Honey and Sesame Cake

Ingredients

• Cake: 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup (80ml) honey
• 1/3 cup (80ml) oil
• 1/4 cup (60g) tahini, stirred well
• 1/4 cup (60ml) strong black coffee or tea, room temperature
• 1/4 cup (55g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (50g) packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1.5 cups (190g) all-purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup (50g) white sesame seeds, toasted, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1/3 cup crushed pistachios
• Glaze: 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 cinnamon stick

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 320°F (convection) or 340°F (conventional).
2. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, honey, oil, tahini, strong coffee or tea, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Whisk until smooth.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda into the wet ingredients and mix until everything is just combined — be careful not to overmix the batter.
4. Add the toasted and cooled sesame seeds to the batter and mix until just evenly incorporated.
5. Transfer the batter to a lined and greased cake pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.
6. While the cake is cooling, make the glaze by combining all the glaze ingredients in a saucepan. Boil until the sugar is dissolved, then simmer on low for 5 minutes and sieve through a strainer to remove zest and cinnamon stick. Set aside to cool.
7. When the cake has cooled, poke it with a skewer every couple of inches and drizzle as much or as little of the syrup over the cake as desired.
8. Spread the glaze over the cake with a brush for complete coverage, then sprinkle the pistachios and reserved sesame seeds on top.