Food & Drink

Head chef at Honeycomb & Co Aisha Elshani has recipes to ensure you have a sweet afternoon

Recipes for the perfect afternoon tea, plus Rose Murray Brown on Hungary’s harslevelu grape

Since Honeycomb & Co opened, just over a year ago, we’ve built a keen band of regulars who love our breakfasts, brunches and lunches, but something that stops everyone on the way in is our display of homemade cakes. Stacked high on a gold-coloured counter, most people find it hard to resist a little something, at whatever time of day.

While it’s brilliant to grab a honeybun with morning coffee, or a slice of apple and bramble crumble cake after lunch, we thought it was time to serve up something special, so we’ve just launched afternoon tea. As a pastry chef by training, I’m in my element – it’s a chance to come up with something truly indulgent and I love making everything look as good as it tastes.

We’ll change what’s on offer depending on what’s in season and will always have the Honeycomb & Co twists our customers expect, but one thing that’s non negotiable is a scone, warm from the oven. Afternoon tea is a fun thing to host at home too – with a bit of forward-planning it doesn’t have to be stressful. I’ve chosen three of our most popular bakes here – each is straightforward to make, with a focus on flavour and fresh ingredients.

All you need is a pot of your favourite tea (or a glass of your favourite fizz) and you’re set for a sweet afternoon. Honeycomb & Co, 1 Merchiston Place, Edinburgh (0131-228 4641, www.honeycombandco.com). Afternoon tea is served daily from 3pm (pre-booking required). Full afternoon tea is £20pp (£25 with a

glass of Heidesieck Monopole Brut Champagne); cream tea is £8pp and tea and biscuits £6pp, featuring a hot drink, honey shortbread, plus two honey and tahini sandwich biscuits

Rosemary billionaire

This is a Honeycomb & Co classic. A twist on traditional caramel shortbread, the rosemary infused caramel adds a fragrant note that works brilliantly with the rich chocolate without being overwhelming.

Makes 18 300g self-raising flour 200g caster sugar 150g butter, melted 125g butter, room temperature 2 tbsp golden syrup 397g tin condensed milk 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, and extra to garnish 150g double cream 150g Belgian dark chocolate, chopped pinch sea salt

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/gas Mark 4 and line a 23cm square tin with baking parchment. Combine the melted butter, 75g of caster sugar and the flour for the base – mix together until it resembles breadcrumbs, with no big lumps.

2 Press into the tray and pack down firmly, then bake for 10-15 minutes until light golden brown. Set aside to cool.

3 To make the caramel, put the 125g of room temperature butter, 125g of caster sugar, golden syrup, condensed milk, sea salt and 3 sprigs of rosemary in a thick-bottomed pan and boil for 8-10 minutes, whilst stirring continuously. Once thickened and golden-brown, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before pouring this mixture over the cooled base. Leave to set and allow to cool completely.

4 Make the topping by bringing the cream to the boil then pour it over the chopped chocolate. Stir until glossy and all the chocolate has melted. Pour it over the caramel and place the tray in the fridge to set before cutting Honey and lemon bundt, main; rosemary billionaire, above into squares. Garnish with rosemary sprigs.

Carrot, coconut and pistachio cakes

This is another long-standing favourite from the Honeycomb & Co cake display. It’s one of the glutenfree bakes that we offer and is full of flavour with a lovely texture.

Makes 10

3 eggs (large) 200g caster sugar 250g icing sugar 200g ground almonds 100g desiccated coconut 2 tsp ground cinnamon 250g butter (at room temperature) 150g butter, melted 2 large carrots, grated 100g pistachio nuts, blitzed for a few seconds until finely chopped 30g pomegranate seeds or 25g pistachio nuts, chopped 500g full fat cream cheese

1 Preheat oven to 180C/gas Mark 4, then grease and line 10 tall dariole moulds. Whisk the eggs and caster sugar together until light, pale and thickened. Add the almonds, coconut and cinnamon, mix lightly to combine, then add the melted butter, stirring gently until incorporated.

2 Fold in the carrot and pistachios, making sure everything is well combined. Spoon into dariole moulds and bake for approximately 15 minutes.

3 Remove from oven and cool in moulds for 15 minutes then turn onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

4 To make the cream cheese icing, cut the room temperature butter up into small pieces then add to mixing bowl with the icing sugar. Beat until almost white and no lumps of butter are found.

5 Add the cream cheese and mix until fully combined. Place into a piping bag. Once the carrot cakes have cooled completely, pipe a swirl of cream cheese icing on top and add a sprinkle of chopped pistachios or a few pomegranate seeds.

Honey and lemon bundt

We had to include something that uses honey as a hero ingredient. We partner with Plan Bee (www. planbeeltd.com) to help save the hardworking creatures that are essential for our planet’s survival. These cakes are straightforward to make, but the honeycomb needs a little care – be sure to keep the air circulating when mixing to ensure you achieve the characteristic bubbled texture. We make them in individual bundt tins but you could use muffin tins instead.

Makes 10

350g butter (and a little extra to grease the bundt tins) 530ml honey 5 lemons, juice and zest 150g ground almonds 6 eggs 200g plain flour 23g baking powder 250ml double cream 500g white chocolate

400g caster sugar 100ml water 100ml glucose 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 First, make the honeycomb. Place the water, caster sugar, 100ml of honey and glucose into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Using a thermometer, bring the temperature up to 155C.

2 Sprinkle the bicarbonate of soda over the top and stir gently. Try not to over mix, or the air pockets will be lost.

3 Pour into a lined baking tray and leave to cool before breaking into pieces.

4 Preheat the oven to 160C/gas Mark 3. Grease 10 individual bundt tins. Beat the butter and 330ml of honey until combined and soft. Add the lemon zest, ground almonds, eggs, plain flour and baking powder and beat until everything is well incorporated.

5 Spoon into individual bundt tins and bake for approximately 12-15 minutes. Allow to cool slightly in the tins before turning onto a wire rack.

6 To make the syrup add 100ml of the honey and the lemon juice to a small pan and bring briefly to the boil.

7 Once the bundts are cooled slightly, tip onto a wire cooling rack. Use a spoon to drench each in the syrup (all the syrup should be used equally between the cakes). The syrup must be warm and the cakes hot to ensure they absorb as much as possible.

8 Now bring the cream to the boil and pour it over the white chocolate. Stir until it’s fully dissolved and the mix is smooth and shiny. Put this in the fridge to firm, giving it a quick mix occasionally. If it sets too much it will be hard to pipe, so you may need to heat it slightly in the microwave to soften.

9 Place in a piping bag and finish the bundts by piping it on top of each, then add a shard of honeycomb.