HILLEL@FSU

01/29/10

Shalom Aleichem!

Shabbos is here again! And this week Tu B’Shevat falls on Shabbos so I will give you a very fruity recipe for the holiday.

One of my favorite cakes was my Bubbe’s Honey Cake and she made it twice a year: for Rosh Hasanah and Tu B’Shevat. So for this Shabbos I will tell you how to fill your kishka’s with honey cake:

Honey Cake III
Source: Canadian Living Magazine, October, 2000
Serves: 16

1-1/2 cups liquid honey
1 cup strong tea
1 tablespoon grated lemon or orange rind
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup golden raisins
4 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup icing sugar
4 teaspoons lemon or orange juice (approximately)

In small saucepan, bring honey just to boil; remove from heat. Stir in tea and grated lemon rind; set pan aside and let cool slightly.

In bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, allspice and salt; stir in golden raisins. Set bowl aside.

In large bowl, beat eggs for about 5 minutes or until pale and frothy; beat in oil and vanilla. Beat in sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, until slightly thickened and bubbly, about 5 minutes.

Alternately fold in flour and honey mixtures, making 3 additions of flour and 2 of honey to make thin batter.

Pour batter into greased 10″ (4L) tube or Bundt pan. Bake in centre of 325°F (160°C) oven for 60-70 minutes or until cake tester inserted into cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan on rack for 30 minutes. With knife, loosen edges of cake; turn out onto rack and let cool completely.

Make Glaze:
In small bowl, whisk together icing sugar and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice; if necessary, add enough of the remaining lemon juice to make glaze fluid enough to drizzle easily over honey cake.

VARIATIONS:
Fruited Honey cake: Reduce tea to 3/4 cup. Add 1/4 cup brandy. Substitute 1 cup chopped mixed peel or mixed fruit for the raisins.
Chocolate Fig Honey Cake: Substitute 1 cup diced dried figs for the raisins. Omit Glaze. Melt 3 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped, in bowl over hot (not boiling) water. Dip tines of fork into chocolate; drizzle over cake.
Coffee Nut Honey Cake: Substitute coffee for the tea and chopped toasted pecans for the raisins.
NOTES: Honey is a natural preservative that lengthens this cake’s storage time for up to one week and boosts its sweetness and moistness.

Shabbat Shalom and Enjoy!

Biz a Hundret Un Tzvantzik (Till a 120!),

Bubbe