Well, the honey cake, or lekach, is normally ready well before Rosh Hashana, which was a week ago. But it’s not possible to be Wonder Woman every minute of every day (getting into this costume alone is hard work). Luckily, it’s never too late for cake.

Here’s the recipe, and there’ll be plenty for a couple of days and some to spare for breaking the Yom Kippur fast on Wednesday.  Preparing this cake will remind you of making muffins, with wet ingredients being mixed into the dry, although it’s harder to overbeat this batter.

For more Rosh Hashana-related recipes and posts, click here.

Depending how early you make it, you may wish to freeze half or a quarter of the cake for post-Yom Kippur noshing as this is not a cake you can leave lying around (it tends to diminish with each visitor to the kitchen).

Preheat the oven to 350F. Get a baking tin ready by lining with parchment paper and spraying Pam onto the paper.

Shana Tovah, a sweet and happy new year to all who have rung in 5773!

What you need:

Dry ingredients.

  • Flour, 3 1/2 cups
  • Baking soda, 1 tsp
  • Baking powder, 1 tsp
  • Cinnamon, 4 tsp
  • Cloves, 1 tsp
  • Ground dried ginger, 2 tsp
  • Nutmeg, 1 tsp
  • Castor sugar, 1 cup
  • Brown sugar, 1 cup
  • Salt, 3/4 – 1 tsp

Wet ingredients:

  • Eggs, 3 whole
  • Honey, 1 cup
  • Mild-scented veg oil, like grape seed, 1 cup
  • Tea or coffee, strong, 1 cup, cooled
  • Orange juice, 1/2 cup
  • Rye or whiskey, 1/4 cup
  • Ginger, fresh and grated, 2-3 tsp
  • Vanilla, 2 tbsp
  1. Use your food processor to mix the dry ingredients together first, till incorporated nicely
  2. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
  3. Into the well, add all the wet ingredients, one by one
  4. Gently process till it all comes together, increase mixer speed and give it a good whirl.
  5. Pour into baking tin. Sprinkle the top with slivered or sliced almonds, if you wish.
  6. Bake for about 45-55 minutes, till a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, or till the cake – when touched with a finger – leaves no depression.

Sometimes I like to make a simple syrup with brown sugar and orange juice and pour it all over the cake when it’s done, to make it even more moist.