Honey cake combines best of the seasons

(The Nosher via JTA) – Rosh Hashanah has a way of sneaking up on you, and it’s a bittersweet feeling when it does. Bitter because it means the summer is over, but sweet because the Jewish New Year is a sweet and delicious time of year to spend with family and friends.

One other sweet spot of the Jewish New Year is honey cake – often baked, gifted and eaten in abundance during the holidays. The cake is quite sweet and usually spiked with autumnal spices, almost like a surrender to the season that is approaching.

In this embrace of autumn and of the year to come, we often forget to make the most of what’s left of the summer produce. This honey cake recipe combines the best of both worlds: fresh blueberries, moist honey cake and a hint of spice. It’s the perfect sendoff for the last remaining blueberries of the season and the welcoming of a new year.

Blueberry Honey Cake 

Ingredients

3 cups self-rising flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger powder

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

3/4 cup coconut or vegetable oil

1 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Zest of 1 orange

1/4 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon whiskey

1 tablespoon almond milk

1/4 cup coffee, cooled down

2 cups blueberries (frozen is OK)

For the topping:

1/4 cup toasted almonds, chopped

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

Juice of 2 lemons

Zest of 1 orange

Additional blueberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, spices and sugar; mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, oil, honey, vanilla extract, orange juice, whisky, almond milk and coffee. Combine the ingredients thoroughly with whisk or a hand mixer until smooth. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet mixture into the well. Whisk until you have a smooth cake batter with no lumps, making sure there is no flour at the bottom of the bowl. Add the blueberries and mix well.

Grease a 9-inch cake pan with a little bit of vegetable or coconut oil.

Pour in the cake batter and allow it to settle and even out for a few minutes.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when pressed into the middle of the cake.

Allow the cake to cool a little and then remove from the cake pan. Allow it to cool fully.

Meanwhile, make the glaze: Combine the confectioners sugar with the orange zest and the lemon juice. Mix well with a spoon until smooth with no lumps and it has reached a syrupy consistency.

When the cake has cooled, drizzle it with the glaze and sprinkle it with blueberries and the toasted almonds. Enjoy for up to 3 days and store it in the refrigerator, covered. Serves 8-10.

EMANUELLE LEEis a recipe developer, food writer and food stylist.