AUTHOR: Julia TITLE: Tupelo Honey (Recipe: Honey Cake) DATE: 9/16/2009 10:19:00 AM ----- BODY:

My adopted blogger Katie from Eat this. favors honey in her cooking because it’s an unprocessed sugar source. And Tupelo honey, which is derived from bees buzzing around the Florida Tupelo trees, is considered to be one of the best in the world. She deftly describes its virtues here, so I won’t repeat. But suffice it to say, it’s delicate flavor is delightful.

Katie very graciously shared a few bottles with me. Of course, the first thing I had to make was honey cake. Though I typically only eat it at Rosh Hashanah, I love it year round.

Honey Cake
This recipe comes from Joan Nathan's Jewish Cooking in America. I modified the ingredients by using raisins instead of the recommended almonds. Also, I did not have a bundt pan so I used a 9-inch square pyrex dish. I baked it for the first 30 minutes at the recommended 350, and then an additional 40 minutes at 325.

3 ½ cups flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 eggs, separated
1 tbs. lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1/3 cup oil
1 cup honey
1 cup black coffee
½ cup raisins

1. Sift together flour, baking powder and soda, salt and cream of tarter into a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the sugar, cinnamon, egg yolks lemon juice and zest, honey, oil, coffee and raisins. Incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry.

2. Whip the egg whites until stiff. Gently fold into batter. Pour into a greased 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger PG DATE:9/16/2009 04:16:00 PM Happy holidays! I volunteered to take salad to a friend's for Rosh Hashanah...but now I'm thinking I should do dessert and make a honey cake instead. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Anonymous Anonymous DATE:9/16/2009 05:06:00 PM I have such bad memories of honey cake. Every year my mother would send me one for the new year. The homemade ones had the shape and consistency of bricks, and the store-bought ones were not much better. I haven't been able to get near a honey cake for many years. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Katie DATE:9/16/2009 06:30:00 PM I'm glad you're enjoying the honey!! I've never had honey cake, and that needs to change. I had a piece of cake in Greece that was somewhat similar, but I'm sure that it didn't have raisins or coffee, and it was probably different in other ways, too. ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger adele DATE:9/17/2009 10:09:00 AM Mmm. I was thinking that it might be nice to bake something for Rosh Hashanah - this looks good! ----- COMMENT: AUTHOR:Blogger Lori Lynn DATE:9/18/2009 08:19:00 PM L'Shana Tova Tikatevu!

I'm about to make Rosh Hashana dinner, with honey, of course. and now I am listening to Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey...Happy New Year. the cake looks great.

Lori Lynn ----- --------