Next week I have to figure out what to do with leftover Honey Cake crumbs. I baked my usual recipe for Rosh Hashanah and overcooked it, so it came out dry and crumbly.
But I love Honey Cake and always look forward to this time of year to have some, so I baked another using my Aunt Belle’s famous (in our family) recipe. This cake is rich, dense and moist (unless you over cook it), and a little on the spicy side. Flavor varies depending on the kind of honey you use of course. Much darker and heartier with buckwheat honey, lighter and milder with clover, alfalfa or orange blossom honey.
As for those crumbs, maybe as a topping for apple crisp? Streusel for pie? Pudding? Ice cream mix-in?
I’ll keep you posted.
Aunt Belle’s Spicy Honey Cake
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1-1/2 tablespoons grated fresh orange peel
2 teaspoons grated fresh lemon peel
2 cups honey
1 cup strong coffee
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
sliced almonds, optional
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease two 9” x 5” loaf pans. Line the pans with parchment paper, then lightly grease the paper. Set the pans aside. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg together into a bowl. Stir in the orange peel and lemon peel and set aside. Heat the honey, coffee and vegetable oil together over low-medium heat for a minute or two, just enough to blend them together easily. Set aside to cool. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar for 2-3 minutes or until well blended. Stir in the honey mixture and blend it in thoroughly. Add the flour mixture and blend it in thoroughly. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans. Scatter some sliced almonds on top. Bake for about 1-1/4 hours or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes then invert onto a cake rack to cool completely.
Makes 2 cakes