A Tale of Two Honey Cakes

Looking good, but tasting not so good!

More often than I like, it seems that one's childhood memories have vastly improved on reality. I was reminded of this once again when baking my grandmother's honey cake. I remembered it as moist, chock full of walnuts and redolent of whiskey, which nicely cut the cake's sweetness, and made it taste absolutely yummy.  All of which was pretty surprising because my grandmother was the sort of person who tended to beat most things, including cakes and her family's faults, to death. While admitting that there might well have been an element of operator error, the results of our honey cake baking during the Great Holiday Bake-Off Day were less than stellar. I NEVER bake cakes that end up tasting dry, bland and blah. What a disappointment! I do suspect that there were probably some issues-  possible over baking the small loaf size cakes and weak coffee flavoring, but come on ... Someone, usually the Daddy, who still frets over starving children in China, ends up consuming any cake-like substance laying on the counter, but not this.

Then the Picky Eater comes home for winter break and informs me that Smitten Kitchen is supposed to have an outstanding honey cake recipe. So, over the weekend I decided to have a rematch with honey cake using the Smitten Kitchen recipe, and must admit that I had better results- added a ton of walnuts to the recipe, under baked it, and gave it a final whiskey marinade. While it didn't break into our top 5 cake list (Zucchini-Orange, Apple-Walnut, Oatmeal, Carrot, Sour Cream Struesel) it was good enough that I didn't feel hesitant about carting it off to a party.

So, here I give you two honey cake recipes. When I recover from my baking coma I will try my grandmother's recipe once again and see if I can do it justice.

Down to the last piece of the  Majestic & Moist Honey Cake

Smitten Kitchen's Majestic and Moist Honey Cake
Adapted from Marcy Goldman’s Treasure of Jewish Holiday Baking

I used my 10" springform pan with a tube insert and it worked perfectly. I suspect that minimizing the diameter of the cake with a tube pan enables you to under bake the cake without being left with a soggy center. As my tube insert has a scalloped bottom, I ignored the directions to line it with parchment paper! Just made sure that it was well greased and floured.

3 1/2 cups (440 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (15 grams) baking powder
1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons (about 8 grams) ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup (235 ml) vegetable oil
1 cup (340 grams) honey
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (95 grams) brown sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
1 cup warm (235 ml) coffee or strong tea
1/2 cup (120 ml) fresh orange juice
1/2 cup (60 ml) whiskey
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (a Travels with the Picky Eater blog addition)

Fits in three loaf pans, two 9-inch square or round cake pans, one 9 or 10 inch tube or bundt cake pan, or one 9 by 13 inch sheet cake.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease pan(s) with butter and then flour them. For tube or angel food pans, line the bottom with lightly greased parchment paper, cut to fit.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Make a well in the center, and add oil, honey, white sugar, brown sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee or tea, orange juice and 1/4 cup whiskey. (If you measure your oil before the honey, it will be easier to get all of the honey out.)

Using a strong wire whisk or in an electric mixer on slow speed, stir together well to make a thick, well-blended batter, making sure that no ingredients are stuck to the bottom. Add the chopped walnuts to the batter.

Spoon batter into prepared pan(s).  Place cake pan(s) on two baking sheets, stacked together (this will ensure the cakes bake properly with the bottom baking faster than the cake interior and top).

Bake until cake tests done, that is, it springs back when you gently touch the cake center. For angel and tube cake pans, this will take 60 to 75 minutes, loaf cakes, about 45 to 55 minutes. For sheet style cakes, baking time is 40 to 45 minutes.

Let cake stand fifteen minutes before removing from pan. In the tradition of the Bernice Fine honey cakes, brush the cake(s) with the remaining 1/4 cup of whiskey while still warm.

My grandmother's
secret ingredient.

The Bernice Fine Honey Cake
Makes 2 standard loaf pan cakes

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
3/4 cup strong coffee, cooled (I can just see my grandmother pouring out the dregs from her morning Sunbeam percolator brew.)
1/2 cup brandy or whiskey
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
4 cups flour
1 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Butter and flour two loaf pans and line the bottoms with buttered parchment paper (my grandmother used waxed paper- bleh!!)

Beat the eggs and sugar together well. Add the honey and beat again until well blended. Sift the baing powder, baking soda, flour, allspice & salt  together. Stir 1/4 cup of the flour mixture into the chopped nuts. Stir together the coffee and 1/4 cup of the liquor.

Add the remaining dry ingredients to the egg mixture alternately with the liquid- 1/3 flour, 1/2 liquid, 1/3 flour, 1/2 liquid, 1/3 flour - beating only until just mixed together. Stir in the floured nuts and then the butter.

Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Bake for about 1 hour, until the cake is firm in the center and has started to pull away from the sides of the pan. Turn out from the baking pans after 15 minutes and brush with the remaining 1/4 cup liquor. When cool, wrap the cakes individually in foil and allow to age at least 24 hours.

Honey cakes waiting for their dousing with Jim Beam.

To redeem my grandmother's reputation, I offer our family Mandelbrodt (literally "Almond Bread") recipe. The Jewish version of biscotti, moister and richer than many biscotti. When we were young my brother loved to stuff as many mandelbrodt as he could into a tall glass, fill it with milk and eat the resulting glop with a spoon. Ah, the simple joys of childhood!

Mandelbrodt, fresh from the oven and waiting for an encounter with a glass of milk.

Mandelbrodt
Makes about 3 dozen cookies

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup (or more) toasted almonds, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
whole raw almonds

Preheat the oven to 350  degrees. Butter two cookie sheets or line them with parchment paper.

Beat together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil until well blended. Mix in the chopped almonds. Sift/stir the salt, flour and baking powder together, and then add to the eggs mixture, beating only until just combined. The dough will be wet, but should be solid enough to form loaves.

With floured hands, form long narrow loaves on the cookie sheets, adding a little additional flour if necessary. They should be about 1 1/2 inches high and 2 1/2 - 3 inches wide. Make sure that there is 1-2 inches space between the loaves so that they have room to spread. Push raw almonds into the top of the dough in the direction of the width of the loaves at 1 inch intervals.

Unbaked loaves ready for the oven.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until the loaves are lightly browned on the edges. Immediately cut into 1 1/2 inch wide slices, cutting between the almonds on top. Turn each cookie on its side on the cookie sheet and return to the oven until lightly browned, about another 20 - 25 minutes.