Date & Honey Cake

I’m still working (a bit frantically) to get out a Rosh Hashana recipe amalgamation post, with having some techie difficulties (My son Yehuda my computer go-to guy has been called too many times, lucky he loves me) but I will do my best, I hear you guys calling my name. In any case, this post will be part of the compilation and is my latest iteration on the honey cake deal. Coupla years ago I wrote that the family voted down honey cake being less enamored of it but I’ve found that we have all developed a secret honey cake mad pash and all voted for it. Go know! In any case, this recipe makes two 9 x 5 (or 23 X 13 cm) loaf pans, worth it since I squirrel one away in the freezer for breaking the fast on for Yom Kippur. Here they are, merrily ripening in the kitchen before I freeze one. This simply means, after baking, cooling and then removing the parchment paper, either wrap them or ziploc them and let them sit for a day or two before freezing. This helps get that beloved texture and intensifies the lovely spice mix of the cakes. That’s why it’s a shoo in to make in advance, it just gets better.

So let’s get the ingredients ready and get cracking, busy busy!

Now that’s a cup of pitted dates you see, but if you are like me and you simply can’t guess how much that means either weight wise or date wise, I took the liberty of weighing them (pitted!) dates for you and by count there are 8 medium large medjool dates there (these are larger than some other dates, hence the weight measurement as well). In the recipe is the weight, no worries. K. Now you will need either a stick blender or regular blender or in a pinch a food processor, but, if you don’t mind bigger bits of dates/craisins in your cake you could just chop up the lot by hand after soaking.

Preheat your oven to 325 F/165 C. NOT 350!!! It will cause your cake to burn, honey needs a lower temp, trust me please on this one! A note about honey. I have eaten all sorts but there is simply nothing that will ever compare to what they call raw or unpasteurized honey. The flavor is so different to regular honey that you cannot quite believe it’s the same food. So do try to use it, it elevates the flavor beyond.

Take your tea (I used 2 strong English Tetley black tea bags for this) and pour the boiling water over it and brew the tea for 4 minutes like so but cover it with some tin foil so it stays hot:

Remove the tea bags. Place the pitted dates and craisins (or raisins if you prefer) in your blender container and pour the still hot tea over them and cover with the blender cover and let sit while you organize the dry ingredients.

Into the mixing bowl go the flour, brown sugar, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder. (and yes, you need both leavening agents here). One more word about leavening. Please measure the amounts accurately since too much and the cake will rise too much and deflate after and you really don’t want that, so scoop up in a proper measuring spoon and level the top, just sayin’.

and stir it up!

K. Back to our bathing dates and craisins. They’ve softened nicely by now and you add to this the oil, (put it in the cup first so the honey won’t stick) then honey and last the eggs. Give it a nice buzz altogether till mostly smooth. If you are using the raw honey, the blender will make it smooth if it’s thick or chunky, which it can be.

Pour the lot over your dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and scrape all the mixture out of the blender.

Mix the ingredients together till smooth and it’s a bit thicker than most honey cakes.

The dates add some heft – the batter should stick to a spatula and be slightly reluctant about falling off into the bowl. Make sure to scrape bottom and sides so there’s no pockets of flour remaining. Now take your two loaf pans and spray oil and then line with parchment paper. You will kiss me with joy for this since your cake will gloriously come out of your pan whole and undefeated whereas those who do not line the pan (yes, do both oiling and lining) will gnash their teeth. Not something to be desired. K. Evenly distribute the batter between the two loaf pans like so:

Yes, I could’ve done a neater job but I was a bit under the weather, bear with me. And bake for between 45-55 minutes or till a lovely deep cinnamon-y color and a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Don’t overbake and check in a few spots. Since everyone’s oven is a bit different, ya never know. In my old oven took me 45 minutes, this one 50. Know how hot your oven bakes and adjust accordingly. This honey cake is moister due to the dates and the craisins add a nice piquant something to it. And dates and honey? What could be bad? Lovely with a nice cuppa tea or coffee or even a glass of milk. Have a wonderful and Sweet New Year.

Date & Honey Cake

This makes two 9x 5 inch loaf pan or two 23×13 cm loaf pans

1 cup pitted dates ( 146 grams)

1/4 cup dried cranberries (36 grams)

1 1/4 cups strong brewed (2 tea bags) black tea (300 ml)

1/2 cup oil (118 ml)

1 cup honey (236 ml) (raw honey if you can get it)

3 cups (375 grams) all purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar (200 grams)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:

Prepare the loaf pans by oil spraying and parchment paper lining them (it sticks to oil and hugs the pan). Preheat the oven to 325 F/165 C – very very important not to heat to a higher temp or your cake is likely to burn before it’s cooked through. Honey needs a lower temp.

Place the pitted dates and craisins (or raisins if you prefer) in a blender (or use a stick blender in a deep container) and pour the hot tea over them and cover. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl place the flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda and baking powder. Stir together till combined.

Back to the tea/date mixture. Add the oil and in the same cup afterwards measure the honey (so it doesn’t stick) and lastly the eggs. Blend all together till mostly smooth. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry and beat till combined with no flour pockets remaining (scrape with spatula to be sure) and divide evenly between the two prepared pans.

Bake between 45-55 minutes or till baked throughout and wooden toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely in pans preferably on wire rack. When cool, peel off parchment paper and either wrap in foil or ziploc bags. It’s actually better to let sit for a day or two to ripen (intensify flavor and betters texture). Freezes excellently well.