Honey Almond Spice Cake

I'm what you would call a honey junkie.  If there is honey at a farmers' market, 9 times out of 10, I will buy it.  I'm pretty sure all the honey vendors have a picture of me with a caption on it that says, "(Honey) Sucker."  If they give me a sample, I'm pretty much honey in their hands.  The 1 out of 10 times I don't buy it is probably because I don't have enough cash on me and I feel like it's wrong in some way to go home with no produce yet still weighed down by giant glass jars of heaven in syrup form. Let's just say I'm only one dimension away from being a cartoon bear stuck in a tree. I'm already chunky and yellow and enjoy tight T-shirts.  Here is some of my massive honey collection:

In case anyone is curious, from top to bottom, left to right:

1. Orange Blossom honey from the Alemany Farmers' Market - yummy and floral in a good way (vs the bad way where it tastes like soap - I'm looking at YOU, disgusting rose candy)
2. Mountain Flora honey from Eggman Family from the Civic Center Farmers' Market - nutty, but mild and delicious
3. Avocado honey from boyfriend who obtained it from a Mediterranean store - very mild but thick and dark, not much flavor
4. Amorossi Blueberry honey, also from same Mediterranean store - haven't tried yet
5. Wild Blackberry honey from Marshall's Farm the Civic Center Farmers' Market - super expensive but see above paragraph about junkie status; wonderful hint of berry, thick and a bit chunky, nice texture for just eating (I probably won't ever use this on anything - will probably just eat it)
6. Wildflower Honey (I think) from Queen Bee Honey from Millbrae Farmers' Market - very complex floral flavor, light, very delicious
7. Raw Orange Blossom Honey from Burlingame Farmers' Market - much less flavorful than the Alemany one, but still light and yummy
8. Raspberry Honey from Moon Valley Honey from my mom from I don't know where - doesn't really have much flavor other than a light honey, but nice level of sweetness

I definitely like the milder tasting honeys versus the darker ones which taste stronger and more molassesy to me. 

Okay, now that you know about my habit that maybe in a few years will intensify enough to get me on My Strange Addiction, back to the original reason for my post.  In this recipe, I wanted to highlight the flavor of the Mountain Flora honey (#2) that I bought recently.  Since it is nutty and light, I thought I'd make a spicy nutty cake that would complement it. 

Stacey's Honey Almond Spice Cake Ingredients:
1c unbleached white flour, organic 
1/2c almond meal
1/4c brown rice flour, organic
1c sugar, organic
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

2 eggs, organic
1/2c nonfat yogurt, organic
1/2c heavy cream, organic
1/4c water

3-4 tbs Mountain Flora honey
9x9" cake pan
Reusable 9x9" cake liner

First I preheated the oven to 350F. I mixed all the dry ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl.  I mixed the yogurt, cream, and water together and microwaved it for a minute to take the chill off.  It was about 80F degrees when I whisked it together with a fork.  Then I mixed the wet into the dry ingredients and poured the contents into the cake pan with the liner at the bottom. 

I baked the cake for about 32 minutes, rotating once at the halfway point.  

Then, while the cake was still hot, I poured the honey on top and spread it over the surface.  Since the cake is warm, the honey spreads quickly and has time to permeate the surface.

The cake was really moist with great flavor.  Everyone really seemed to like it.  The spices and the nuts seemed to complement the honey just like I'd hoped.

Now there's no more cake.  Oh bother...

At least there's still more honey.  And the recipe to do it again. :)