majestic and moist honey cake
A few days ago, someone emailed me asking me if I had a recipe for honey cake. You see, honey cake is something traditionally eaten on the Jewish New Year, which falls next week as eating honey is supposed to encourage a sweet New Year, doubly so if paired with apples.
But every honey cake I have been forced to try has been wretched (apologies if it was yours). They were dry and never sweet enough. They were coarse and totally unloved. And if I find myself at an occasion where I see a honey cake, well, I wonder why they didn’t ask me to make dessert instead, but then I steer clear of it just the same. This life is too short to eat terrible cake.
I said as much to this reader, and that’s when it hit me: Right, this is my job! This is what I do! I take things that I think are terrible and I try to find a better way to go about them. That’s why this person emailed me, right? (Sometimes I forget.) And seeing as I don’t dislike honey, and I don’t hate spices and I don’t hate tradition or the Jewish New Year, well, it was time.
I did a bit of research and learned that there was a recipe out there by one Marcy Goldman that people are quite mad for–in a good way. And I was feeling pretty good about the copious tastes I’d had of the batter (um, before remembering how much booze was in there and look at that! It’s party time in here!) when it went in the oven but then.
Well then something terrible skitted across the floor and I just don’t want to talk about it. I screamed–like movie starlet screamed, ungh–and dropped the spatula. And by the time I got off the phone with Alex ["Come home NOW. Come home NOW. Come home NOW."] and somewhat talked myself off my I’m-leaving-NYC-and-never-coming-back ledge, I realized that the cakes had fallen in the oven.
And now, dear reader, I am torn as to whether this recipe needs to come with a warning. Was it my scream and the ensuing trauma that made the cakes fall? Are there issues with my baking soda (quite likely, it’s old as dirt)? Is there something wrong with this cake recipe? (I doubt this, nobody else who has mentioned it made reference to a sunken midsection.) Are you completely horrified that I shared this story (despite my mother asking me nicely to spare you our shameless details)?
I’ll tell you what I do know, though: This honey cake is perfect. It’s warmly spiced and crazy moist and soft and plush with a little crisp edge about the corners and if you know someone with a thing for honey cake, be they bringing in the year 5769 with revelry or not, you’ve got to wow them with this one. Concave or not, it is everything honey cake was once supposed to be, and with this recipe, might be again.
Majestic and Moist Honey Cake
Adapated from Marcy Goldman’s Treasure of Jewish Holiday Baking
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup honey
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup warm coffee or strong tea
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup rye or whiskey
1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds (optional)
Fits in three loaf pans, two 9-inch square or round cake pans, one 9 or 10 inch tube or bundt cake pan, or one 9 by 13 inch sheet cake. I made mine in two full-size loaf pans plus two miniature ones.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously grease pan(s) with non-stick cooking spray. For tube or angel food pans, line the bottom with lightly greased parchment paper, cut to fit.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Make a well in the center, and add oil, honey, white sugar, brown sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee or tea, orange juice and rye or whiskey, if using. (If you measure your oil before the honey, it will be easier to get all of the honey out.)
Using a strong wire whisk or in an electric mixer on slow speed, stir together well to make a thick, well-blended batter, making sure that no ingredients are stuck to the bottom.
Spoon batter into prepared pan(s). Sprinkle top of cake(s) evenly with almonds, if using. Place cake pan(s) on two baking sheets, stacked together (this will ensure the cakes bake properly with the bottom baking faster than the cake interior and top).
Bake until cake tests done, that is, it springs back when you gently touch the cake center. For angel and tube cake pans, this will take 60 to 75 minutes, loaf cakes, about 45 to 55 minutes. For sheet style cakes, baking time is 40 to 45 minutes.
Let cake stand fifteen minutes before removing from pan.
Oh this is great - i was actually scouring the web for honey cake recipe today! You must have read my mind. The New Year is less than a week away - how did THAT happen?
This looks fantastic! I’ll be trying it this weekend for sure. Thanks for the recipe (and sorry about the skittering).
Sunken or not, it looks absolutely delicious! Paired with a hot cup of coffee and what a perfect breakfast … snack … lunch … snack … or (and?) dinner it would make ;)
Hi - I love you.
Oh wow, yum. Honey is my favorite cake sweetener of all time (I use it in carrot cake, it’s grand) and this looks wonderful. Also love the story of how ‘this is your job’. *sigh* Jealous.
I completely agree about all the honey cakes I’ve ever tried too, so you’ve intrigued me. I don’t like the taste of alcohol though–is there something I could substitute, or do you think I should just give up and serve some non-jewish, non-lucky dessert for Rosh Hashanah instead?
you are so funny! i actually made this cake over the weekend in a 10 inch tube pan, and it was magnificent and delish. an absolute do over for the jewish holidays.
Thanks so much - my grandma finally let go of total control over Rosh Hashana dinner and let my mom and I make dessert. I think this cake will be the perfect ending to our holiday meal!
I like the sunken look–it gives the cakes character, and I didn’t immediately judge them to be in the same category as zucchini bread or pound cake. And it’s all about taste, right?
This looks delicious! I don’t celebrate Rosh Hashana but I think this is in my future anyway.
As for your creature, we just realized we have an unwelcome houseguest as well the other day. We even have a cat too, which blows my mind (though he is pretty lazy and friendly to all creatures, so maybe they hang out during the day). But we bought some of those no touch, no see traps the other day– when the trap is shut, our visitor is gone and we don’t have to see a thing. Highly recommended.
This cake looks delish even sunken! I am sure it was a baking powder issue. I would serve it with a bit of vanilla ice cream on th side (although I am not sure it would be kosher! :-)
No matter if it is sunken or not…it looks delicious!
This sounds great! I’ll make it for our (late) New Year party. I’m wondering how this would fare in cupcake form.
Mmmm… these do look fabulous - and it’s finally cool enough so i can start baking again! Yay!
Do you think i can just leave out the rye/whiskey? Or should I substitute some other non-alcoholic flavoring instead (maybe more coffee/tea?)
Looks so good….two questions though: Would the warm coffee start scrambling the eggs? Also, what would be a good non-alcoholic substitution for the rye/whisky? Thanks deb :)
I very much love your site and think it is so delightful. I just wanted to let you know that Goldman is spelled Goldblum in the recipe section…I only noticed this because I was so excited to see Marcy Goldman’s name on your site (I have a six degrees of separation connection with her..well I suppose everyone does come to think of it!) Anyway, thanks for posting this (and many other) delicious recipes. They make my day!
to replace the whiskey/rye you can use straight orange juice or apple juice and if its not the flavor you object to, toss in a bit of the extract.
This even LOOKS moist from the pictures. YUM, I can’t wait to try it!
My sympathies about the little skittling nightmare–I just recently had my first encounter with one of this you know whats (assuming we are talking about the same thing) and all my mother could do to console me was say “Well, you ARE in New York City!” Truly terrible…but the cake looks truly delectable!
I make this cake all the time, it’s by far the best honey cake. The only change I make is that I use Grand Marnier instead of the whiskey. BTW, my cakes always sink a bit as well!
Okay, answers: You can replace the booze (btw, I used brandy because that’s what we had open) with more tea or more coffee. If you’d like to pick up the orange flavor, you might add a little of the zest of your orange, too. (I might do this next time.) The coffee should not be hot–that would scramble the eggs–warm coffee should not.
It actually tastes a bit like zucchini or banana bread, because the spices and moisture level are so similar. In my mind, this is a very good comparison.
Btw, if I had a husband who wasn’t totally raisin-phobic, I’d add them next time. Tossed in flour so they (hopefully) don’t sink.
Now I know what I’ll be eating on Rosh Hashana, after I read my torah portion. :)
Isn’t Marcy Goldman also responsible for “matzoh crack”–that addictive toffee-chocolate-matzoh treat? I’ll have to try this cake–sounds like the perfect autumn treat.
Ooh my, you’re right! That stuff is a delight. Though I had it first made with Saltines which is even better. I should refresh that before Halloween, hmm…
You mentioned pairing the cake with apples, which sounds fantastic… If you add some diced apples to the cake, would you recommend reducing some of the liquid(s)?
Any thoughts on replacing the honey w/ some maple syrup?
This looks so tasty I got to find out what booze my husband is stashing and go and grab some spices… looks yummy. Love your website I follow it daily
I don’t see why maple syrup wouldn’t work. The only thing I’d warn about is that I find it a lot harder to get the taste of maple syrup–even in that quantity–to come through, which always feels like a waste of something with such strong flavor right from the bottle. But it would still be delicious.
Oooh. Not a honey cake fan, for the reasons you spoke of - it’s sort of been the culinary equivalent of a desert. But this looks oooooooh.
Love your site!
I’d love to add apples or pears as well - any tips on amounts/method/other adjustments?
Only because it’s you, Deb, will I try this recipe. I have never had a good honey cake in my life although Molli Katzen has a recipe for one that’s saved by chocolate and not too bad. But you’ve never steered me wrong so I’ll be making this next week.
L’shanah tovah!
This looks fabulous! I look forward to your website everyday. Saw you on Martha now I am a regular. Your pictures are eye candy.
I find myself at a loss for alcohol. What would make a good substitute?
A few people have mentioned substitutes above, such as more OJ or tea or coffee. This cake is very forgiving, and I suspect it would be fine even if you skipped it.
Allie — I think you could just add them. You could cut them very small and toss the chunks with flour so that they (hopefully) don’t sink. Or, you could grate them, for added texture as well. My god, that sounds so good, actually. Will you share?
Ooh, thank you! I’ve been looking for something honey to go along with Apfelstrudel (assuming I have the energy to stretch strudel dough, ha) for Rosh Hashannah this year.
Hey, at least they didn’t explode. My mother’s first attempt at cake baking resulted in four hours of scraping chocolate box cake mix out of the inside of our non-self-cleaning oven.
We’re still not sure how she made box cake explode.
When I lived in Washington, a mouse did a similar skitter across the kitchen floor while I was putting away dishes. I screamed so loudly i gave myself an instant headache, then called my husband hysterical — he could not come how right away, so I went and hid, and I mean hid, at Starbucks for like 3 hours, then went to a yoga class, then met up with my husband and went home with him because I was too scared to go home alone.
This is perfect!! My father keeps bees as a hobby so we always have a supply of golden, local honey. He loves honey so much but I have not been able to find a recipe where the honey is the true star. With 1 cup of honey, I’m sure the mild flavor of his fresh clover honey will really shine!! Thank you.
My mom has a recipe that’s pretty similar except it doesn’t use alcohol and has grated apple in it. It’s amazing…really really flavorful and super moist. It’s even better the next day. Thankfully it’s a big recipe…otherwise it wouldn’t last. For the past two years I’ve actually asked her to make it as my birthday cake (to my credit, though, I WAS born on Rosh Hashana. :D).
Your recipe looks amazing though. I might make both (yours and my mom’s)…after all, here in college, there are hungry students abound. :)
Shana tova!
I have added grated apple and pear to many a tea bread without hardly any blip in the finished product other than an amped up ‘OMG!!!’ factor. I just recently made zucchini bread with grated Honeycrisp apple in it. FAB!
I need a dessert recipe for this week and am seriously thinking about this cake. Seriously, but….a cup of oil??? My arteries!!
What about subbing applesauce for some of the oil?
it has come to my attention that the addition of honey makes pretty much anything 10x better :)
this is so funny! I just saw your cake’s picture on Flickr and I said to myself: okay, so another honey cake recipe to try before Roch hashana and just to compare with the wonderful honey cake I baked yesterday.. Guess what? it’s the exact same recipe, I just had to read the title of your post!!
This cake is incredibly moist, full of flavor (i used more coffee instead of whisky not because I don’t like alcohol in my cakes.. I DO love alcohol in my cakes lol, I used a flavorful spanish honey), I used only 1 tsp of cinnamon and substituted the other spices by 1/2 tsp of Piment de Jamaique. This cake is soo good, but let’s face it, it doesn’t look good. I bake mine in a Kaiser springform pan (what was I thinking..??) and although well greased, I had a hard time unmolding it.. yours look much much more better!!
I don’t think I should be allowed around honey. I buy it in the huge 1/2 gallon size at Sam’s Club. There is no savoring honey in my house, it’s on everything. I love it and adore it, and now I have to make this cake.
Your cakes have belly buttons.
Swapping some oil for applesauce–though I haven’t tried it in this recipe–tends to work very well in cakes like this. Go for it!
Thank you for this gorgeous recipe. I absolutely hate the taste of tea/coffee (sorry!) - do you have a suggestion for a substitution?
Purnima - How about apple juice or apple cider? This sounds really good, deb!
Wow, there sure is a lot of moisture in this cake! There’s 3 3/4 cups of liquid not including the eggs and the moisture in the sugars! It sure looks mighty good! I’ve never had honey cake before.
Any suggestions on using whole wheat flour instead of white? Pretty please.
Your timing could not be more perfect! (No, I am not referring to the Jewish New Year.) I just started field-testing honey cake recipes for a baby shower-themed tea I’ll be hosting on November 1st.
My testing phase may well now be over! Would this cake adapt well to double layer “sponge-type” cake construction or is it best left as a loaf cake?
If two slim, round, stacked layers are achievable, what would you use for the filling?
I will be making this honey cake tomorrow, pronto! Can’t wait to try it! Here’s hoping that you will offer up a few suggestions…THANKS for all the great recipes, and especially for this latest one.
This looks delicious. It reminds me of a “honey cake” recipe I saw on a website two years ago when I was researching WWII-era recipes. That honey cake was based on ingredients you could use limited rations on and was probably really different. I love honey though–sometimes I just eat a spoonful at a time, and I drizzle it over cereal–so both of the recipes sound good. Truth be told though I’m addicted to cloves, so I’d probably just pile so much cloves in this recipe it’d come out tasting like gingerbread.
thank you, thank you, thank you. I was just starting to make a mental list of the baking I need to do this weekend (challah, honey cake) and thought to myself, “I hate my honey cake recipe. I must try to find a new one” and here you are, with a new one just for me!
Shana Tova U-Metukah!
oh, my sympathy for your kitchen trauma. I am terribly, terribly disturbed by such things, and unfortunately, there’s no getting away from it (especially in New York apartments…)
I’ve never had honey cake (these holidays were always just apples and honey in our house) but I do love that honey-seller in Union Square…
I am so happy you did this post. I can’t wait to make it for the new year!!! And I have the same feelings when those little fury creatures trespass (or are we). Don’t worry, I refused to sleep one night when I saw one.
If requests are allowed, I’d love to see a challah recipe, as well as a great roast chicken. Just my 2 cents.
I have not made this cake with whole wheat flour but I generally recommend starting with a half-swap of whole wheat before going 100 percent. I am sure it won’t be terrible.
IsDahara — The first line of the recipe tells you all of the different sizes and shapes you can make the cake in. It can definitely be made thinner.
Maybe it’s the Montana girl in me coming out, but when I was in high school and would be laying on the couch late at night, I’d see an occasional furry thing run across the floor and it never really bothered me. Now, if it’s a spider or a roach, I’ll be on the counter shrieking. :-)
I hate that my first comment is a meanie -this year will be 5769, not 5770. more importantly - the cake looks yummy and I’ll totally try it this year! thanks!
Don’t panic about it falling, and don’t assume it was the scream or “old” baking soda/powder. You may be right, but there’s another possibility that’s familiar to those of us who live at high altitude. (Colorado Springs is at 6,000 ft, and the northern half of the city is higher.)
You may have had too MUCH leavening, especially with the sugar, honey and alcohol which feed the leaven. In Colorado, we have to reduce sugar and fat somewhat, add more flour & water, and drop leavening in HALF, or our cakes look like a truck ran over them.
Why is a flat/fallen cake fixed with LESS leavening? When there’s more leavening and “rising food (sugar),” the cake rises a little too fast, and the cells of air try to keep expanding. The cell walls (that’s the flour/eggs/etc) are fragile, and end up bursting, and the cake collapses. Since it rises the highest in the center, the center is most at risk. Despite being totally counter-intuitive, it may take less sugar, less leavening, and a little more flour/liquid to solve the problem.
Since you live at sea level, I wouldn’t go so far as we do to adjust recipes. Since you like the flavor, add maybe a tablespoon or so of flour per cup of flour, maybe a tablespoon or two more coffee or tea, and drop the leavening by 1/8 or 1/4. It might surprise you.
oh yum. and uh that happened to me too…the something terrible skitting, i was baking cupcakes. though i don’t know if it was the same something terrible. still, terrible. cakes looks sooo gooood though, even if its a bit sunken.
I’m so glad you posted this….I was just about to begin my quest for the perfect honey cake recipe and now I don’t have to look anymore! I can’t wait to try it out. L’Shana Tova!
Looks delicious. Your pictures are always fantastic.
A fabulous cake! All that ooey gooey honey makes me drool!
Cheers,
Rosa
The cake looks lovely! About the falling in the middle — I had the same problem when I was developing some citrus tea cakes a few months ago. I looked in the Cake Bible — and according to the amazing Rose Levy Beranbaum, that can be caused by too much baking powder. (I thought leaveners made things rise, who knew??) I cut back on the bp, and poof! The cakes rose just perfectly. So if you’re inclined to try this again, I’d cut the bp and see what happens. Hope that helps!
mmmm. this looks incredible, and I’m going to make it with raisins this weekend, plus I’m gonna see what happens when I sub canned, pure pumpkin for the oil (usually works out gorgeously in my experience, plus ups the fiber content). Thanks for persevering through a terrible fright–I once opened a drawer and discovered evidence of a visitor much like yours. I also screamed. You have my sympathy (btw, my entire pantry–other than canned food– is now completely in tupperware boxes b/c of this experience. ugh).
Thanks for this wonderful post. Could you tell me how long this cake will keep? I am baking things to send to my boyfriend who is currently in the Middle East with the army and knowing his love of honey this would go down a treat, but don’t want to send something that will arrive a mouldy mess - lol.
hi, its look good and tasty!your pictures are so fantastic!
Your cake looks great! I just tried a fabulous apple honey cake (all traditions in one dish) from allrecipes.com that used 3/4 cup honey and three apples (called Apple Honey Bundt cake on the site). Easy, delicious, moist and surprisingly light and — unusual for me — not sunken. As others suggested, I substituted some of the oil with applesauce and chopped the peeled apples. It made two pretty tube cakes, one of which will go to my daughter in college (I think it will travel well) and one of which is half gone already.
Your recipe will be in my oven this weekend — love a bakeoff!
Did you and Dave Lebovitz (http://www.davidlebovitz.com/) plan your posts today? Too yummy!
When I was a child, the synagogue across the street used to have a “kiddush” after morning services on Shabbat (Saturday). Three staples were always there: Sweet kosher wine, honey cake and sponge cake. I always ate the sponge cake because the honey cake had nuts in it, and I still feel to this day, that nuts spoil the consistency of both cake and ice cream. I’m probably in a minority on this, but so be it. Having said that, sans nuts, I would have loved the honey cake.
So … not just for Rosh Hashonah. :-)
I can’t wait to try this - looks wonderful! Will probably substitute about 1/2 cup wheat flour (can’t ever bring myself to do a complete swap of 1/2 the flour, total; usually just a little wheat, some wheat germ and maybe, hmn, some oatmeal … and diced apples?). Anyway, thanks so much.
You don’t mention the whiskey in the body of the recipe, only in the list of ingredients. I assume it gets added at the end with the rest of the liquids?
I made this cake last night, and just had my first piece for breakfast. It was very, very good. I left out the alcohol and just added more coffee. It is very moist, and baked beautifully in a bundt pan.
Ooh I have to try this! My husband and I LOVE honey and always keep a stash of this amazing Colorado honey called Western Slope Ambrosia. Looks like another baking weekend for me.
Barbara,
I’m in Denver and I’ve found that lowering the baking temperature helps prevent the dip in the middle of my cakes. I might have found that idea on this site!
I’d like to bring this to a Rosh Hashanah dinner I’ve been invited to next week. Making it in 9-inch layers would be more impressive…any ideas on what to use for frosting? It sounds like the cake is already sweet.
Natalie — You’re right. I did Google it, but the site was either wrong or I read it wrong. Fixed now.
Deliceux — Goldman says this cake actually gets better with age. I think you could have it at room temperature for at least a few days, if your place wasn’t too warm. However, longer than that, I like to store mine in the freezer. I wrap it in either waxed or parchment paper and then in plastic wrap. I’ll sometimes slide that package into a freezer bag, too. I’m terrified of freezer smells affecting my precious cake.
Dad — You’ll get to try some in a few days. You can tell me how it compares.
Kathy — Yes, add it with the other liquids. I’ve fixed the recipe now.
Lisa — I think that cream cheese frosting could be a natural flavor pairing, but it might be quite intense/sweet. However, you could dial down the frosting sweetness a lot, and it would be a nice balance.
meh — My sister pointed out to me that I didn’t respond to your comment! Thanks for noticing and I fixed the error right away. It is Goldman, not Goldblum. I think Goldblum is someone I went to summer camp with!
yay! new recipe to try! thanks! luv luv the cookies — any halloween cookie recipes you can share?
OOOOh–fallen or not that cake looks delicious! I already had your famous Kugel on my list for Jewish Holiday season and now I think I have to add this too!
I have a great recipe for Honeycake - made with strong coffee and grated apples. Lots of spices too.
Yum!
So, to this Gentile,it sounds like honey cake is the Jewish version of fruit cake!Or should I say fruit cake is the pagan version of honey cake? (har har)
I once woke up and went to step in the shower only to find a tiny mouse jumping in the tub trying to get out!!! I took a digital photo in order to explain my tardiness at work! Uh, photo of the mouse, not me- although I bet that would have been a funny picture!
Seems like we’re both thinking on the same wave length… one thing crossed off the list for Monday.
There’s an award on our blog for you.
I’m so excited about this recipe! This semester’s been so busy that I haven’t baked in WEEKS. Now that the high holy days are coming up, I’ve got en excuse to procrastinate for a bit and enjoy the new year.
The LA Times just posted a honey cake recipe in the food section yesterday too. Now I want to bake both and have a honey cake party this weekend.
I love LOVE your site and have even gotten my computer-illiterate mom into it! (She loves your barley, haricot vert, arugula and corn salad.) Re: the honey cake, I’m thinking of making it for the holiday but am wondering what kind of honey I can use - just plain old honey, or would you experiment with other varieties, i.e. buckwheat?
Thanks, and Shana Tova!
Honey is definitely amazing in the right baked goods! I made honey cookies one time that baked up very strangely, but were absolutely loved by everyone that wrapped their lips around them! I will have to give this recipe a try! Thanks for the recipe and the story!
Omitted the whiskey, added more coffee, added zest from 1 orange…and couldn’t be happier. The cake is tender and not too sweet (suprisingly). I want to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I baked mine in a 9X13 pan and still had major sinkage in the center after 70 minutes of baking. This recipe is a keeper!
This looks wonderful! I don’t celebrate Jewish New Year, but I think I might have to make this in time for it anyway…with some kind of substitution for the eggs.
I hope that situation you don’t want to talk about gets sorted tout de suite! :-)
You echo all my feelings about honey cake — always dry, dry, dry! And tasteless! Then I came across this recipe — and I’ve been making it every year for the past four years or so. It is a seriously good cake. One suggestion: if possible, use buckwheat honey. It makes a tremendous difference.
I just made this cake and yes, it fell, but it was in a bundt pan so no worries! I also substituted the whisky for a tiny bit more OJ, a bit more coffee, and added floured raisins and a brushing of an OJ glaze. SO. VERY. GOOD. I’m not Jewish, but I may have to be after this.
O.k., I just went out to Lyman’s Orchard and bought 40 pounds of apples, with intent to make a pie this weekend. Now that I see this, I want to make this cake! I guess I will have to wait a week to try it…..but it is going to kill me!
Wow this looks awfully good. I’ve always avoided baking honey cakes b/c they just taste so darn yucky despite good ingredients. The result never seems to equal the sum of the parts. But this version looks awesome, I can’t wait to try it for the holidays this year.
Oh Yum. You are so right–no one wants to eat dry honey cake! your version sounds great, though-can’t wait–sunken mid section and all!
I have never heard of honey cake, but this looks and sounds divine. I must try it!
Hey everyone — So, in regards to the sinking-in-the-middle issue. I at first thought it was just me, but it seems that early test/commenters (#87, #90) are having similar results, leading me to think that there might be too much baking soda and baking powder in the recipe. One tablespoon plus one teaspoon is a lot, even for three loaf pans.
If you’re feeling like taking a risk–I sadly won’t be able to test this level, or at least not before the holiday–you might consider these options instead: a) Using one tablespoon of baking soda, and no baking powder. This is the level I used for my perfectly-domed banana bread, adjusted for this volume of batter, or b) simply dialing back the baking powder to two teaspoons instead of a tablespoon, and leaving the baking soda level as is.
If you want to get even more bonus points, if you try either adjustment and want to let us know how it went for you, I am sure many others trying this cake this weekend will appreciate it. As will I. I figure it’s a near win-win, as we know that the cake in its current format is a little sinky.
Looks delicious! I’ll have to give this a shot. It amazes me how you take such lovely photos. My camera would be covered in honey, no doubt!
Amy
What a lovely blog (just found it). And your photographs are amazing. And, of course, great recipes.
I loved my grandmother’s honey cake, but it was always SO DRY! You could choke on it!
I will make this for Rosh Hashanah on Monday, thanks for the nice recipe!
Stacey Snacks
Btw, I read a lot of honey cake recipes before trying this one out, and I noticed something: the vast majority have just one to four tablespoons of oil. I am not sure the reason it would be that way, but I do know that it could definitely be one of those things that makes most traditional honey cakes so dry.
I find it comforting to know that your baking soda is old. I always assume that everyone else is positively saintly when it comes to pantry staples.
I think I’ll make this because it sounds like a fabulous way to ring in 5769.
That honey cake does INDEED look perfect - lovely!!
Jelena — Also old in my pantry: Self-rising flour I didn’t even know I had, or why I’d need it; three bottles of sesame oil chucked yesterday; lentils in three different colors; sad, dried out vanilla bean; I could go on and on.
That looks delicious.
I once found a mouse in my washer. I ended up putting towel on the bottom and a snap trap on the towel. I know the snap traps sound awful but they are very fast…I don’t think the mouse knows what’s happening.
Awesome! Love the story, and might even make my own Dutch version of honey cake when I’ve finished writing this damn essay!
A NYC apartment is not a real NYC apartment unless it has at least one uninvited guest AKA a mouse. Even my dogs were resigned to this fact when the occasional freeloader ran though the living room. This honey cake looks fabulous. I can’t wait to make it. Thanks and I love your site….from an ex-pat NYC’er in Portland, OR. Happy New Year.
Oh my god that tub of drizzling honey was pure, unadulterated food porn. Wonderful.
I can weigh in on the baking powder issue, I think–I made it this evening [the cakes are just cool enough to dig into, though I would've let them cool a little longer if my roommates hadn't been begging to be allowed to eat them]. I followed the recipe almost exactly* as is–1 tbs. baking powder plus 1 tsp baking soda, baked in 3 loaf pans–and the 3 cakes turned out beautiful, with a pretty little cake-ridge on each loaf. Also, it was freakin’ delicious. Perfectly moist, perfect flavor…I’d make this cake again in a heartbeat [though next time I might scale down the recipe, as I rarely need 3 loaf cakes all at once.]
*The only change I made was in the sugar. I was running low on white granulated, so I used only 1 cup of that and added an extra 1/2 cup of brown.
Oh. my….
You know what gets me? It’s this part
“with a little crisp edge about the corners ”
The photo of the honey in the cup is outstanding but when you add the little crisp edges… well this one’s totally getting made in our household. :-) Thanks for the gorgeous photos and recipe!
this is currently baking in my oven….
(I made it on my lunch break)
oh happy friday :O)
x
This looks like the best honey cake I’ve every seen. YUM. Also, holy crap, this is your 110th comment on this post…
I tried the recipe and it tasted wonderful. Big hit at the office. But, it came out fluffier than expected. I mean FLUFFY! Anyone have tips on how to produce a slightly denser honey cake?
Thanks for adding to my Rosh Hashanah dessert repertoire! I’m really excited to try this out.
I made it! My experience: I followed the instructions almost to the “T”. I replaced 1/2 cup of flour with wheat flour, but otherwise, everything else was as stated. I had the recipe with the bourbon omitted from the instructions, so I added it with the rest of the liquids. The batter wasn’t as thick as I was expecting; it wasn’t “spoon”able - it poured. I used a greased 13×9″ glass baking dish and sat it on two stacked jellyroll pans and baked it for 40 minutes;it was still liquid in the center. Then I baked it 10 more minutes and it was still liquid in the center. So… I added 10 more minutes and yet, 10 more … then my cake started to smell as if it was burning. I took it out after it had been in the oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes. The center was bounce-back finger tested “done”, but slightly sunken (gee…!) It didn’t have much time to cool, I didn’t remove it from the pan and we ate it warm - after baking it extra long, it was nearly 9 p.m. and the kiddies needed to go to bed. YUM. It did have sort of a crunchy shell to it, good flavor, moist. NOT burned, by the way. I whipped some heavy whipping cream and a dash of sugar to go with it, since nothing else sounded good at the time. I think it took so long to bake because it pretty much filled, as it rose, my cake pan — not kidding, it’s at the top ledge of the edge of the dish. If I make it again, I think I’ll split the batter between the 13×9 pan and my 7×11 pans, so it will be thinner and bake quicker. Thanks, Deb, for the recipe!
This is just what I needed! Thanks! I love when honey cake is moist too. We always get ours from the bakery and only the center top is moist…
I just made this recipe for people at work and the entire cake disappeared within 10 minutes. It’s absolutely delicious!
while my honey cakes baked in the oven, i sat at my computer reading all of the comments about this recipe. once i got to the posts about the “sinking-in-the-middle” issue, i realized that i wrongly read the recipe and only put in one teaspoon each of baking powder and baking soda (instead of one tablespoon of baking powder and one teaspoon of baking soda). oy. but, shock! my honey cakes came out perfectly plump. no sinking. (i did however, bake them in two loaf pans instead of three. i don’t know if that matters.)
Are you psychic?! I’ve been looking for the perfect honey recipe for DAYS. Thank you so much!
Just baked one to take to a friend’s for dinner tonight — mine sank in the middle too, but I could also be using super-old baking powder…
Deb, did you use tea or coffee when you made the cakes? Just curious.
I used coffee. I looove coffee. Tea? Not so much.
Thank you so much for this recipe! My partner and I have been enjoying your recipes pretty much on a daily basis for the last month, but we seriously love us some honey. I have a loaf of this in the oven right now, and I am thoroughly enjoying eating the batter left in the bowl *hic*.
Thank you for all of the wonderful recipes!
Deb-Thank you so much for the recipe. I will try it as per your suggestions.
P.S. We have had uninvited “kitchen visitors” also. We were told by animal control to clean all shelves and cabinets with light bleach solution. Also, do scrub down every surface with same light bleach solution. It helps eliminate the urine the mice leave as a marker for other mice. Their “free food and goodies here” signage is interrupted that way. Then traps need to be laid out, which for me the setting up of them is as stressful as catching the little guys (or gals). I feel so bad, but..this really worked for us. Now, I just keep traps activated and in several cabinets and check daily. They are smart enough to go elsewhere because they do sense danger from traps snapping and that just may translate to the little critters staying out of your apartment entirely.
Oh, I forgot to add I do not use traps with bait. I only did that the first few days (drop of peanut butter, or tiny piece of Goldfish cracker), but then I started to get a slight ant problem. So, I removed all food from traps. I also bought a variety of traps.
Great recipe.. can’t wait to try it this year. thanks!
I’m so confused. After googling this recipe there appears to be two sets of levening amounts. There’s Deb’s amount 1 T bp and 1 t soda. The other recipe uses 4 t powder and 1/2 t soda. I really don’t want the belly buttons so I am still unclear what to use. Should we still reduce the levening or change it to the other version?
If you want to test your levening agents, the instructions are as follows:
for powder 1 t powder + 1/3 C hot water = foaming action (if not, discard)
for soda 1-1/2 t soda + 1 T vinegar = fizzing action (if not, use in fridge for odors)
Deb, you (and others) should absolutely try Marcy’s Chocolate Velvet Honey Cake. It’s a rich and wonderful cake, deeply chocolatey and warmly spiced. I made it a few years ago as the capper to a no-holds-barred Rosh Hashanah dinner, and people couldn’t get enough of it — they kept “slivering” more pieces as the evening went on…
http://www.clabbergirl.com/recipe-display.php?mode=recipe&recipe_id=913
Your cake is on my list ! Fabulous picture…I don’t have whiskey. I’ll try some grated apple (reine de reinettes) instead.
Hi Linda — When a recipe is passed around and reprinted as often as this one, it’s not odd to see different versions of it. I would not think that an additional teaspoon of baking powder would be a good idea–I suspect this suffers from too much leavening.
However, I still don’t have one conclusion about getting it not to sink. I made a few educated guesses in comment #95, but also consider jamie’s comment (#116) wherein she accidentally used only one teaspoon each of baking powder and soda and the cakes didn’t sink. (Thanks, jamie, btw, for the feedback.)
So disappointed to hear of everyone’s dry honey cake experiences. I have my grandmothers recipe somewhere written in her handwriting which makes it so special as she is not here anymore. It IS very much like this recipe. Good honey cake has a thick ,sticky gooey top, a little less than a quarter of an inch thick and then nothing but sweet spicy orangy moistness below. It looks like this one. I am going to search for my recipe.
Thank you so much Deb for such a great and inspiring blog. After 19 years of cooking for a family I am pretty well burned out but the combination of the season of local goodies and your blog have re-inspired me…. totally. I look forward to every weekend of not letting myself work but just cooking and baking and feeling warm and cozy. I just hope I don’t gain weight. I might have to cook those brownies again this weekend…. and the honey cake. (I’ll give half to my parents)
hii lost my honey cake recipe and found this one today and made it. i used self raising flour which is flour with raising agent in it 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 teasponn of baking powder and it didnt sink. i think i tablespoon of baking soda is too much. i also used ground ginger makes because i like it. i cooked mine in an aga at about med warm for about 50 minutes and it is yummy. might not make it to rosh hashanah may have to make another one.thanks for the recipeam off to browse the site.
oh my lord, just made this and it is yummy! I used my adorable {huge} sunflower cake pan but there was so much batter (and it was NOT thick, more pourable than spoonable) that I ended up making 6 small fluted muffins as well. Well the muffins came out after 30 mins and you can guess what happened to them - gone before the cake came was even done! Like the previous poster, mine was not very dense but nice crust and delicious none the less. Not much sinking - I used less than a T of baking powder. Subbed 1/2 applesauce for the oil, left out the booze and added orange zest and a grated apple. Thanks!
Back to the apple discussion…the Washington Post published another Marcy Goldman honey cake recipe in 1999. It was this recipe except that it did not include the whiskey but did call for 1/2 cup shredded, peeled apples. I usually squeeze most of the juice from the apples, cut down a bit on the oil and add more shredded apples. Delish!
Love your blog. It’s one of the first things I do when I get in to the office every morning. Thanks so much for the honey cake recipe! I can’t wait to bake it for Rosh Hashannah dinner.
About your furry friend…I live in Boston and we have the same problem. I’ve found that peppermint oil is a harmless way to get rid of furry little pests (and it makes the house smell nice to boot). Sprinkle a bit of peppermint oil wherever you think they’re getting in, where you see them, and where you find droppings. Do this every other day for 2 weeks, and then 2-3 times/week for another two weeks (do it whenever the smell disappears) and then weekly for another 2 months. The peppermint oil is so aversive to rodents, that they should disappear totally after the first week. Continuing with the peppermint oil serves as a reinforcement in case they try to come back after a while. Hope it works for you as well as it did for me.
I love reading your blgo. I made this cake, put it in 2 loaf pans, and no falling or shrinkage occured. This cake is delicious. I omitted the whiskey and subbed 1/2 of the oil for applesauce. Next time I make this, I will add chopped apples and pecans. It definitely gets better as it sits, and is great with coffee! Thanks for sharing!
I just made this tender and delicious cake, spreading the (rather runny) batter between a 6×9 loaf pan (45″), a 3/4-cup 6-cupcake pan (30″), and a 4×2 ramekin (35″)–the last one a prize for the baker. All turned out beautifully, with no peaking or sinking. I plan to try it next with shredded apples.
For tomorrow’s Rosh Hashanah, I will bring the loaf to colleagues and the small cakes to a Brazilian Jewish family who has generously invited (Gentile wife, Jewish husband) to their home to celebrate. Thanks for the timely post and for your terrific blog, which I consult regularly.
My cake just came out of the oven. I used just shy of 1 T baking powder, and baked it in a bundt pan. No sinkage whatsoever, and it was done in 75 minutes. The cake looks good and smells amazing. I will say that I buttered and floured the heck out of the pan, but it did stick a bit. Nothing terrible, just a few large crubs here and there. Also, it really rose to the top of the pan. Next time I’ll make a bundt plus two cupcake sized minis. I’ll comment on the taste another time - we’re saving the cake for tomorrows dinner. L’Shanah Tova!
I made this cake today and made 3 loaves…used 1 tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp of baking powder and did not have any sinking. Delicious except I think it needs some kind of cream cheese frosting!!
I just pulled this cake out of the oven about an hour ago, I used 2 tsp of baking powder instead of 1 tbs but kept everything else the same except that I used extra orange juice in place of the rye. I divided the cake between 2 8×8 pans and didn’t see any sinking in the center. It tastes great, thanks for the recipe.
I followed Jamie’s suggestion (#116) and added one teaspoon each of baking powder/soda. Mine also turned out delicious and perfectly domed. Yum. Thanks!
I made this yesterday - it didn’t sink and it was delicious. Turns out I only had 1/4 c honey so used brown rice syrup for the remaining 3/4 c. I think this made the cake less sweet but with all the other sweeteners I don’t think the taste was compromised.
i just took this cake out of the oven *NOT EVEN TEN MINUTES AGO* and everyone in my household has a already got a piece on a plate (i think it’s the allspice). i kept sqealing “wait til it’s cool, wait til it’s coooooool!”…..they wouldn’t listen. the piping hot piece i took from my mom was very tasty, though. i added shredded apples and did the 1 tsp. each of soda and powder and came out with a very nice fluffy texture although i think i a denser cake would be more my thing. maybe next time i will use even less leavener (or powder only) and 4 egg yolks…. and by next time i mean now, because i’m pretty sure i can hear my brother scraping the last bit off the bottom of the pan….
p.s. i did NOT substitute the whiskey :)
I, too, just ate the first slice of this cake, about forty minutes out of the oven. Delicious!
I followed the recipe as is, with no substitutions and it was wonderful. I had only the slightest sinking in the middle, and with the almonds on top I kinda like the way it looks.
I also made mine in two loaf pans and two minis. Two minis go to friends, one big one for me and the other big one in the freezer.
this recipe appeared on several blogs and i was quite enthusiastic but my cake did not turn out as well as i’d hoped and did not get raves from guests. i followed the instructions here pretty exactly (i used dark rum instead of whiskey because i had the former and not the latter), and baked in a 13X9 metal pan (on top of one turned-over baking sheet). my experience was that it did not over-rise and sink, but that it didn’t seem to rise fully — when i sliced it, the bottom of the slices were extremely dense, and then the top 2/3 of the slices had a good texture. it did rise a bit in baking and i took it out when the top sprang back to my finger. i’ve made honey cakes before and am a relatively experienced baker. the flavor was good (i let it sit for a day and a half before cutting). but i was disappointed in its failure to rise. the BP was quite fresh; i’ve had the baking soda for a while.
Delicious! I did not grease my Bundt pan enough, so half the cake stuck to the pan, haha. But I just doused the whole thing in a caramel sauce I whipped up to glue the cake back together. No problems with rising, either. :-)
I made this cake today and it’s absolutely gorgeous. My oven must be hotter than most (I really need to get a thermometer, shame on me) because it was done after 45 minutes and I used a bundt pan. No problems with it whatsoever. However, because I can’t leave a recipe alone, I think I’m going to tweak it a bit. More honey, more booze!
I just made three loaves of these this morning, which was perfect as I was able to leave one with my bf’s parents for the holiday — chaching! They all turned out delicious and looked great with the almonds on top. Thank you thank you Deb!
Hi Deb, The cake looks great and delicious. Can i halve the receipe and also what can i subtitute for egg as i am a vegetarian. Thanks in advance as i really plan to do this cake on Wednesday.
I baked it in a bundt tin,…and I didn’t make any changes. It didn’t sink, rose perfectly and it’s divine…so much so that everyone in the house wanted a slice immediately.
I’ve made this cake numerous times. Its great. You can also use warm, flat cola instead of the coffee/tea( I sometimes email with Marcy and she is the one who told me about the cola). She’s quite helpful if you ever have any questions for her. Do you have this cookbook? There are so many worthwhile recipes, its a great book for Jewish Baking.
can this cake be made as layers i/o loaves?
I made this last night for my Jewish coworkers - they were surprised! I also baked mine in a bundt pan, and there was *almost* too much batter! But it is delicious. I got to use the bamboo honey I bought at the State Fair this year, and then I sprinkled some powdered sugar on top. Very nice!
Yummy! I made two 9″ pans last night for the holidays and the hubby and I tucked into one that was freshly baked. My oven is so small that we have one rack and could just barely fit in the two pans, but I had not problem with sinkage… even with the fluctuating temp of oven.
Is it just me, or does this cake smell really boozy? I used whiskey. Don’t get me wrong, I love it but I am wondering if what I used is too strong. The cake is too easy to not make again but next time I’ll use brandy instead of whiskey.
Hey…long time lurker, first time commenter. I made the cake last night, and brought in two loaves to the office, one will go to Rosh Hashana dinner with me tonight. I followed the recipe to the tee (whiskey? yes!), but used deb’s new proportion of baking soda/baking powder. Good news: No sinking, it rose beautifully for what is really a very wet batter. Bad news: I just don’t think it’s sweet enough…I can’t taste the honey at all. It’s moist, but I feel like I need to drizzle honey ON it. Anyway, bad jew that I am, maybe I just don’t get it. Thanks so much, Deb, you are absolutely my first go-to for recipes!! L’Shana Tova!!
Can this cake be frozen? I want to make two loaves- one for tonight’s dessert and one for Yom Kippur Break Fast.
Hi Heidi — I mentioned a bit earlier (#77) that Goldman says this cake actually gets better with age. Longer than a couple days, I like to store mine in the freezer. It keeps just fine if wrapped well.
Question: Can you taste the alcohol in this?
There are going to be several people at the dinner that do not drink. I’m fine with the whisky adding flavor but I can’t have it taste alcoholic. (Especially since this is going to be my first Rosh Hashanah dinner since marrying into the Jewish faith…. I would hate to make a bad impression….)
Any help would be Greatly Appreciated.
Thanks!
i use the evelyn rose recipie for anglo lekach which is much easier, less ingredients and takes 2 minutes to prepare. I made eigt this week and have only one left!
Wowee…this is my mother’s recipe as well…except doubled (yeah, that half egg thing never worked so well for me) and with booze.
And you’re right…it is seriously the best honey cake ever.
YUM! We made it as mini cakes for my daughter preschool class. One recipe made 16 mini loaves, but it could have made closer to 20 as many had “muffin” tops. It’s moist and takes like fall - perfect! Thanks! Oh, I did slightly reduce both leaveners and did not have any sunken tops.
Hi Deb, Please reply me. Can i substitute egg? Thanks in advance.
My favorite honey cakes don’t contain sugar, they get their sweetness and their name from nothing other then honey. They get their moistness from using moist flours like kamut, oat, and barley - and melt in the mouth with a caramelized honey crisp top. this is just a basic quick-bread recipe with some honey and liquor. Thoroughly disappointed.
Jackie C - I rec’d lots of compliments on this cake - it was easy to make and turned out very well even with the following changes:
– 3 tsp cinnamon
– 1 c white sugar
– 3 eggs + 2 whites
– instead of coffee/OJ - I used the same volume (1-1/2 cups) of juices ( from fresh squeezed oranges (2) + lemon (about 1/2) + apple juice)
– orange & lemon zests
– instead of alcohol, I used 1/2 c of shredded peeled apple
The batter poured beautifully into my bundt pan, and as it cooked, the cake rose to about 1/2 inch above the top of the pan (but did not spill). I think that using freshly ground spices made a big difference — the raw batter was the best I’ve ever tasted!
I made this tonight, following the recipe as written. It came out great, didn’t sink, and I’ve now eaten too much of it in one sitting… l’shana tova to those of you who are celebrating!
Rajesh — I am not an expert on egg substitutes, as I have never used them. Perhaps someone else will chime in with what they use instead of eggs.
Are you sure it should be 1 tablespoon of baking powder? My two 9 inch pans are running over the sides and is now all over my oven–yikes!
Made the honey cake-filled two pyrex (glass) loaf pans, cut back just a smidge on the baking powder & baking soda, used apple cider to replace whiskey and grated in some organic orange peel. Absolutely delish, got rave reviews,as one very picky woman said, “just like mamma used to make” even though it took almost 2 hours to bake. I did use a heavy cookie sheet under the extremely thick pyrex.
Baking SODA has four times the leavening power as baking POWDER. The recipe, as formulated here (1T powder, 1 t soda), calls for the equivalent of 7 teaspoons of baking powder. This is a huge amount—it certainly seems like enough to make the cake fall. I would expect, in a recipe this size, something more like 3 tsp of baking powder, so one possible experiment would be omitting the baking soda entirely.
However, this would make the batter more acidic which will tend to prevent browning. It seems like the single teaspoon of baking soda (equivalent to 4 tsp baking powder) should provide sufficient leavening all by itself with no baking powder. Or perhaps a middle of the road approach with 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1.5 tsp baking powder?
I made this cake for Rosh Hashanah and while completely delicious and yes, moist, mine also fell in the middle. Except that’s because it wasn’t cooked long enough. Mur :( We just cut around the unbaked parts though…my mother said this is better then Mimi Sheraton’s recipe! High praise haha
We made this last night and it was amazing. The best thing about this cake is the aroma that fills the house! Should you ever need to create a wonderful, welcoming environmentin your house, bake this cake! And yes, it still smelled wonderful this morning.
I made this last night. While I haven’t had time to take a bite myself, I did bring a loaf to my boyfriend last night and he said that between his midnight snack and breakfast, he ate 3/4 of it already! I was happy, because I’ve read so much about people not liking honey cake and I’d never had it so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. Especially since it wasn’t until I was in the middle of making it that I realized I didn’t have quite enough honey!
And I’m not Jewish, so I wasn’t completely sure when the new year was, but today when I got to work I saw that it is today! So it looks like I made it at just the right time. After sundown and everything :)
Mine didn’t fall in the middle, I don’t know what to say about that! And mine fit into two loaf pans…Hmmm.
I just made my honey cake and it totally sank in the middle. I live in Denver, and I’m wondering if there is a tried and true high altitude honey cake recipe. For back up, I have apples & honey. But just once, I would like to have a perfect cake. Thank you!
Regarding the mouse situation, we adopted a female Siamese cat from the Humane Society, and poof! no more mice.
I made this yesterday, and we just love it. its so good and delicious! My parents says its the best honey cake they ever had.
Thank you! I’ll save the recipe, its a keeper for new years!
BTW, my cake didnt sunk in the middle (maybe because my honey was quite runny?).
This is the first year of at least 20 that I have made a honey cake that everyone loved. What a lucky find. I followed the original recipe exactly, rye and all. I did the 3 loaves and they turned out perfectly.
I made this for Rosh Hashanah and EVERYONE raved! thanks:)
I made this and it was amazingly delicious, tasty, moist and abundant. I froze some for next week.
Update on my cakes: I made two 9′ round and delivered one to my landlord who lives downstairs. He asked me if I was professionally trained as a baker which is a testament to this recipe, not my ability to follow instructions.
I made this not once but TWICE over the weekend - the second time I cut the baking powder to 1 tsp and it was definitely denser than the first version, which was lighter and fluffier. Maybe the tablespoon of baking powder is a typo? Well either way, everyone loved it, thanks!!
I can’t wait to try this - thanks for the recipe!
because there was so much batter, i made two cakes: a bundt and a flat layer (in a pyrex pan). oddly enough, the flat cake sank, but the bundt was fine. maybe the cake needs more even cooking? with the hole in the middle of the bundt, perhaps this helps? the bundt was also more moist and more flavorful. interesting……
Interestingly, I was in a Mexican restaurant the other day in Houston, where I live, and they had Sopapillas on their buffet with the traditional honey…I thought, but turned out to be half honey/half dark corn syrup. It has a wonderful taste.
Reading this recipe, I intend to make it with that Mexican Honey/Corn syrup in lieu of straight honey.
Hi Deb - I made this cake in a bundt pan and it did not sink at all. My guests kept on asking for seconds and thirds. It was perfectly moist and spicy. It tasted like Autumn/Halloween - it was amazingly perfect.
OMG!This cake was incredibly delicious, I seriously couldn’t stop eating it! I made it on Tuesday and it’s already gone, I think I’m going to have to make another, thank you for this fabulous recipe, it’s so easy! too bad there’s a TON of sugar in it! Oh well, who needs slim thighs anyway :)
Hi, I made this for Rosh Hashanah this week. I got the same recipe from epicurious. Mine also fell but in a big way. It’s nice to know others have had that problem. I baked mine in a angel food pan and it overflowed when baking and fell on only one side so it looked really odd. I cut it up to serve it. But it was good and easy otherwise.
I made a loaf of this last night (after sundown–not quite Rosh Hashanah but close). I didn’t see the comments here about reducing the leavening but I will make note for next time. There will MOST DEFINITELY be a next time. I cut the recipe by a third (approximately) and the single loaf was gone by breakfast today. YUM. Though next time I’ll skip the sliced almonds, as many of them sank to the bottom and I never did like nuts in my quick breads anyway.
I just made the honey cakes using 2 t baking powder and 1 t soda. They were absolutely stunning and perfectly domed on top. I was bummed that a little bit stuck in one of the corners but that allowed me a little taste before tonight’s dinner. Yum. This honey cake is not like others. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I made this cake in an angel-food cake pan and it came out beautifully–but my 3 year-old was running around me in the kitchen and I forgot to add the almonds. This is the second year I made it and both times I swapped out the whiskey for dark Demerara rum. It just seemed to make more sense to me with all the spices. That and I have a hard time parting with good drinking whiskey!
Eeek! Fail! Stupid tiny oven. I stupidly put it on the middle rack, where it rose precipitiously, then burned to a crisp before the middle was anything but goo. Adios, $12 dollars of ingredients!
Oooh, this is a lovely honey cake - so much better than the ones we used to have when I was a kid. I used apple juice instead of orange juice because I didn’t have any orange juice and apples are sort of right for New Year, and went for tea instead of coffee because I just couldn’t imagine coffee working in a cake like this (although I may try it the next time I make it).
Having seen the comments about leavening, I used a scant tablespoon of baking powder and left out the soda. The cakes rose a little in the oven, and then deflated but didn’t sink - they came out very slightly risen. I have to say, I wouldn’t expect a cake like this to rise very much anyway, any more than I’d expect gingerbread to rise. Overall, I was really pleased with it. Thanks, Deb.
oh, I also used self-raising flour, but it was pretty old and I doubt there was much rise left in it.
I was thinking of making this cake but was wondering which honey to use (flavor, brand etc)?
Hi Tess — I don’t think it matters, you should use whatever you like. Clover or orange blossom seem more traditional, but honestly, I just use whatever is on hand. Enjoy!
The honey cakes were happily gobbled down, even by the most skeptical. One friend, acknowledging that honey cake is like Jewish fruitcake and generally received with only tepid thanks, could not get enough of this. This recipe was a huge hit and will be added to my special folder of holiday recipes as it looks bound to become tradition. Thanks so very much.
This looks wonderful; with the story and pictures you’ve really made me want to stop what I’m doing and make this myself!
Thanks for sharing this and presenting it in a very rich way!
I just made this last night. Boy is this A LOT of cake! i made 8 mini loafs, 6 small bunt, 4 more mini cupcake. I had to split it between my running buddy’s office, my office and hubby+me. the minis are super cute +less prone to collapsin