Honey Cake
The Jewish New Year (or Rosh Hashana) wouldn’t be complete without Honey Cake for dessert. Honey cake is a traditional finale, incorporating honey (for a sweet new year) and warm winter spices. This cake is moistened with coffee that gives it a lovely depth of flavor.
Breaking from tradition is the cinnamon-vanilla frosting. Typically, honey cake is made in a bundt pan and doesn’t have any frosting. If anything, it might be sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar or chopped candied ginger. But, me being me, I wanted to elevate the cake with a gorgeous fruit design on the top, so I added a cinnamon-vanilla frosting. It’s not too sweet (the cake is sweet enough as it is) but adds just the right amount of spice and makes a perfect canvas for the fruit decor.
Having said all of that, a plain bundt cake would be simply perfect as well!
To make the cake, beat the eggs in a stand mixer until golden yellow. Add the sugars and continue to mix. Finally, add in the honey and combine.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, allspice and baking powder and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the cooled coffee with the baking soda.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and mix to combine. Add the coffee-baking soda mixture and combine. The batter will be very runny.
Pour into a 9-inch baking pan and bake until cooked all the way through. Once baked, let it sit in the pan for 10 minute prior to turning out on a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the cake has cooled, make the frosting. Combine the powdered sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.
Cream the butter in a stand mixer and add the powdered sugar mixture a bit at a time, scraping down the bowl. Add the vanilla and milk and continue to beat until it has been incorporated.
To assemble, spread the frosting on the top of the cooled cake and add fruit and herbs as you like.
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Honey Cake
Makes: 12 servings
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Bake Time: 55-65 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour & 30 minutes
Ingredients
Cake:
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup honey
- 2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup coffee, room temperature
- 1 tsp baking soda
Cinnamon-Vanilla Frosting:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 & 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 & 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1-2 tbsp whole milk, room temperature
- 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
Assembly:
- 4 fresh figs, halved
- 1/4 cup each fresh raspberries, blueberries, blackberries
- 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
- 3 stalks fresh rosemary
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Prepare a 9″ round cake pan by spraying it with cooking spray and lining it with a parchment round (see Chef’s Note).
Beat eggs until lemon yellow, about 3 minutes. Add sugar and continue to beat another 2 minutes.
Pour in honey and combine.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, allspice and baking powder. Add to the egg-sugar-honey mixture all at once.
Combine the baking soda with the cold coffee and mix. Add the coffee to the batter and mix. The batter will be very loose.
Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 55-65 minutes or until the cake is cooked through and not jiggly on top. Leave in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove from pan and let cool to room temperature on a wire rack.
Cinnamon-Vanilla Frosting:
In a large bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
Cream butter on medium-high until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes), scraping down the bowl and paddle a few times in between.
Add powdered sugar/cinnamon mixture a bit at a time, scraping down the bowl and paddle between intervals. Mix on medium until fully incorporated.
Turn the mixer to low and add vanilla and milk. Mix on medium for two minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle and add salt. Mix for another minute on medium until incorporated.
Assembly:
Place the cooled cake on a platter, spread frosting over the top and place fruit and herbs in a decorative manner over top. Serve with extra honey on the side.
Chef’s Notes:
This recipe is from my cousin, Joanne Heller, who makes an amazing honey cake. She always makes it in a bundt pan and swears that it’s a “shonda” (a shame or disgrace in Yiddish) to frost a honey cake. I took some liberties with this for the sake of a beautiful cake, but feel free to be traditional and make it in a bundt pan. Sprinkle some candied ginger or a little confectioners’ sugar on top if you feel the need to decorate it. Sorry, Joanne, I couldn’t resist!
Recipe adapted from Joanne Heller
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