Make Ahead
Caramelized honey cake (Rosh Hashanah)
- Serves 8-10
Author Notes
I developed this cake to celebrate honey for a sweet Rosh Hashanah. I've never liked the traditional honey cake (often similar to fruit cake) until I came up with this one. It’s based on a Martha Stewart recipe that I made parve (non-dairy) and adapted to better showcase the honey. I used soy milk, but almond milk should work well. Use plain (not vanilla-flavored) milk and don’t go for the non-fat versions. Before you bake the cake, drizzle the batter with extra honey which caramelizes in the oven, helping the cake develop a crispy edge. I’ve tested the recipe with and without a stand mixer and both work well – so go ahead and make this one by hand if you’d like.
I use a 10-inch springform pan, but have also had good luck with two 8X4-inch loaf pans. Be careful not to jar the cakes (especially when making loaf pans) because the cake might fall. —zahavah
Ingredients
-
2
eggs
-
1/4 cup
granulated sugar
-
1/2 cup
packed dark brown sugar
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1/2 cup
plain unsweetened soy milk (don’t use vanilla flavor or non-fat; plain almond milk should work well too); or just use regular milk if you don't need the cake to be non-dairy
-
1/2 cup
vegetable oil, plus more for greasing the pan
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1 cup
honey, divided
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1
lemon, for zest and juice
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2 cups
flour, plus more for dusting the pan
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3/4 teaspoon
baking powder
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1/2 teaspoon
baking soda
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1 teaspoon
kosher salt
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1 teaspoon
cinnamon
Directions
- Prep. Preheat oven to 350?F. Grease and flour a 10-inch springform pan.
- Mix. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix eggs and sugars on high-speed with the paddle attachment until pale and thick, about 3 minutes. No mixer? Use a whisk and a little muscle – this will probably take 3-5 minutes depending on how strong you are! Add the soy milk, oil, 3/4 cup honey (reserve the remaining 1/4 cup for later), lemon zest, and lemon juice and keep mixing until everything is combined.
- Fold. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a separate bowl (I use a fine mesh strainer to get out any lumps), and whisk together to mix. With a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet in two batches until well mixed. Try not to overwork the batter.
- Fill. Fill the greased and floured pan(s) with the batter. Drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) of honey over the batter, getting most of it around the edges.
- Bake. Bake the cake – about 50 minutes for a round cake, 40 for two loaf pan until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Try not to open the oven until almost the end of baking because this cake does have a tendency to fall a bit in the middle if you move it too much. You should be able to see through the door when the center is no longer jiggly – give it another few minutes and poke it with a toothpick. I tend to start looking (through the door!) about 10 minutes before time is up. When it comes out, the top should be slightly sticky because of the honey.
- Cool. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and carefully remove it from the pan. The cake freezes well.
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