Salted Butter and Honey Glaze…I never needed anything more
A celebration of august
Every year, in the days leading up to August 1st, Swifties around the world count down to what’s become an unofficial holiday in the fandom—a celebration of august, Track 7 from Taylor Swift’s folklore.
With the recent launch of the Swift Heart Bakes series, I knew this was the perfect platform for joining in on the fun. But first, I had to answer one very important question: What recipe could possibly capture the essence of this beloved song—a hazy, bittersweet anthem of fleeting summer and complicated, unrequited love?
The answer came quickly, thanks to one lyric in particular:
This iconic lyric, so often quoted by fans with salt and wind emojis, gave me my theme—salt. I wanted a dish where saltiness wasn’t just an accent, but the star. Enter the Salty Honey Cake: rich, sweet, and laced with sea salt in both the batter and the glaze. It’s a love letter to that salty-sweet contrast—just like the song itself.
Featured Recipe:
Where Sweet Meets Swift: A Tasty Take on Taylor-Inspired Treats
For this particular Swift Heart Bakes post, the goal wasn’t to have Swifties guess which song inspired the dessert. Let’s be real—august basically owns August 1st, and the hype around it makes any mystery kind of moot. So, instead of hiding clues or playing coy, I leaned into the obvious and focused less on visual references and more on capturing the feeling of the song.
That meant making salt the star of the dish—a playful nod to the song’s iconic opening line—but also designing a dessert that felt like folklore itself. The cake is stripped down in the best way: minimal ingredients, a classic flavor profile, and a quiet kind of elegance. Just as august stands out with its soft production, wistful storytelling, and emotional restraint, this cake doesn’t try to do too much. It lets each element shine—the salted butter, the floral honey, the flakes of sea salt that linger like a memory.
Simple, but unforgettable.
But it’s not just about flavor—this cake is a mood. A vibe. A soft-spoken, salt-kissed tribute to august in all its melancholy beauty. The perfect pairing with a cup of tea on a rainy afternoon.
The song itself is a masterclass in subtle storytelling. Unlike the bigger heartbreak ballads in Taylor’s discography, august unfolds gently, full of longing and restraint. It tells the story of a summer love that was never quite hers to keep—the spaces between words, the unsaid, the almosts. There’s an ache to it, but also a softness; a kind of light that filters through even the heaviest parts.
That emotional landscape informed every choice in this bake. Just as the song layers warmth and sadness, sweetness and tension, this cake plays with contrast: honey against salt, richness softened by airiness, comfort tinged with complexity. It’s not flashy or loud—instead, it lingers, just like a memory you can’t quite let go of.
Even the look of the cake is a love letter to folklore’s visual world: muted, natural, and intimate.
folklore, But Make It Frosted
For the decoration, I wanted to capture the quiet visual poetry of folklore. At the center of it all: a hand-piped royal icing design inspired by the back cover of the album—Taylor standing with her back to us, hair in those now-iconic folklore buns, surrounded by a field of tall grass. Recreating that silhouette in icing felt like grounding the cake in the album’s world—intimate, introspective, and a little bit wild.
Around her feet (and across the surface of the cake), I scattered a mix of edible flowers: rose petals for softness and longing, cornflower for memory and melancholy, and marigold petals for warmth and light that’s just beginning to fade. It evokes a windblown meadow in late summer — a setting pulled straight from the bridge of august.
To finish it all off, I dusted the top with a hint of gold glitter—a nod to the spray of the ocean in that opening lyric, catching the sunlight just like salt air might shimmer at the edge of a memory. It adds the perfect bit of quiet magic—not too loud, but impossible to miss.
Together, the elements create a cake that’s more than just dessert—it’s a small, sweet embodiment of august. A fleeting thing. A favorite moment you want to hold onto just a little longer.
Check out the Featured Recipes!
The Salty Honey Cake
Prep Time: 15 minutes I Cook Time: 30-40 minutes I Total Time: 45-55 minutes
A moist fluffy cake scented and glazed with floral honey and seasoned with flaky seas salt. For added sweetness, add a thin layer of vanilla royal icing.
INGREDIENTS:
I. For the cake:
- 180g of salted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup of floral honey (can substitute 3/4 cup of granulated sugar)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 1/2 tsp of baking soda
- 1/8 tsp of flaky sea salt
II. For the salty honey glaze:
- 1 Tbsp of floral honey
- 4 Tbsp of boiled water
- 1/8 tsp of flaky sea salt
III. For the icing:
- 1 1/2 cups of icing sugar
- 5-7 tsp of milk
- 1/2 tsp of vanilla
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Pre-heat oven to 350° F and grease an 8-inch round tin.
- In a mixing bowl, beat softened butter and honey together. Approximately 2-3 minutes.
- Beat eggs in, one at a time, until smooth.
- Sift your dry ingredients (flour, raising agents and salt) and gently mix until just incorporated. Do not overmix as this can make your cake texture tough and chewy.
- Pour cake batter into tin and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until risen and deep golden on top. Test with a skewer which should come out clean when removed.
- While the cake is still warm, stir together glaze ingredients.
- Pour over your glaze to evenly coat the top of the cake while it is still in its tin.
- If using royal icing, allow cake to cool completely before spreading a thin layer of icing.
- Serve and enjoy!
Still hungry? Here’s more
A Message in Every Swirl: Indian-spiced Chelsea Buns
In this post, we reimagine Taylor Swift’s Message in a Bottle as a dessert, blending the classic British Chelsea Bun with the syrupy warmth of Indian gulab jamun. Inspired by the song’s ocean-spanning romance and dizzying infatuation, the spiraled buns become a visual metaphor for sending love across the sea. The bake is infused with rose water, cardamom, and clove, marrying East and West in a sticky-sweet swirl of cultures and emotions. Along the way, I reflect on what it means to create desserts that feel like songs—not just look like them. It’s a love letter in pastry form: soft, spiced, and a little bit smitten.
Donut you see? I’m a mirrorball
In this heartfelt blog post, the author shares the story behind her mirrorball-inspired donuts, a shimmering tribute to Taylor Swift’s song “mirrorball.” What began as a simple donut request from her boyfriend evolved into a deeply personal bake that mirrored the song’s themes of vulnerability, performance, and imperfection. Drawing parallels between the circular shape of donuts and mirrorballs, she crafted a visually reflective treat that echoed Swift’s message about staying visible and resilient despite inner chaos. The baking process itself—sticky dough, distorted shapes, and blurred icing—mirrored the idea that imperfections can be beautiful and meaningful. Practical tips on working with yeasted dough and frying donuts are woven throughout, making the post both inspiring and instructive. Ultimately, the author encourages readers to embrace the messy parts of life and creativity, just as Taylor does in her music.
