Celebrating Modern Jewish Living Through Food, Tradition, and Family
Chocolate Honey Cake
Honey cake gets a decadent chocolate makeover in this delicious dessert that’s just perfect for Rosh Hashanah.
The Backstory: There’s honey cake and then there’s chocolate honey cake. Who knew such a thing ever existed? Well, let me tell you this: this cake is not a Passover cake, my friends (as you will see from the inclusion of flour). This is a cake for chocolate lovers who like their cakes with serious depth of flavor (there’s coffee in here to really bring out the chocolate without adding any trace of coffee flavor), there’s honey in here, well, because it is a honey cake after all, and there is a deliciously light glaze that gives the cake a very light splash of sweet chocolate, juice (for lack of a better word), while it’s still warm and adds another layer of moisture. More of the Backstory after the recipe…
Chocolate Honey Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup butter or margarine, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
- pinch Kosher salt
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup hot coffee
For the Glaze
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetned cocoa powder
- 3 tbsp. water
- 1 tsp. all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup margarine
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch springform pan or (or use a non-stick tube pan). Line pan bottom with parchment paper and butter the parchment. Set aside.
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In a food processor, pulse the sugar, butter, honey, eggs, vanilla, flour, salt baking soda, cocoa and pinch of salt until just combined. Melt the chocolate chips (in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave) and add to the mixture slowly, pulsing to just combine. Do not over-mix.
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Slowly add in the coffee while the processor is running to make batter. Pour batter into prepared pan.
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Bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. While cake is baking, make the glaze:
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Mix sugar, cocoa powder, water and 1 teaspoon flour together in a small saucepan over low heat until thick, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and add margarine. Refrigerate until cooled--about 15-20 minutes. Brush over cake and serve.
…The Backstory continues: This is something like a lighter version of chocolate pound cake but with something deeper, and moister to it. Something more. The richness of the honey really sets it apart from pound cake and makes it linger on your tongue, just like a spoonful of honey.
Okay, I’ll stop now. There are times when even I have to wonder if I’m still talking about baked goods 🙂