Our Rosh Hashanah honey cake is sweet and moist with a touch of whiskey for incredible depth of flavor. This is the perfect ending to your holiday meal.

The Backstory: Sponge cake usually surpasses honey cake in popularity as though honey cake was a second-rate cake. Wrong! When this sweet cake is prepared with a mixture of different seasonings it can surpass its rival, sponge cake.  Don’t get me wrong, I like sponge cake, but I have also started to rethink why I may have placed honey cake in second place. Perhaps the cakes I tasted were too dry, or there wasn’t the right blend of spices.   More of the Backstory after the recipe…

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Rosh Hashanah Honey Cake

Dark and rich in color, this cake is a tasty blend of delicious seasonings and flavors. The sweetness of the honey combines beautifully with the whiskey, coffee and the tartness of the orange juice.

Course Desserts

Cuisine Jewish

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
• 4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 cup honey
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee regular or decaf
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup whiskey
• cooking spray

Instructions

1. Place an oven shelf in an upper position in oven. Preheat oven to 350 degree. Spray a 10 inch fluted tube pan or Bundt pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the canola oil, honey, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, coffee, orange juice, and whiskey. With and electric mixer, beat the flour into the honey mixture just until the batter is thoroughly incorporated.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with moist crumbs. About 1 hour. Cool for 20 minutes in the pan before turning the cake out onto a serving platter.

…The Backstory continues: Today’s bakers seem to have more flavor combinations to choose from and honey cake is always a must have for Rosh Hashanah as it represents the promise of a sweet year. But once you taste this recipe, you’ll agree that there shouldn’t be a designated time to serve this cake. It should be enjoyed all year.  Serve with berries, fresh whipped cream or any topping of your choice, and you’ll see why this can be a go-to cake for any occasion.

Credit must be given (once again) to my cousin, Rhonda, for this delicious recipe.  Thank you!

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Myrna Turek

I'm a domestic goddess who got my 'PhD' in Home Ec in the early 1960s. I was married for 52 years and have six grandchildren. If it were up to me, everything would be fried. Including chocolate.

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