Acorn honey cake

Published November 25, 2012 | By Susan

Feeling super traditional? You can’t get more American than acorn honey cake.

So, I’ve become obsessed with foraging for acorns. A few weeks ago, I harvested my first batch to make acorn flour. I chose to make the flour because I wanted to make an acorn honey cake, a recipe from Hunter Angler Gardner Cook. A cake seemed like a good first acorn based food to try.

I thought Thanksgiving would be the best day to try it out. I haven’t seen it documented, but I wouldn’t be surprised if acorn honey cake was served at the first Thanksgiving. Maybe.

I was amazed at how light and fluffy it turned out, mostly because I was expecting it to be really dry (that was the warning from the website). And the taste is so interesting. It kind of looks and tastes like gingerbread, although there is no ginger in it. The taste may be in part due to the olive oil. I’ve never baked with olive oil, and almost switched it out with grape seed oil. But I decided to stay true to the recipe, and am glad I did.

The verdict in our house: acorn honey cake is worth the effort. I think it’s going to become a new Thanksgiving tradition for me.

This cake is surprisingly moist and light. Yum.

Recipe: Acorn Honey Cake

Summary: A tasty, very Virginia cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup acorn
1/2 cup call-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of sea salt
3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup palm sugar
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Butter for greasing pan

Instructions

Grease a 9-inch springform pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the flours, baking soda and powder, and salt in a bowl.
Beat the egg yolks, oil, honey and 2 tablespoons of sugar together until it looks like caramel. Mix in the dry ingredients.
In another bowl, add the egg whites and just a pinch of salt and beat into soft peaks. Add the remaining sugar and beat a bit more, so the whites are reaching the firm peak stage.
Fold the egg whites into the dough a little at a time gently.
Pour the dough into the springform pan. Using a rubber spatula flatten out the top and place in the oven as fast as you can.
Bake for about 30 minutes. After 20 minutes, watch for burning.
Remove from the oven, let rest 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.
When the cake has cooled for 15-20 minutes, dust with the confectioner’s sugar.