Brazilian Honey Cake Recipes

PãO DE MEL (BRAZILIAN HONEY CAKES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350º F (180º C). Grease and coat with cocoa powder or flour a mini or standard-size muffin tin. Reserve!
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir the milk, spices, and honey and let come to a quick boil. Remove from the heat, cover, and let sit for 10-20 minutes.
• When the milk mixture is warm, pour into a blender and blend with eggs and yolk, brown sugar, vanilla, and oil just until homogeneous, about 15-20 seconds.
• Mix sifted cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and flour in a large bowl. Pour blended liquid mixture into the bowl and whisk just until homogeneous.
• Spoon batter evenly into the muffin tin (halfway full) and bake on the middle rack for about 10-12 minutes (mini ) or 18-20 minutes (standard) - or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Slide a knife around the edges to loosen the bread loaves and invert them onto a large flat platter or a clean baking sheet while they are still hot. Make sure their puffy tops are upside down.
• Place another baking sheet on top of all of them and then something heavy, such as a cast-iron skillet. This simple technique will help to flatten their puffy tops. It works best while they are still hot.
• Let them sit for about 5-10 minutes. Then cut each in half horizontally.
• Spread or pipe dulce de leche onto one of the halves and sandwich them like whoopie pies.
• Place chocolate in a large bowl and melt in the microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until melted (about 1 ½-2 minutes). Stir until smooth. If needed, stir in 1 tbsp of oil to prevent melted chocolate from hardening quickly.
• Place each pão de mel on a fork and bathe in the melted chocolate. Smooth top and sides. Place on a rack with a baking sheet underneath or on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let excess chocolate drain off of each cake. Let the chocolate set in the fridge for about 3-5 minutes.
• Using a paring knife, trim excess hardened chocolate from the bottom edges. Either serve as is or decorate each pão de mel as desired. I drizzled mine with melted white chocolate and topped them with sprinkles.

HONEY CAKE III

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine sugar, honey, oil, eggs and orange zest. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the orange juice, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

BRAZILIAN HONEY CAKES (PãO DE MEL)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and dust 24 4-ounce ramekins with cocoa powder. Reserve.
• Combine the milk, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in a small saucepan. Heat it, over medium heat, until it starts to simmer. Remove from heat and add the honey, stirring until the honey has dissolved. The milk fats might separate, that is ok. Cover and reserve until cooled to room temperature.
• Once the infused milk has cooled, transfer to the jar of a blender and add the eggs, brown sugar, vanilla extract, salt and vegetable oil. Blend until well combined.
• Pour the liquid mixture into a large bowl. Start adding the dry ingredients, sifting them into the bowl with the aid of a fine mesh sieve. Start with the cocoa powder, followed by baking soda, baking powder and flour. Whisk to combine, being careful not to overmix.
• Pour the batter into the prepared ramekins. Place them in baking sheets and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean, 15-20 minutes.
• When cakes are done, remove from oven and let them cool. Then, run a butter knife along the circumference and unmold the cakes.
• Using a serrated knife, cut each cake in half. Spread about 2 tablespoons of dulce de leche in the cut side of one of the halves. Top with the second half, creating a sandwich. Repeat with all the cakes. Reserve.
• Temper the chocolate: Place two-thirds of the chopped chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler or in a large bowl set over a smaller saucepan filled with barely simmering water. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted and it reaches a temperature of 118°F (see notes). Remove from the double boiler and add the remaining chocolate, stirring until dissolved and cooled to a temperature of 88 - 89° F. That could take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes. The chocolate is now tempered and ready to use.
• Dip each cake into the tempered chocolate, with the aid of two forks, and set them into parchment paper to set.
• Once set, enjoy right away or keep it in an airtight container at room temperature for about 2 weeks, in the fridge for up to one month or freeze for up to 3 months.

BRAZILIAN HONEY CAKE

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients (except for the baking powder).
• Then dissolve the soluble coffee in the milk and add it to the bowl. After that add the honey, butter, egg and stir. Finally add the baking powder and stir again.
• Preheat the pan to 180°C. Butter a baking sheet (30 centimeters) and sprinkle with powdered chocolate. Bake for about 30 minutes at 180°C.
• Once the cake has cooled, cut it in half and add dulce de leche and close.
• Then melt both chocolates and cover the cake.

HONEY CAKE (LEKACH)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F with a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease and flour or line with parchment paper two 8 1/2- by 4 1/2-inch loaf pans.
• In the bowl of a mixer, combine the brown sugar, salt, eggs, oil, honey, cinnamon, cloves and allspice and mix, using the flat (paddle) beater at low-medium speed until well blended, 6 to 7 minutes. Add the water and baking soda and continue mixing until blended.
• Add the flour 1 cup at a time, letting each addition blend before adding the next. Continue beating for about 10 minutes. The batter will be loose, stringy and very, very sticky.
• Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans, top with nuts and/or fruit, if desired.
• Bake 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until done.
• Remove to a rack and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes before turning the cakes out of the pans.