Mac Arthur Park Honey Layer Cake Recipe

From the famous Richard Harris song: "MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down  Someone left the cake out in the rain. I don't think that I can take it  'Cause it took so long to bake it  And I'll never have that recipe again, oh noooooo"

Okay, here's my recipe:

Mac Arthur Park Honey Layer Cake (with sweet green icing flowing down!) (Prep. time about 1 hr. Serves 8 or more)

2 C. all purpose flour

1 ½ C. granulated sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

pinch of salt

½ C. vegetable oil

¾ C. milk

2 eggs

1 C. hot water

2-3 Tb. honey

2 Tb. vanilla

1/3 C. strawberry jelly or jam

(standard butter cream frosting (butter, confectioner’s sugar and milk, beaten until smooth and fluffy, or <don’t tell anyone> pre-made in a can, confectioner’s sugar/ milk glaze died green)

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour two round cake pans.  (* For even easier removal of the baked cakes, grease and flour the sides then cut a round of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the cake pans. Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray.)  Combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine beaten eggs, vegetable oil, milk and vanilla. Dissolve the honey in the hot water and add to the liquid ingredients.  Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix well, but don’t over-mix.  Bake about 30 minutes until golden brown and a tooth pick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool on wire racks until the cake pulls away from the side of the pan. When the cakes are completely cool, spread a thin crumb coat of butter cream on the top of the bottom layer to keep the jelly from soaking into the cake. Make a butter cream dam around the edge to keep the jelly from leaking out the sides.  Stir the jelly to make it more smooth, spoon into the center of the cake and spread to the icing dam.  Carefully place the next layer on top. Crumb coat the entire cake with butter cream or ice the whole thing with butter cream and stop.  If you want to make the “sweet green icing flowing down” made famous in the song, combine 2/3 C. confectioner’s sugar and enough milk to make a consistency about the thickness of pancake batter.  Slowly poor the glaze in the center and ease the topping to the edge of the cake so it slowly drips down.  Can be refrigerated or served room temperature.

(*I used a medium amber local honey)