400g (14 oz.) unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature*
2 boxes (about 400g or 14 oz. each) yellow cake mix
the zest of ¾ lemon
¾ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon of ground ginger
½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
120ml (or ½ cup) honey
3 tablespoons mead (or substitute with a light, sweet white wine)
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 150°C/300°F (fan forced setting) and lightly butter a metal, 2-liter/8-cup Bundt pan with cold butter, rubbing it into all the little nooks and crannies. I wouldn't advise you to use baking spray for this, because it can give the cake an unpleasant oily flavor. Flour the pan by adding about half a cup of flour to it and turning it around until it's evenly floured. Tap out the excess flour and place the pan in the fridge for about 5 minutes to cool the butter.
In the meantime, make the batter. In a large bowl, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs on at a time and mix until incorporated. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the 2 boxes of cake mix, the zest and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and fold in with a rubber spatula. Once the dry ingredients have somewhat absorbed the wet, use the mixer to mix it to a fluffy batter. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula every now and then as you mix. Place the batter into the fridge for about 15 minutes to cool a little. After the batter has chilled, carefully pour it into the prepared pan and bake it on the lower rack of the oven (I placed it on the rack right below the middle rack, because my oven has 4 racks), making sure that the center of the pan is in the center of the oven. Bake for abut 50 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
In the meantime, make the honey mead glaze. I you can't get your hands on mead (or honey wine) substitute with sweet white wine. To a small saucepan, add the honey. Heat over low heat, stirring continuously until the honey becomes very runny. Add the mead (or white wine) and stir to combine. Take the pan off the heat and set it aside to cool.
Once the cake is done, take it out of the oven and leave to sit for about 15 minutes. Then place a cool oven wire rack over the pan and invert the cake onto the rack. Place back in the oven for about 15 minutes to crisp up. If your cake is crispy already after you've inverted it, you can skip this part.
Once the cake has crisped up, allow it to cool for about 15 minutes before carefully placing it back into the Bundt pan. Prick the bottom of the cake all over with a fork and slowly drizzle on about half of the honey syrup. Let sit undisturbed for about 10 minutes to ensure that the glaze seeps into the cake, then invert the cake onto a cake plate. Prick the top and sides of the cake with a fork, then slowly pour over the rest of the honey syrup, allowing the syrup to sink into the cake as much as possible. Some syrup will probably run down the sides of the cake and form a syrupy pool around the base of the cake, but that is fine. Just make sure the cake is sitting on a highish-edged plate. Allow the cake to cool completely to room temperature before diving in. This ensures that the cake has time to soak up the syrup.
Also great the next day!
Notes
* the temperature of the butter is really important in this recipe. If the butter is too warm and soft (oily), the cake will not bake properly because the oily butter will sink down as it bakes. Allow chilled butter to come to room temperature for 30-60 minutes before using. It should give a little when you press your finger in it, but it shouldn't be squishy or anything.
Recipe by The Tough Cookie at https://thetoughcookie.com/2013/12/24/christmasy-spiced-honey-syrup-bundt-cake-with-mead/