Honey cake: one dessert, two ways to enjoy – a new taste experience

By Liu Jiawen, reporting

 

Besides “one fish, two ways” and “grilled two ways,” there’s now “one cake, two ways”! The honey cake from Bee Village can be enjoyed in two different ways: when frozen, it has a firm and smooth texture – cool and refreshing, just like eating ice cream. After letting it sit at room temperature for 10 to 20 minutes to thaw, it returns to its delicate and soft cake state, offering a refreshing taste that’s not overly sweet, along with rich aromas of honey and eggs.

So, what’s the secret behind making such delicious honey cake? The answer is – natural is best. Bee Village’s honey cake is handmade using toxin-free free-range chicken eggs and 100% pure honey, with no added chemical flavorings, which results in its exceptional taste. In addition to the honey cake, the honey itself from Bee Village is not to be missed. Bee Village collaborates with Huisun Forest through an industry-academia partnership by placing beehives within the forest. Since Huisun Forest boasts vast, unpolluted woodland and sees various flowers blooming in rotation throughout the seasons, the bees collect nectar from a wide variety of blossoms. The resulting forest honey is rich in minerals, with a fragrant taste that is not overly sweet and offers multi-layered flavors, unlike typical single-source honey like longan honey.

Additionally, a Bee Ecology Education Center has been established at Huisun Forest to educate the public about bee ecology and how to distinguish real honey from fake. Li Liyu, the chief advisor of the Bee Ecology Education Center, explained that many people believe crystallized honey is fake, but actually, the opposite is true. This is because honey contains monosaccharides such as glucose and fructose. When the glucose content is higher than fructose, and if the storage temperature is below 16°C, combined with low moisture content in the honey, crystallization is likely to occur. Premium crystallized honey appears as fine granules or has an oily texture. As for whether purchased honey should be refrigerated, Li Liyu said: “Refrigerating honey has three benefits: first, it prevents ants from getting in; second, it protects the enzymes in the honey from being damaged by hot weather; third, it allows you to determine the authenticity of the honey by observing whether it crystallizes. So, I recommend refrigerating it.”