Honey Bundt Cake

No, I did not grab a handful of cake.  Funny story ...

Honey cake ... that quintessential love-dessert of Rosh Hashanah.  Traditionally made without butter  or milk, it is the perfect end to any sumptuous High Holiday meal.  I recently came across a bundt honey cake that looked delicious, with several people raving up, down and sideways about it.  So I figured it might be pretty good.

 The quantities of ingredients varied just slightly from my tried-and-true recipe from the The Art of Jewish Cooking that I've been using since I inherited two copies from my mother approximately a million years ago, give or take.

A blue background to hide the mixer on the
counter, plus some tight cropping ...

The major difference was that this version did not require cloves, nutmeg or ginger, but did make use of a bundt pan.  Any excuse to dust off my fancy-schmancy bundt pan, given to me by a friend, is good enough reason for me to deviate from a tradition going back to the stone age since I was a toddler, so of course I jumped right in with both mitts.

Unfortunately I had made the executive decision not to flour the pan, in order to avoid an unsightly white coating after baking.  

... and you can't even tell it had stuck to the pan!
Didn't affect flavor at all.

My bad. 

Despite the wreck, it wasn't bad ... really.  But the coffee flavor was too pronounced for my taste.  I missed those omitted spices. And I still wanted to use that bundt pan.  So with cake v2.0 I combined the best of both recipes.  And once again didn't use the grease-and-flour method.  Because I am an idiot optimist.

Much better!

It still stuck, but this time more cake made it safely out of the pan.

 

It tastes really good ... promise!

Seriously, it tastes much better than it looks.   I suggest using a plainer bundt pan unless you are an expert in pan removal.  Or try what I usually do with regular round cakes and try the flour-and-grease method (added to the directions below), even if bits of white flour dot the finished product.


Honey Bundt Cake
Adapted from Chayie's Heimish Bundt Cakes 
 and The Art of Jewish Cooking by Jennie Grossinger
Yield: one large bundt cake

cooking spray
2 1/2 cups flour, plus 2 tablespoons more for flouring.
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup honey
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. coffee granules dissolved in 1 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350F (340F if using a bundt pan with a dark interior).   Spray interior of bundt pan well with the cooking spray. Dust evenly with the 2 tablespoons of flour, tilting and tapping the pan to coat with the flour.  Invert pan over the sink and tap out excess flour.  Set pan aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and the 4 spices.  Set bowl aside.

Beat eggs in a large mixing bowl at medium speed for 30 seconds.  Beat in oil.  Beat in sugar and honey until well combined.  Increase mixer speed to high and beat for an additional minute.  Volume should increase slightly and color should lighten a bit. 

Reduce mixer speed to low.  Pour in coffee and continue to mix on low until blended.  Add flour mixture, mixing just until no streaks remain, stopping to scrape the bowl with a spatula as needed.

Carefully pour batter into prepared bundt pan 3/4 to 2/3 full.  Be sure to wipe away any drips, then place pan in preheated oven.

Bake for one hour (start checking at the 45 minute mark), or until edges of cake are browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove cake from oven and place on cooling rack for 20 minutes.   Invert over rack; lift pan up and remove pan.

Tastes great ... I promise!

Allow cake to cool completely before serving.