The Best Honey Cake

Sometimes inspiration can surprise you just at the right moment. I was hanging around the house last night relaxing after a Saturday morning at work. I'd started making a list for my weekly Sunday grocery run and as I considered what I wanted to cook for Sunday dinner, my phone buzzed to let me know I had an instant message. It was my friend Sue Wasserman who lives in Asheville, NC. Now, its not unusual to get a random message from a far away friend, but I have not seen or spoken to Sue since I was 16 years old. We grew up together in White Meadow Lake, NJ, a small predominantly Jewish community about an hour east of New York City. My family relocated to far southeast Texas just weeks after my 16th birthday and by the time I got to college, I'd lost touch with all my Jersey friends. But thanks to social media, we've all reconnected and gotten to virtually know each other as adults. I am a big fan of Sue's photography and her abundant joy and she's a fan of this blog.

Sue just moved in to a new place and as she was unpacking she came across a loaf pan, which triggered a flashback to the honey cake she ate as a kid. She was sure I'd have a recipe, which I didn't, but I believe life puts up guideposts to help us find our way when we are uncertain. It was as if Sue somehow knew I was looking for inspiration and inadvertently gave me exactly what I was looking for - a challenge to make something I'd never made before. 

Honey cake was a familiar dish for all of us Jewish kids growing up in New Jersey. Its traditionally served at Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, in the hopes for a sweet year to come. The recipe dates back to the middle ages when European travelers brought the recipe home from Egypt and the holy land. Because it is based on such an old recipe, the honey cake I remember tended to be dense, dry and heavily spiced. There was always a honey cake on the table at Rosh Hashana, but only the old people ate it. Sue inspired me to see if I could make a moist, light and flavorful honey cake that didn't taste like it was made in the 1300's.

HONEY CAKE

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup vegetable oil 

1 cup good quality honey

1 cup strong coffee or tea

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

zest from one orange and one lemon

1/2 cup sliced almonds

As these projects go, I started by doing a bunch of research and quickly found Two Lazy Gourmets. When I read Juliana's honey cake recipe with its crunchy exterior and moist crumb, I understood what good honey cake was supposed to be. The same proportions and ingredients turned up in just about every other recipe I found with the exception of the spices. Most recipes call for clove and allspice, which just has too much of a pumpkin pie flavor, and Two Lazy Gourmets omitted the spices all together. My variation features the flavors I like most with honey - cinnamon, ginger and citrus zest.  

I have an unusually large collection of jars of honey in my pantry right now. For Christmas, I received a generous basket of local goodies including a big jar of honey from Aunt Sandy who lives just outside of Philadelphia. I also had a jar of rosemary infused artisanal honey from a local producer called Apoidea Apiary right here in Pittsburgh. It turned out both of them were made from knotweed also called Japanese red bamboo, which produces a dark honey with a mild taste. This recipe allowed me to showcase these beautiful local honeys and make them the star of the show. 

This may be the easiest cake I've ever made. This recipe makes 3 loaves or one large round cake. I opted for loaves and sprayed my loaf pans with cooking spray, then set my oven to 350 degrees. I measured out my dry ingredients into the bowl of the stand mixer. Then I basically just dumped the rest of the ingredients into bowl and using the paddle attachment, I mixed it all on low speed until it was smooth and all the lumps were gone, which only took a couple of minutes. I divided the loose batter between the three pans, sprinkled the top of each one with a generous handful of sliced almonds and popped them into the oven.

Forty five minutes later, I removed three deeply browned, shiny honey cakes from the oven and set them aside to cool for at least fifteen minutes before removing them from the pans. They took a little loosening with an offset spatula to get them to release from the pan. I let them cool on a rack for about 2 hours before I tried a slice. Sure enough, the cake was very moist and the crumb was tight but fluffy, almost bread-like in texture. The honey was the predominant flavor with hints of lemon and orange in the background. The exterior had a pleasant chewiness and the almonds brought delightful crunch to the party. Because it is full of honey which is a natural preservative, this cake can last for weeks and the final slice will taste just as good as the first. Serve it with a little whipped cream, marinated fruit or even vanilla ice cream if you want to gild the lily. Or you can just enjoy a slice with a cup of coffee or tea. If you think honey cake is the Jewish version of fruitcake, more appreciated for its cultural connection than its flavor, this recipe will change your mind.