Majestic & Moist Honey Cake

The Jewish tradition teaches us that the food served in Rosh Hashanah should symbolize a sweet new beginning. In that spirit, we’ve given our favorite honey cake recipe a New York Shuk inspired update we thought you’d enjoy.

Marcy Goldman’s legendary recipe from A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking is the best honey cake recipe out there. And we agree. This cake has become a staple at our family table for Rosh Hashanah.

 

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon kafe hawaij

2 teaspoon ras el hanout

1 cup canola oil

1 cup honey

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup warm coffee or strong tea

3/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup whisky

 

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line the bottom and sides of a 10 inch angel food cake pan with lightly greased parchment paper, cut to fit. Stack two baking sheets together and line the top one with parchment paper. Place the cake pan on that (this prevents the bottom from browning too quickly)

  2. In a large bowl or large food processor, blend together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, kafe hawaij and ras el hanout.

  3. Make a well in the center, and add oil, honey, white sugar, brown sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee, orange juice and rye or whisky.

  4. Blend well, making sure that no ingredients are stuck to the bottom. This is a thin batter.

  5. Spoon batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle top of cake(s) evenly with almonds. Place the cake pan on a baking sheet.

  6. Bake until the cake tests as done, that is, it springs back when you gently touch the cake centre, 55–65 minutes. If the cake seems done but still seems a bit wobbly in the center, lower the oven temperature and give it 10–20 more minutes. This is very important — give the cake the amount of baking it needs.