Lemon Beehive Cake

We already know I have a (slight?) obsession with specialty cake pans. In many of the spring kitchen catalogs that are hitting my mailbox now this Nordicware beehive cake pan is being showcased.  I'm sure it's no surprise to say that I have this cake pan in my collection.  I've had it about five years and used it once.

I used the recipe that Williams Sonoma provides with the cake pan (recipe here). I took the cake to work, to rave reviews.  It's got the consistency of a pound cake, with a nice lemon flavor. The interesting part of the recipe is the honey-sugar glaze that is brushed on the cake while still warm.  The cake had a subtle honey flavor, too, as a result.

Saturday I was driving out to a client's farm to deliver her tax returns.  She is surrounded by almond orchards, most still in full bloom. With the beehive cake pan in my thoughts, I caught myself thinking about how important bees are to the nut and fruit farmers. Nothing grows without pollination! Beekeeping is big business out here and the almond farmers, especially, rely on the many bee boxes (no pretty hives!)being placed in their orchards during the pollination season. It's a mutually advantageous relationship, the farmers get their trees pollinated and the beekeeper gets the honey. I love to buy fresh, local honey.

The bee population has been in disarray the last few years.  Their natural habitat has been diminished and chemicals have bad effects on them. I make sure to plant many varieties of flowers in my yard to help support the dwindling bee population!