This moist, sweet Jewish Honey Cake is served on Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and is eaten in hopes of a sweet year to follow. It has all the warm fall spices like cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice and flavored with a bit of rum. Sounds like the start of a good New Year to me!
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The cake is very moist from the honey, brown sugar, and oil. It’s deliciously spiced from cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice with crunchy, caramelized edges. Jewish honey cake improves in both flavor and texture after a day or two. And did I mention the sweet, gooey glaze that’s flavored with rum? Yep, it’s gilding the lily, so to speak.
My dear friend taught me this recipe and I love it. She always topped her cake with dried, sometimes sugared rosebuds. I’m not sure why, but I like to continue her tradition. Typically, the cake is topped with sliced almonds or left plain.
WHAT DO I NEED FOR THIS RECIPE?
- The dry ingredients include flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
- Then mix up the wet ingredients which include oil, honey, granulated and brown sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee, orange juice, and rum. The rum is optional but is really good in this cake. Dark rum is my favorite in this recipe, but I’ve also used Spiced Rum and it was equally yummy.
- Finally, mix up your glaze – powdered sugar, butter, more rum, and vanilla.
MORE ROSH HASHANA RECIPES TO TRY:
- Lemon Herb-Roasted Chicken
- Meat Kreplach
- Chicken Marbella
- Perfect Oven Roasted Beef Brisket
- Toasted Israeli Couscous Salad
- Chopped Israeli Salad
- Zucchini Patties
- Old Fashioned Fried Apples
- Marmalade Rum Glazed Carrots
- Sauteed Haricots Vert
JEWISH HONEY CAKE
- Total Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
- Yield: Serves 8
Description
This moist, Jewish honey cake is a delicious, spiced rum cake that is a Rosh Hashanah favorite. Baked in a bundt pan, this cake improves in flavor and texture in a day or two.
Ingredients
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup honey
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup strong coffee
½ cup orange juice
½ cup dark rum, divided
For the glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup butter, melted
3 tablespoons rum or water
1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
In the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed, combine the oil, honey, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs vanilla, coffee, orange juice, and ¼ cup of the rum. Mix until well combined.
Reduce the speed to low. Add the dry ingredients slowly while mixing, making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure that all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes or until the cake springs back when you touch it.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before gently inverting it onto the wire rack to cool completely.
While the cake is still hot, use a pastry brush to brush the outside of the cake with the remaining ¼ cup of rum.
While the cake cools completely, make the glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, butter, rum, and vanilla.
Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. Decorate as desired with dried rosebuds, slivered almonds, or leave plain.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 70 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Jewish
Keywords: Jewish honey cake, Jewish desserts, cake recipes, bundt cake recipes, honey cake, rum cake, Rosh Hashanah
