There are 40 hives on the slope below Gull Rock lighthouse, kept by a co-operative of eleven beekeepers who meet in the lighthouse keeper’s old cottage. In September the bees work the heather, and the honey comes out almost black.
This is the cake they bake for the harvest supper. It uses a lot of honey and a strong cup of tea, and it is meant to be wrapped and left for two days before anyone touches it.
Recipe
The Gull Rock beekeepers’ honey cake
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Total
- 1 hr 20 min
Serves
Ingredients
Method
Cook's note: Any strongly flavored honey works, such as buckwheat or chestnut. A mild clover honey makes a perfectly nice cake that tastes mostly of ginger.
The co-operative sells its honey at Harbor Street Market on the first Saturday of the month, until it runs out. It usually runs out by ten.
