Chamomile Mini Cakes with Honey Frosting for the Joy the Baker Cookbook Spotlight & Cook Off

This post is part of the Joy the Baker Cookbook Spotlight and Cook Off, hosted by Heather at Girlichef and sponsored by Hyperion, who provided participants with a complimentary copy of the book. 

Look at me - my second sweets post in as many weeks! Will wonders never cease? There is, of course, a perfectly good reason for my foray into the sweet side of life: For week two's recipe from the forthcoming  Joy the Baker Cookbook, our Cook Off hostess, Heather at Girlichef, chose these cute little chamomile mini cakes. Technically, I suppose you could call them cupcakes, but I'd rather think of them as elegant tea cakes. 

The chamomile - from tea bags - gives these cakes a very interesting flavor, a bit like eating a slightly sweet tea in solid form. The recipe doesn't make a ton of batter: Joy warns that there is no waste, and you'll be scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula in order make the full dozen, and she's not kidding. In other words, lick the spoon at your own risk. 

As for the honey frosting, to be honest, when I tasted it on its own I thought it was entirely too sweet and sugary, but once I had it on the cake, as intended, the sweetness was muted and the honey note accented by the almost grassy quality of the chamomile. They may be tea cakes, but I really enjoyed one of these with a cup of my morning coffee. 

The book doesn't come out until February 28, but here's the recipe to whet your appetite for more.  

Chamomile Mini Cakes with Honey Frosting
reprinted with permission from the Joy the Baker Cookbook

For the cakes:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

3 tablespoons dried chamomile (from tea bags)

1/2 cup milk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 tablespoon honey

6 tablespoons heavy cream

Pinch of salt

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven, and preheat to 325 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with paper or foil liners and set aside. You can also grease and flour the cupcake pans and not use any liners. To make the cakes: in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chamomile leaves. The mixture will be slightly coarse and sandy when mixed for several minutes. Whisk together milk, egg and vanilla. Pour half of the milk mixture into the flour mixture with the mixer on medium-low speed. Beat until just incorporated. Pour in the remaining milk mixture, and turn mixer up to medium. Beat for 1 minute, until well blended. Divide the batter between the prepared cupcake cups. There isn't a lot of batter, so you'll only fill the liners up about halfway. You'll also need a spatula to scrape the bowl for remaining batter.This recipe doesn't waste a drop of cake batter. Bake cupcakes for 17 to 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and allow cakes to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove cakes to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

To make the frosting: whisk together sifted powdered sugar, honey, cream, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth. Use a butter knife to generously spread the frosting a top the cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with a bit of chamomile leaves and arrange on a pretty plate. Cakes will last, well wrapped, at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Can't get enough Joy? Heather has an interview with her, plus a chance to win the cookbook, over at Girlichef. Go check it out here and enter to win! 

This post is part of the Joy the Baker Cookbook Spotlight and Cook-Off sponsored by Hyperion and hosted at girlichef