved little honey-pot, suitably decorated with all kinds of insects clamouring to get at the sticky goodness inside!

 Honey is a wonderful and versatile addition to all kinds of baked goods, from simple honey cakes and classic honey jumble cookies to more elaborate honey-infused cupcakes. A favourite cupcake of mine for those not so fond of traditional frosted cupcakes is an apricot, pine-nut and honey cupcake, inspired by a recipe from my favourite Susan Blake cupcake book. These cupcakes make a delicious treat for morning tea, with a simple yet moist and scrumptious honey-flavoured crumb filled with nuggests of chewy dried apricot and crunchy toasted pine-nuts. Drenched in a honey and spice-infused syrup, and topped with more apricots and pine-nuts, these little cakes are a perfect accompaniment to a cup of earl-grey tea (my favourite).

Along with honey, delicate and fragrant sweet-peas are one of my absolute favourite parts of nascent Spring-time...

 But for those seeking a honey-based cupcake with a little more creative flair, I offer you my 'Honey Bee Mine' cupcakes - honey flavoured cakes, filled with milk chocolate morsels, frosted with a honey butter-cream frosting and decorated (in my classically 'restrained' style!) with home-made honey-comb chunks, shards of chocolate covered honeycomb, and chocolate bumble-bee decorations :

I admit these are perhaps a little on the extravagent side, but, as the French say, 'everything in moderation, including moderation!' These were cupcakes that I baked for my tute group, in honour of the topic of the week - diabetes (I am aware of the deep irony of baking incredibly sweet cakes when studying diabetes, but I was predominantly inspired by the fact that the bumble-bee is, in fact, the logo of the National 'What's the Buzz' Diabetes fundrasing day...but I digress..).

When I devised these cupcakes, I imagined that they would make a very (literally and metaphorically) sweet gift for someone special, perhaps for an anniversary or as a random expression of affection for the 'sweet honey' in one's life. Whilst I often combine honey with more aromatic flavours such as cinnamon, ginger and mixed spice, these little cakes offer something a little more playful in their blend of honey with milk chocolate. The bee decorations were, it is true, quite difficult to source (found eventually in an obscure shelf in David Jones Food hall), but I think these would also be quite effective with bees fashioned from marzipan or fondant icing - I am planning to do a post on using fondant for cake decorations so stay tuned!

So, as the beautiful weather (and the omnipresent pull of renal physiology) call me away, I look forward to the continuation of this early Spring, and to my next baking adventures!
xx
Anne