Sweet Nectar Cake

I am old school in a lot of ways. For example, I still love magazines and I prefer the printed page over a digital page.  And one of the things I enjoy are cooking magazines. I’m sure that’s a shocker.  One of my favorites is allrecipes, and the April/May 2021 issue is filled with some great recipes - including the green gazpacho I plan to make next weekend.  But the prettiest one was for Sweet Nectar Cake, using Nordic Ware’s 10-cup Honeycomb Pull-Apart Pan.  The pictures were gorgeous – I knew I had to try it in the Delaney Test Kitchen.  And I am not a big chocolate person, or really a dessert person in the first place, so this was perfect for me – a lemony, fruity cake that is also gorgeous to look at. In fact the pictures in the issue included some gorgeous edible flowers, which is what inspired me to plant some of my own in my Aero Garden.

Sweet Nectar Cake recipe from allrecipes:
 
INGREDIENTS:
·       1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
·       ⅓ cup honey or white sugar (I used honey from my favorite, The Savannah Bee Company)
·       ½ cup vegetable oil
·       1 cup peach or apricot nectar (I used peach. I am in Georgia, y’all.)
·       4 eggs
·       1 cup confectioners' sugar (optional)
·       2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)

PREPARATION:
 
Step 1
Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Step 2
Combine cake mix with honey (or sugar), cooking oil, and peach (or apricot) nectar. Beat for two minutes with mixer. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Pour batter into pan.
Step 3
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan before turning out onto a plate.
Step 4
In a small bowl, mix lemon juice with confectioners' sugar until you reach desired consistency. Drizzle glaze over sides of warm cake.

The recipe calls for using a box of lemon cake mix. But if you have more time, I would suggest making it from scratch.  Here is the recipe suggested from Nordic Ware.  To make it fit more with the Sweet Nectar recipe above, I’d replace the sour cream with 1 cup of peach or apricot nectar.
 
Honey Lemon Pull Aparts, recipe from Nordic Ware
 
INGREDIENTS:
 
Cake:
·       3 cups cake flour
·       1 1/ 2 teaspoons baking powder
·       1 teaspoon baking soda
·       1/ 4 teaspoon salt
·       1 cup butter, softened
·       1 1/ 2 cups sugar
·       4 eggs
·       2 tablespoons finely grated lemon rind
·       1 cup sour cream
Glaze:
·       3 tablespoons honey
·       1/ 2 cup powdered sugar
·       2 tablespoons lemon juice
 
PREPARATION:

1. Heat oven to 325° F (175°C)
2. Grease and flour pan; set aside.
3. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
4. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar on low speed until blended. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy.
5. Add eggs and beat until well blended.  
6. Add flour mixture, sour cream and lemon rind; blend on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl often.
7. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.
8. Spoon batter into prepared pan.
9. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan.
10. Meanwhile, make glaze: In small saucepan, combine all glaze ingredients and heat over medium heat until sugar dissolves and glaze is warm. Invert cake onto cooling rack and brush with honey glaze.

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