By Ruth Webber | MyJewishLearning.com
This honey cake is a symbol of both tradition and resilience as we welcome the New Year, embodying the story of survivors. Created by Holocaust survivor Ruth Webber, this cake boasts a luxurious blend of ingredients, including brandy, almonds, and coffee. Once you try this indulgent honey cake, it will become a cherished staple for Rosh Hashanah in your home.
This timeless honey cake recipe has been lovingly shared across generations.
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing pans
- 1 ½ cups honey
- 1 cup strong brewed coffee
- ½ cup dried cherries, chopped*
- 3 Tbsp brandy
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 3 ½ cups + 1-2 tsp all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp orange zest
*Note: Feel free to substitute the dried cherries with another fruit if needed.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Grease two 5-by-9-inch loaf pans, line them with wax paper, and grease the paper as well.
- In a saucepan, combine the honey and coffee, bringing it to a boil before removing it from heat to cool.
- Soak the dried cherries in brandy for about 30 minutes before draining. In a small bowl, toss the almonds and cherries with 1-2 tsp of flour to coat; this helps prevent them from sinking in the batter.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together ½ cup of oil, brown sugar, and eggs. In another bowl, mix the remaining 3½ cups of flour with the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Gradually incorporate this dry mixture into the wet ingredients, alternating with the cooled coffee mixture until fully blended. Gently fold in the cherry-almond mix and orange zest.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pans and bake for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a deep golden brown. To avoid collapsing, do not remove from the oven immediately—turn off the oven and let the cakes cool inside for at least 10 minutes.
- Next, continue cooling for an additional 15 minutes outside the oven. Carefully run a knife around the inner edge of the pan, place a plate on top, and flip it over. Slice to serve.
This recipe is extracted from“Honey Cake & Latkes: Recipes from the Old World by the Auschwitz-Birkenau Survivors.”
