Pooh Bear’s Peaceful Honey Cake with Lemon Balm & Chamomile

The beloved Pooh Bear is celebrated in all his honey-loving ways with this tasty cake. Lemon balm and chamomile are infused into the honey making the cake even more delicious while adding a laid-back flair so typical of Pooh Bear. These two herbs have nervine properties that help to soothe and calm even the most fractious of us. The honey and the herbs combined with rich butter and wholesome flours create a delightful depth of flavor.

Perfect for a Pooh Bear and we hope for you too!

First, stoutness exercises with Pooh Bear:

… Up - Down - Up

When I up, down, touch the ground

It puts me in the mood

Up, down, touch the ground

In the mood for food

I am stout, round and I have found

Speaking poundage-wise

I improve my appetite when I exercise

Oh, yes, I'm rumbly in my tumbly

Time for something sweet!

From the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Make A Honey Pooh Bear Cake

Adapted from Rising Star Bakery
Makes a 9” by 13” cake or fills one Pooh Bear cake pan.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter

• 2 cups honey, infused with herbs (see below) or plain; reserve 1/2 cup of the honey for topping.

• 1 cup of milk or buttermilk

• 4 eggs

• 1 tablespoon vanilla

• Zest and juice from 1 lemon; reserve 2 teaspoons of the juice for topping.

• 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350° and prepare your pan with butter and flour to prevent sticking.

2. Cream the butter and 1 1/2 cups honey until fluffy. Reserve 1/2 cup of honey for the topping.

3. Next, add the milk, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest and juice reserving 1 teaspoon juice for the glaze. Blend the liquid ingredients together until well incorporated.

4. Stir in the dry ingredients: the flour and baking powder.

5. Pour the batter into your prepared pan.

6. Bake for 45 minutes or until the cake tests as done with a toothpick.

7. Then let cool for 10–15 minutes before turning the cake out of the pan.

8. Combine the reserved honey and lemon juice, then brush this over the top of the cake to create a glaze.

Make Infused Honey with Lemon Balm and Chamomile

How To Infuse Herbs In Honey Fast

The fastest method if you need your Pooh Bear cake now!

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) leaves or 1/4 cup dried.

• 2 tablespoons chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) flowers, dried or fresh

• pinch lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) blossoms

• 2 1/2 cups honey

Instructions

1. Put the lemon balm, chamomile, lavender, and honey into the top of a double boiler and pour the honey over the herbs.

2. Use a chopstick or a knife to stir the herbs into the honey because the honey will sit on top of the herbs and need a bit of help mixing in with the honey.

3. Place the top of the double boiler with the herbs and honey on top of the bottom of the boiler with water.

4. Place the double boiler set up over low to medium heat.

5. Let the honey infuse like this for half an hour to a couple hours, stirring as needed to keep the herbs covered.

6. Strain the herbs out and use the honey for your cake!

What to do with the leftover honey-coated herbs?

You just strained some lovely herbs out of some lovely honey—don’t throw them away! Make a luscious, extremely relaxing bath by covering the herbs with hot water. Let this concoction sit for at least 30 minutes. Then strain the water into the tub. Add a big handful of Epsom salt. Climb into the tub and get ready for the calm.

This cake is featured in the Sweet Botanicals: A Cozy Guide to Herbal-Infused Honey. The guide is filled with honey-goodness including instructions on how to make long infused herbal honey, as well as recipes for the kitchen and body care, info on herbs that make delicious honey infusions. The guide also covers zero-waste options for crafting with the leftover herbs from infusing (like the example above) with a dive into transforming leftover infused herbs into body care, cozy drinks, and more so not a single drop goes to waste. Find out more about the guide here.

Find Joy in the Baking…

When asked what his favorite thing to do was, you would think Pooh would say, “eat honey!” Yet, he catches himself before exclaiming about honey and ponders those moments that happen just before enjoying honey:

“Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.”

―A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

Benjamin Hoff explores this concept so wisely brought forth by Pooh Bear in The Tao of Pooh. Take a moment and reflect on a time that you felt joy. Perhaps you were in the flow of some activity. Perhaps you were working toward a goal. Perhaps it was something as simple as baking a cake. Those moments that make up the process are often filled with anticipation or what Hoff explains could be called “awareness.” He explains that “the honey doesn’t taste so good once it is eaten… it is the process (or goal to eat honey in this case) that makes us wise, happy, or whatever.” (pg. 111)

Hoff goes on to explain that if we are enjoying this process and aware of this “moment before we begin to eat honey” we have the opportunity for happiness. (pg. 112)

So, I invite you to take a pause, take a look around, enjoy the aromas of the ingredients and the way they blend together. Smell the cake baking, rising in the oven and enjoy that time. It will make the cake taste all the sweeter.

Until next time, nerdy fairies may your baking be tasty and satisfying to your inner Pooh Bear.

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References

Cooperative Whole Grain Educational Association. (1993). Uprisings, the whole grain baker’s book. Ann Arbor, MI: CWGEA.

Hoff, Benjamin. (2018). The Tao of Pooh. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Milne, A. A. (1926). Winnie the Pooh. Canada: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.

Milne, A. A., Lounsbery, J., Reitherman, W., & Sharpsteen, B. (1977). The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Walt Disney Productions.