Honey Cake

Honey Cake

(Lekach)

Two New Recipes

Blue Heron Kitchen

If you’re as serious about honey cake as I am, you're going to cheer for these two fantastic, delicious, memorable and important recipes. I can’t decide which I like better. They’re comparable in quality but are as different as Brooklyn and Queens. I think I know which cake I love more (today), but like kids, each different, equally loved. This year, it’s one of the earliest Jewish New Years ever (the 5^th of September!). Jewish holidays are never “on time”. You're gonna plotz when you find out when the first night of Hanukah is. 

First: two excellent Jewish baking resources for you: A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking by Marcy Goldman, and Inside the Jewish Bakery by Stanley Ginsberg and Norman Berg.

Now, the poop on lekach: honey cake has a bad rep. It’s always on the dessert table because it has to be there; and everyone has to say they hate it.

These recipes will convert nonbelievers and have them swarming around your dessert table.

Okay, let’s lekach!

“Majestic and Moist New Year’s Honey Cake”

From Marcy Goldman’s A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking

Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen

Goldman’s fifteen-year-old book is a home-baker-friendly resource. I found a used copy on Amazon in perfect condition (first edition!)

She writes, “I like a New Year's honey cake to be extra moist and sweet, as good on the day of baking as it is days later. This one is queen of the realm—rich, nicely spiced, in a word, majestic in taste and stature. I went through many variations and tasting sessions until I was satisfied with this definitive cake. One tester gave the ultimate compliment, saying "This one is worth the price of the book." Like most honey cakes, it is a good keeper and can be made a couple of days ahead.” (Translation: it keeps well and you should make it several days ahead because it’ll taste better.)

This cake is a majestic cake. It’s tall, golden and moist. It’s light in texture, and the addition of alcohol makes it one of the most elegant honey cakes I’ve tasted.

Ingredients:

3½ c. all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder (I suggest Rumford’s aluminum-free)

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. kosher salt

4 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cloves

½ tsp. ground allspice

1 c. vegetable oil (I use Canola, whatever you use, make sure it’s odorless .. fresh)

1 c. honey (for this cake, I use Golden Blossom brand honey)

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar (be sure that it’s fresh and moist)

3 eggs, size large, at room temperature

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I always use Baldwins!)

1 c. warm coffee or strong tea (I used PG Tips tea one time and Nespresso another)

½ c. fresh orange juice (if you don’t squeeze your own, use the best quality you can buy)

1/4 cup rye or whisky (I used Makers Mark Bourbon) or,  *without alcohol, see below*

½ c. slivered or sliced almonds (optional – please see note at end of recipe)

Procedure:

Equipment:  9-inch angel food cake pan (best) or 10-inch tube or Bundt cake pan, a 9 x 13-inch sheet pan, or three 8 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pans.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Rack in center of oven. Lightly grease the pan(s). For tube and angel food pans, line the bottom with lightly greased parchment paper. 

(it's easy, trace it on the bottom)

For gift honey cakes you might want to get some paper loaf molds (available on amazon.com) and then wrap them in clear cellophane or pop one into a clear cellophane bag.

This cake is “mis-en-place” (“in place and ready for action) perfect. Measure everything out in five vessels (or less) and you’re done. Lightly oil your large (1 qt.) liquid measuring cup and begin with oil, then add honey, followed by orange juice and whisky. Then dump in the eggs and vanilla. Have the sugars measured out. The dry ingredients have been whisked together in the large bowl. Easy. You’re a pro!

If making this by hand, use a large bowl. Using an electric mixer (KA) use its bowl and whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Make a well in the center         

and add the oil, honey, sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee, orange juice, and alcohol.

Using a strong wire whisk or Kitchen Aid or ‘other’ electric mixer on slow (KA2) speed, combining the ingredients well to make a liquid batter, making sure that all ingredients are incorporated (use a spatula to bring the bottom up to the top.)

Spoon, ladle or pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and if you’re using nuts, sprinkle them on top of the cake(s) evenly. Place the cake pan(s) on a 2 baking sheets stacked together and bake until the cake springs back when you touch it gently in the center. For angel and tube cake pans, bake for 60 to 70 minutes; loaf cakes, 40 to 55 minutes. For sheet-style cakes, the baking time is 40 to 45 minutes. Cake should spring back when gently pressed.

Let the cake stand for 15 minutes before removing it from the pan. Then invert it onto a wire rack to cool completely. If making this by hand, use a large bowl.

Truc: If you don’t have time to let the cake cool (bedtime?) if the cakes are warm (please, NOT hot), drape a cotton tea towel over them, go wash your face, floss and brush; and in the morning, wrap them up. They’ll keep for days (the taste will improve). You can refrigerate them, but bring to room temperature before serving.

Serves 10-12 

*If you prefer not to use alcohol, replace with orange juice or coffee

Note: In general, garnishing a cake with an ingredient that isn’t inside is confusing, sloppy and deceptive. Slivered almonds scattered on top of honey cake taste good. So much for generalizations.

9.13.13 This just in!

My nephew sent this photo of his innovative version, albeit unorthodox (even better!). He baked the honey cake and layered it with a honey-cinnamon buttercream, crowned with sliced almonds. It was a hit at his office, but since his office is in Australia, it was gone before I could get a slice. Looks great, Jacob!

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Honey Cake (Lekach)

From Inside the Jewish Bakery by Stanley Ginsberg and Norman Berg

Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen

The Ginsberg/Berg book is fascinating reading for anyone who grew up eating “Jewish Bakery” (If you can eat “Jewish Deli”, why not “Jewish Bakery”?). The book is a great read, with interesting anecdotes about Eastern European Jewish tradition (Yiddishkeit), scholarly references and a peek inside the obsolete family-owned Jewish bakeries of New York. When you buy the book, get the published “errata” online. Print corrections out and keep them in the book. A mitzvah, those corrections.

These cakes bake for 2 to 2 ½ hours (no kidding) at 225º F. Truc: make sure these are fully baked or you will have sink holes, lines down the middle, instead of crowning loaves. Nobody will talk about you if you bake them at 250º.

What I found intriguing about Stanley and Norman’s honey cake is that it calls for white  rye (no wheat) flour and dark (buckwheat) honey. They write: “Virtually all honey cake recipes in print today call for wheat flour. This recipe uses white rye flour, which was the highest quality flour available in Eastern Europe to all but the very wealthy. …And unlike wheat, which dries out over time, rye, like honey, absorbs water from the atmosphere, so that this cake gets better day by day”.

You can find “White” or “Light” Rye flour online. Order it now. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you’ll have it day after tomorrow. Here are some links: I bought Bob’s Red Mill on amazon.com because the shipping was cheaper than buying directly from Bob’s Red Mill – sorry Bob. You have to buy a case (four 2-pound bags). The expiration date is a couple of years out. Hopefully, you’ll be inscribed in The Book of Life, and you’ll use it next year (or live in the moment and make a rye bread.) It’s also available directly from Bob’s Red Mill and King Arthur Flour sells it. I doubled this recipe because after going through the trouble to find the rye flour, I wanted to use it. (Important: If you double the recipe, you’ll need a 6-quart Kitchen Aid, or just do it by hand.) Please don’t inquire about substituting dark rye flour. If you do and it works, don’t tell me.

The cake has no orange juice, no extracts, no alcohol or warm “strong” coffee or tea. It’s a no frills commercial (“cummoischul”) bakery recipe, an unusual and extraordinary honey cake. It’s toothsome and with a cup of coffee or a “gleyzele tey” (glass of tea), this cake will make you feel like you’re sitting in your bubbie’s kitchen. (What I wouldn’t give…)

Grandma Rae

Ingredients:

¾ c. brown sugar, firmly packed

1/3 tsp. kosher salt

1/3 c. beaten egg (about 1 ½ size large)

11/3 c. buckwheat (dark) honey* (If you can’t get dark honey, substitute 1.5 oz./40 gr. unsulphered molasses for same quantity of honey.)

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cloves

½ tsp. ground allspice

2/3 c. water (room temperature)

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

4 ½ c. (1 pound) White or “Light” rye flour

1-2 cups whole, sliced or slivered nuts (optional - refer to my "Note" above about optional nuts.)

you'll be astonished at how much honey's left when you turn it upside down

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 225º F./105º C., rack in center of oven. Grease and flour or line with parchment the bottom of two 8 ½ x 4 ½ in./22x12cm. loaf pans.

In bowl of an electric mixer, combine brown sugar, salt, egg, oil, honey and spices and mix using flat paddle beater at low-medium (KA 4) for 6-7 minutes until well blended.

Add baking soda and water and continue to mix until blended.

Add the white (light) rye flour, one cup at a time, blending each addition before adding the next cup. Continue to beat for about 10 minutes. The batter will be loose, stringy and quite sticky.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and if using, top with nuts.

Bake for 2 to 2 ½ hours (or, if necessary, longer – until tester comes out clean.) Be sure cakes are fully baked before removing from oven (or you’ll have a sunken lines down the middle and forgive me, wet spots.)

Remove to a rack and let cool for 15 - 20 minutes. Run a sharp knife along sides of pan to ease release. Invert, turn back up and cool on racks, completely.

Wrap well and let the cakes ‘season’ for at least one day.

peace and love,

jane

Sugar-Free Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

Sugar-Free (Chocolate dipped) Coconut Macaroons

(Passover Recipe!)

Adapted from David Lebovitz’ “Ready for Dessert” by Blue Heron Kitchen

For those seeking low carbohydrate and low glycemic desserts, I offer coconut macaroons, kosher for Passover, plain or dipped in chocolate! This dessert will be a welcome addition, sans weird chemicals, for people who don’t like or whose bodies can’t process sugar.

I’ve combined Erythritol and stevia, both ‘natural’ sweeteners. Almond flour replaces traditional flour (and it legalizes these for your Passover table!)

Here's the poop on Erythritol: according to Wikipedia: is 60–70% as sweet as table sugar yet it is almost noncaloric, does not affect blood sugar, does not cause tooth decay, and is partially absorbed by the body, excreted in urine and feces. It is less likely to cause gastric side effects than other sugar alcohols because of its unique digestion pathway. Under U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeling requirements, it has a caloric value of 0.2 kilocalories per gram (95% less than sugar and other carbohydrates), though nutritional labeling varies from country to country.

I bought my Erythritol from pureformulas.com. This site seems to have the best prices. Shipping was free and fast. I bought "NOW" brand. 

According to nutrition labeling: 1 tsp. contains zero calories and 4g of carbohydrates. That’s it. It’s about 70% as sweet as sugar, and there’s a ‘cold’ taste to it, so combining it with Stevia (I highly recommend you buy NuNaturals brand NuStevia White Stevia Powder, which you can buy online at Amazon.com or in Whole Foods) works out well in terms of the sweetness factor as well as ‘warming up’ the ‘cool’ factor. Stevia is a sweetener that is derived from a plant called Stevia.

A great place to purchase unsweetened coconut and almond meal is at your local Indian market. Apna Bazaar on Long Island is a great market. Any Patel Brothers in the New York area is also a great choice. In NYC, go down to 28^th and Lexington. Bob’s Red Mill is another great resource for both unsweetened coconut and almond flour. Large markets like Fairway, Stop and Shop and Whole Foods sell Bob's Red Mill. Or, buy from them directly or on Amazon.com.

This recipe is a first for me, and I’m excited to share it with you. Don't expect the gooey, sticky, glutenous canned macaroon product you find after you've sliced your finger to find the 10 settled balls at the bottom of the Streit's can. My hope is that this will bring sweet satisfaction and enjoyment to those who have been missing and searching for something sweet to finish off a Passover seder (a meal capable of throwing the healthiest individual into chemical imbalance) or to just savor the sweet combination of coconut and chocolate without jeopardizing or taxing ones health.

Have a ziesen* Pesach

* and isn't "sweet" is subjective anyway?

peace and love,

jane

Ingredients:

5 large egg whites, size large

1 ¼ c. pure Erythritol

¼ tsp. Kosher salt

2 ½ tsp. pure White Stevia powder (NuNaturals brand, if possible)

2 ½ c. dried, unsweetened shredded coconut

¼ c. almond meal (almond flour)

1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

optional for dipping:

2-3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped, plus additional Stevia for sweetening, to taste

½ tsp. coconut oil

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350º F. and prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.

In a large (4 quart) saucepan, mix all ingredients (EXCEPT THE OPTIONAL CHOCOLATE FOR DIPPING) together over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to ‘sizzle’.

Remove from heat and transfer to a mixing bowl.

When mixture is still warm, working quickly, form into mounds, about 1 ½ “ high. Work fairly quickly, because when the batter cools too much, it tends to dry out and is difficult to work with.

These will not spread, so you can place then fairly close together.

Form approximately 24 to 30 macaroons and bake them on two racks, rotating them top to bottom, front to back, half way through the bake, for about 20 minutes, until they are well browned.

Cool completely.

For optional melted chocolate:

Line one of the baking sheets with another piece of parchment paper or some waxed paper.

In the top of a double boiler, melt about 2 to 3 ounces of excellent quality unsweetened chocolate. Add ½ tsp. coconut oil and stevia powder, to taste (add it ¼ tsp at a time!)

Dip the bottom of each macaroon in the melted chocolate and place on the prepared baking sheet. Place in fridge until chocolate is set.

These can be kept in an airtight container for a few days. Or, freeze them, in layers, between sheets of waxed paper. 

Graham Crackers with Teff Flour

Graham Crackers with Teff Flour

Adapted from Blue Heron Kitchen

If you’re interested in exploring and working with flours and grains that take you beyond the all-purpose white or whole wheat arena, I recommend you get a copy of Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce. It’s a fantastic resource.

Teff flour is known, primarily in Ethiopian cuisine to make injera, a flat, spongy bread that's served with just about all Ethiopian food. It offers twice as much iron as wheat and it’s loaded with calcium too. It’s another one of those miracle grains like Quinoa that people outside of “civilized culture” have been eating for centuries. We’re just getting it.

Don’t know where to find Teff flour? Bob’s Red Mill is a great resource. If you don’t live  near a market that carries this line, buy it online, directly from the company.  In this recipe, I also use and recommend Bob’s Red Mill’s whole wheat graham flour (organic or not organic, your preference.)

Gluten 101: This isn’t my first recipe for graham crackers. The original one I published calls for the addition of spelt flour. Graham, spelt and teff flours have in common that they’re all low in gluten. Gluten is the protein that binds stuff together, like bread. The more you mix or beat a batter or a dough, the more gluten you’re creating. When you roll out a pie crust and it shrinks back to the center, saying “NO!”, it’s because you’ve worked it too hard and there’s all this gluten activity. (You should put it back into the fridge and let it relax for a while before rolling it again.) Lower gluten flours produce a softer or product. Nobody likes a tough cookie. Not enough gluten, and your cookie crumbles.

You can play around with the spices (I did). I used a mild ‘golden blossom’ flavor honey, and as always, if you can get your hands on it, European style butter (83% butterfat). Brer Rabbit brand molasses is unsulphered and it isn’t blackstrap. The recipe calls for (“not blackstrap”). Blackstrap may be too dominant a flavor. If you only have blackstrap molasses, or are committed to it for its nutritional powerhouse value, use it and you could lighten up a little on some of the spice profile (or not). I’m on the fence about cloves in this recipe. In certain products, cloves are akin to wearing red lipstick. You decide. Cloves are personal.

Don’t forget to score and ‘dock’ the crackers. “Docking” means using the tines of a fork to prick tiny holes in each cookie. This keeps them from rising when they bake. You can be exact or random. Docking is tedious relaxing!

You won’t need anything but measuring devices, a whisk, a couple of bowls and a rolling pin and you. An electric mixer isn’t necessary, but using one will put this together faster than you can say, “Walmart screws women and Mexicans!”

peace and love,

jane

Grahams

With Teff Flour

Adapted from Kim Boyce’s Good to the Grain by Blue Heron Kitchen

Ingredients:

Dry Mix:

1 c. graham flour

½ c. teff flour

¾ c. all-purpose, unbleached flour

½ c. dark brown sugar (be certain that it’s moist and fresh – no lumps!)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground allspice

1/8 tsp. ground cloves (opt.)

Wet Mix:

3 oz. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (Plugra, Cabots, Kate’s, Kerrygold are all great choices.)

¼ cup honey

1 Tbsp. unsulphured (not blackstrap) molasses

1/3 c. whole milk

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I recommend Baldwin’s)

Topping (optional):

¼ c. sugar

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

Procedure:

1.            In a medium to large sized bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, baking powder and spices. Then, whisk in the (fresh and lump-free) brown sugar. Set aside.

2.            Over low heat, melt the butter and set aside

3.            (Truc: For an easy pour, coat the inside of your measuring cup with tasteless oil or soft/melted butter.)

4.            Measure out the honey and add the molasses.

5.            Pour milk, honey and molasses into a smaller bowl. Add lukewarm butter and whisk together. Add vanilla extract.

6.            Pour wet mixture over dry and mix together, using a wooden spoon and then your hands.

7.            Flatten into two discs and wrap in plastic wrap.

8.            Refrigerate for several hours, overnight, or up to three days.

9.            Baking: Preheat oven to 350º F. and line several baking sheets with parchment paper (or butter them).

10.         Dust the work surface with flour and roll the chilled dough out to 1/8” thickness. Using a pastry wheel, fluted or non-fluted, a sharp knife, or you can use cookie cutters to make cute shapes, cut rectangles, whatever size you fancy your graham crackers. You can cut them out completely or cut out strips and leave some partially ‘scored’ and break them apart after they’re baked. It’s fun to do this.

11.         Dock them with the tines of a fork and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

12.         Transfer to the prepared baking sheet.

13.         Bake for approximately about 15 minutes, until the edges are darker than the rest    of the cracker, rotating the sheets half way through the bake, top to bottom and front to back. 

14.         Remove from sheets and cool on rack.

15.         If you don’t polish them all off with some cold milk, these are the bookends for the ultimate s’mores.  Use homemade plain or flavored (Grand Marnier!) marshmallows (click here for the recipe!) Choose a black tie chocolate bar like Lindt, Godiva or Valhrona or even Hershey's dark, and you've got  S’Mosts.  

16.         Unless you live in a humid climate or are at sea (and provided you’ve baked them thoroughly), these will keep for a week in an airtight container. They may be packed well and frozen.