Sesame Cake

• 1). Beat together 2 sticks of butter and 1 cup of sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl (or in an electric mixer.) Add 4 eggs, 2 tsps. vanilla extract, 1/2 cup honey and 4 tbsp. tahini paste and beat well. Set aside.
  
  
• 2). Combine 3 cups flour, 2 tsp. baking powder and 1/4 tsp. salt salt in another bowl and mix well. Add the mixed dry ingredients, 1 cup buttermilk and 1/2 toasted white sesame seeds to the bowl of wet ingredients and stir until combined.
  
  
• 3). Divide and pour the batter into two greased or parchment-lined 8-inch cake pans and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 35 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cakes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
  
  

Sesame Buttercream Icing

• 1). Combine 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tbsp. honey and an 1/8 tsp. salt in the top of a double boiler (or in a small pan fitted inside of a slightly larger pan filled with water.) Stir the mixture over medium heat until a candy thermometer reads 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from stove and allow to cool slightly.
  
  
• 2). Beat with an electric mixer for five minutes at high speed, or by hand for approximately eight to ten minutes. An electric mixer is recommended, as speed is beneficial in adding air to the frosting. The mixture should become a very pale yellow.
  
  
• 3). Cut two sticks of room-temperature butter into small cubes and add to the mixture gradually, while the mixer is running. After all of the butter is whipped in, add 1 tsp. vanilla and 2 tbsp. tahini paste.
  
  

Assembly

• 1). Trim the tops of the cakes if there is a mound--that is, if the cake is not flat--using a long serrated knife to slice off the "hump" so that the top is relatively flat.
  
  
• 2). Place one cake round on a cake stand (or plate) and spread a generous amount of frosting on the top. Frost only the top and leave the sides unfrosted. Place the second cake round on top of the frosted bottom cake round and frost the top of the second layer. If desired, frost the sides of the stacked cake.
  
  
• 3). Sprinkle white sesame seeds on the top or break sesame seed crackers into jagged pieces and lay flat like tiles.