Spiced-up Honey Cake
I’m a big fan of epicurious.com. It seems more times than not, I’m searching their website looking for some interesting new recipe. I wanna make an apple pie that’s a little different? Epicurious.com. An interesting salmon? Epicruious.com. Some cool way to cook couscous, I hadn’t thought of? Epicurious.com. Now that’s not to say I don’t come up with plenty of my own ideas as well or better yet, put a spin on a recipe I found over at Epicurious, it’s just sometimes, if I’m in a pinch and my mind’s drawing a blank or more often than not I really don’t want to make the same old chocolate chip cookies, I’ll head over to this wonderful food site.
Well, last week for Rosh Hashana, I was trying to figure out what to make for dessert. I wasn’t in the mood to make another fruit tart and I had absolutely no interest in anything apple related. (Apples and honey being the theme of Rosh Hashana to symbolize a sweet new year.) So I checked out one of my favorite food sites and discovered this wonderful honey cake which evidently is a pretty popular dessert choice for the new year celebration. I couldn’t believe I’d never heard of it, let alone had one. So since I already had everything I needed, I decided to try out the recipe. The result – YUM!
There’s only one thing I wish I had discovered before I served this delectable dessert: the blog, In Jennie’s Kitchen. She described a zucchini apple whoopie pie that sounded out of this world. But more than the whoopie pies, I was interested in the frosting she made. That was the one thing missing from my cake – something to cut the sweetness. I know frosting doesn’t sound like something you’d use to cut the sweetness, but trust me, it works. I used vanilla ice cream, which was great. But I’m sure her frosting would’ve been better. And the next time I make this cake, I’ll find out.
So while Rosh Hashana has come and gone, this cake would be great for Yom Kippur as well. After all, just as on Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur hears the shofar sound as a way to let people know the new year has officially started and the day of fasting has come to an end. So, happy new year everyone. May it be sweet and hopefully, a little spicy too.
Spiced-up Honey Cake
- 1 1/2 cups of honey
- 3/4 cup of vegetable oil
- 1 cup of strong brewed coffee
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9x 13 cake pan.
Combine the honey, oil, coffee and vanilla in a small sauce pan over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and let cool.
Place the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, coriander, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and stir to blend.
Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl and beat with a mixer on medium speed until the mixture is pale yellow and very thick, about 5 minutes.
Pour the honey mixture into the egg mixture and beat for another 2 minutes. Gradually add the dry ingredients until combined, another 2 minutes.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake until the cake springs back when lightly touched with your finger and a toothpick instered into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes. Run a long sharp knife around the edges and invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool for another 10 minutes while you prepare the frosting.
Frosting
- 1 stick of butter, softened
- 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup of ricotta cheese
- 1 tsp of honey
In a stand mixer, beat the butter until light and airy. Add the powdered sugar and beat until creamy. Add the ricotta cheese and the honey and beat for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for another 2-3 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Spread the frosting evenly over the cake. Cut and serve with tea or coffee.
