Mini Chamomile Cakes with Honey Frosting, Joy The Baker Cook Book Spotlight...

It's eleven o'clock at night and I'm in a tiny cabin in the mountains of The San Bernardino Forest, Lake Arrowhead to be exact. A beautiful place to be writing my latest post for Joy The Baker's cook book soiree. Her orgy of amazing recipes include these chamomile cakes which I knew were going to be good. Call it extrasensory perception, clairvoyance or even just a gut feeling, oh and the fact they're topped with honey frosting and taste like how I imagine fruit from The Garden of Eden to taste like!

My first actual clue was how amazing my kitchen smelled when these little cakes were being born in my oven. The floral aroma was new to me, chamomile hasn't been big on my grocery lists. I'm more of a coffee drinker than any kind of tea but I wasn't making tea, It was cake and I like cake. The flavor was incredible and the frosting was "the icing on the cake" I struggled to eat just one and if I make these again I might try it in a loaf form like banana bread. That way I wouldn't feel so bad having two slices instead of two cakes.

Have you ever nodded off with your finger on the keyboard and woke up to see a huge line of the same letter typed? I just done that so I think that's my message to go to bed. Make these incredibly fast and simple cakes, you wont be disappointed, just lots of ooohs and ahhhs and lip licking.

Here's the recipe from Joy The Baker:

4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) butter
1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
3 Tbsp dried chamomile (from tea bags)
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

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.

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.
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.

For the frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 Tbsp honey
6 Tbsp heavy cream
pinch of salt
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 atop the cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with just a bit of chamomile leaves. Cakes will last, well wrapped, at room temperature for up to 3 days.

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