Honey Cake

Full disclosure: I don't like honey.  Or honey cake.

But, it's such a traditional Rosh Hashanah dessert.  So this year, after attending a Challah Bake hosted by our local Chabad and featuring Sivan (of Sivan's Kitchen), I did a deep dive into all her recipes.  I already knew I was making her sheetpan cheese burekas for break fast, but then I stumbled on her honey cake recipe.  Since everything Sivan makes looks beyond amazing, I decided to try her recipe.  And I have to amend my previous statement, since I really enjoyed her honey cake.

Not to mention my nearly-99 year old grandfather called my mom after the meal and raved about both cakes I baked (more on the other one later), and asked her to make sure she saved some for him the following day.  Even my boys loved it - especially my pickier one, who had a second serving!

Because this cake is pareve (read: no dairy), it was a dream to whip up, since there was no waiting for butter to come to room temperature (the bottle neck to all my baking).  It's actually so easy to make that I whipped this up after I put my kids to bed.

Traditionally, I've seen honey cakes baked in loaf pans.  I wanted mine to be a bundt cake, so I found some brown and gold paper bundt pans to bake them in.  I divided the recipe in half and baked it in two pans.  They came out perfect!

Of note, I did not drizzle/brush the cake with honey.  I simply forgot, and only realized after I had already served it.

Regardless, this cake is a keeper!

Sivan's Honey Cake
From Sivan's Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar

3 large eggs, room temp

3/4 cup neutral oil - avocado, grapeseed, or canola (I used vegetable oil, since that's what I had)

1 cup honey

2.5 cups flour

2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 Tbsp baking powder (now that I'm typing this up, I'm fairly certain I used 3/4 TEASPOON...)

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup strong black tea (Early Grey or English Breakfast, regular or decaf)

1/2 cup sliced raw almonds

For the drizzle: honey

Directions:

Make your tea: brew 1 cup of tea using 2 tea bags.  
Let steep until dark in color, then set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl until frothy. 
Gradually add the sugar, whisking continuously until well combined.

Pro tip: Measure the oil first, then the honey.  This helps the honey slide out easily.

Gradually whisk the oil into the egg mixture.
Then add the honey.

Sift the flour directly into the wet ingredients.
Mix until just combined.
Sift in the baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
Mix thoroughly to ensure everything is well incorporated.
(I was lazy and sifted all the dry ingredients in at once...)

Slowly pour the cooled tea into the batter, mixing gently until the batter is smooth.

Grease your chosen pan with nonstick spray.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
Tap the pan on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.

Evenly sprinkle the sliced almonds on top of the batter.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cake cool completely.
Drizzle with honey or brush with melted honey before serving.

Optional: you can add chopped nuts if you'd like.  Fold 1/2 cup chopped nuts into batter before baking.

Almond, tahini, and honey cookies

The fall is upon us, and while the fall may be synonymous with everything pumpkin spice for most, to me it means that the Jewish holidays are coming.  Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year) starts on Wednesday, September 20th this year, and so I've started in on my holiday baking today.

First up were these almond, tehini, and honey cookies.  Honey is used in a lot of Rosh Hasahanah treats since it symbolizes a sweet new year.  Apples and honey, to be exact.  And while these cookies lack apples, they're full of sweet honey.  Another thing they're missing?  Gluten (so if you're looking for a gluten-free recipe on this blog, this may just be the first one -- or at least the first one labeled gluten-free). 

This dough comes together in literally a manner of seconds.  Whisk together the dry ingredients in own bowl, the wet in another.  Then, add the dry to the wet and mix together -- I did this with a whisk and some upper arm strength (thanks to my barre workout this morning).  Seriously, it took seconds!  They also bake up in no time!

Honey Almond Tahini Cookies
By The Gush Gourmet
Makes about 28 cookies

1.5 cups almond flour (finely ground almonds)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp tapioca starch OR 1 Tbsp corn starch (I used corn starch)
1/2 cup well-mixed tahini
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/3 cup sliced almonds (The recipe called for slivered almonds but I think she actually meant sliced almonds, but I bought slivered.  I actually went out and bought sliced almonds since I thought they looked pretty on her cookies.  Go with sliced almonds.)

Directions:

Whisk together the almond flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and starch in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients: tahini, honey, egg, and vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.  I added mine in 3 additions.

Place in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Place small scoops of the cookie dough on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Make sure there is plenty of space between each one (they spread a lot!).
Sprinkle a little bit of sliced almonds over each cookie, pressing down slightly so they adhere.  Don't be shy with the sliced almonds -- since the cookies spread, they too will spread out as the cookies bake.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden brown.
Remove from the oven.
Cool completely before removing from the baking sheet.

Fresh apple cake with honey glaze

Every Rosh Hashana, I debate for a second or two about making a non-apple dessert.  But, alas, I always end up with an apple centered dessert.  Four years ago I made an apple pizza, something I remember distinctly, since it was right after B and I met. But I digress...

This apple cake appealed to me for two reasons.  First off, it has a honey glaze.  Honey.  The other big sweet food for Rosh Hashana.  Apples and honey are used to symbolize the beginning of a sweet new year (choruses of the kids Rosh Hashana song are ringing in my head now...."dip the apples in the honey...have a happy sweet new year"). Secondly, it's a bundt cake.  Bundt cakes are, in my opinion, way easier to transport than a beautiful layer cake. And considering that my apple cake is going from downtown Manhattan to Brooklyn (via a 2.5 mile walk) and then back up to midtown Manhattan, before a train ride to Westchester, I figured a dessert that was less likely to be demolished en route was a nice option. 

The one change I made to the cake was that I cut the oil down and replaced it with some apple sauce.  Given the fact that we'll be eating a super huge meal (my mom's brisket....OMG I'm drooling just thinking about it!), plus the added apple flavor from the apple sauce, I thought that it would be a nice addition!

Paula Deen's Uncle Bob's Fresh Apple Cake
From Food Newtork

Ingredients:

For the Honey Glaze:

1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp milk

For the Apple Cake:

3 cups diced peeled Granny Smith apples, about 2 apples (I needed 2.5 apples)
1 cup lightly toasted chopped walnuts
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil (I used 3/4 cups apple sauce and 1/2 cup canola oil)
3 eggs

Directions:

Make the glaze:

Add all the glaze ingredients to a small bowl and stir until smooth.
Set the bowl aside.

Make the cake:

Preheat the oven to 325F.
Lightly grease a bundt or tube pan.  I debated flouring it afterwards but decided against it since the recipe didn't say.  My cake got stuck when I tried taking it out and actually broke.  So I instantly regretted not flouring the pan.  I recommend you do so.

Toast the walnuts.
Let cool.

In a bowl, mix together the apples, walnuts, vanilla, and cinnamon.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Using an electric mixer, beat together the sugar, oil, apple sauce, and eggs in a large bowl.
Add in the dry ingredients.
Beat until completely combined.
Fold in the apple mixture.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.  Mine was done after about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  I'd say start watching after an hour.

Allow the cake to fully cool in the pan, about 1 hour.
Turn the cake out onto a plate.

Drizzle the cake with some honey glaze before serving.

The cake can be wrapped tightly and stored in the fridge for 3-5 days.