HONEY COMB CUPCAKES – You will need the guidance of a big sister or adult to make this fun recipe.

Idea: Divide your siblings or friends into 3 groups and prepare a different part of the honey comb cupcakes.

Vanilla Cupcakes

This vanilla cupcake recipe makes for a dense, not too sweet base that can be used with virtually any icing and  filling .

  • 1 c. all purpose flour
  • 3/4 c. sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 tbsp. unsalted margarine, at room temp.
  • 1/2 c. Pareve milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients with butter and beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and all is combined. Gradually pour in 1/2 the milk and beat until milk is just incorporated.

Whisk egg, vanilla and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until just incorporated (scraping down the sides of the bowl). Continue mixing until the batter is smooth, but take care not to over mix.

Spoon the batter into muffin cups and bake for 20-25 min or until light golden. After removing them from the oven, let the cupcakes cool slightly on a wire rack before removing them from the pan to cool completely.

Honey Buttercream (American)

  • 2 c. confectioners sugar
  • 5 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temp.
  • 2 tbsp. whole milk
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/3 c. local honey

Beat the butter and sugar together on med. until the mixtures comes together. Turn the mixer down to slow and alternate adding milk & vanilla. Once all of the ingredients are incorporated, turn the mixer up to high and beat until light and fluffy (about 5 min). Fold in the honey and mix until combined.

Sugar Cookies

I was able to find a stacked set of Hexagon Cookie Cutters at Sur La Table. Use one of the larger size cutters (the size closest to your cupcake size) for the outside and one of the smaller size cutters for the inside and remove the center. Once they’re cooked, we’ll fill them with poured sugar to create a “honey” glass effect.

  • 2 c. all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp.
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 tbsp. milk
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; mix until light and fluffy. With mixer running, add egg, milk, and vanilla; mix until well combined. With the mixer on low, slowly add reserved flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/4 in thickness (thinner if you like your cookies really crispy). Cut into hexagons, creating an empty inner space to be filled with poured sugar after baking, and transfer to prepared baking sheets. Bake until lightly golden, about 8 minutes; do not let them brown.
Royal Icing
  • 1lb. of confectioners sugar
  • 2 egg whites (use pasteurized or meringue powder for children or pregnant women)
  • 1tsp. lemon juice
  • 1tsp. almond extract
  • 1/4 -ish c. of water
Combine sugar, egg whites, lemon juice, almond extract and 1/2 the water in a stand mixer with wisk attachment. Add additional water slowly to achieve desired consistency.  Add coloring to your taste.
Poured Sugar
Fear not the hot sugar. It’s actually really easy and fun! (just be careful)
  • 1 1/4 c. sugar
  • scant 1/2 c. water
  • 1tsp. lemon juice
Prior to starting your sugar, make sure you have your hexagon cut out cookies lined up on tin foil on a heat safe surface, ready to be filled.
Combine sugar and water in a heavy saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add lemon juice. Bring the mixture to 298 degrees on a candy thermometer.  Careful! It’s extremely HOT! Let the mixture cool for a couple of min., but not so long that it starts to harden. You should be able to easily spoon the mixture into the center of your cookies and it will fill the void. Once cooled completely, you should be able to pop them right up. If there’s a lot of humidity, it may be difficult to get them off of the tin foil, so just pop them in the fridge for a minute and then you should be able to get them up.
note: if you have hardened sugar in your pan and you can’t get it out, just fill the pan with water and put it back on med. heat. The hot water will dissolve the sugar and you can pour it right out!
Once cooled, frost the cookie portion with Royal Icing and let set.

Bees!

  • Chocolate Covered Almonds
  • Reserved yellow icing from cookies
  • Black icing for eyes & stingers
  • Slivered Almonds

Start by laying out your almonds on a sheet of wax paper. Loosely drizzle them with the yellow icing to create “stripes” I like to use a squeeze bottle for most consistent flow. Let dry for 20min. Use the black icing to adhere the slivered almonds to the bee bodies. If you hold them in place for a few seconds, they’ll set long enough for you to let go. By the time you get to the last set of wings your first few bees should have tried and you can proceed with adding eyes and stingers. Let dry for at least 30min. before attaching to cupcakes with a dot of icing.