Honey Cake with Dates and Apples
It is true that I already have a Honey Cake recipe, and one that has been dear to me for many years, but I felt it was time to branch out. I had come to terms with the fact that my earlier Honey Cake doesn’t have actually any honey in it (it requires, instead, the glory that is Golden Syrup) but I also had to conclude that perhaps having a Honey Cake — whose purpose in life is after all to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year — that can’t be eaten by those who keep Kosher, is not the most helpful thing in the world. Last year, I decided to set that right, and this Honey Cake with Dates and Apples is the delicious remedy. Essentially, whatever the ingredients, what matters is that the cake be sweet: a symbolic expression of most urgent hopes for a sweet year ahead. Actually, since there is no mention of bee-keeping in the Bible, is has long been presumed that ‘honey’, as in Land of Milk and Honey, actually refers to a syrup made with boiled-down dates, which feature still in the Sephardi New Year feast. And in the Ashkenazi tradition, eating slices of apple dipped in honey is an essential part of the Rosh Hashanah celebration. It pleased me to bring these components together. They also help, along with the dark muscovado sugar, to create a cake of seductive squidginess. I have forgone the familiar warm (if noisy) gingerbready spicing to let the flavours of honey, apple and date sing out beautifully and clearly, helped along the way by the fragrance of orange and orange blossom. If needed, you could always replace the orange blossom water with another teaspoon of orange juice. I use a pleated paper cake tin liner when making this, which helps with getting the cake out of the tin, and makes washing up easier too. It’s especially useful if you’re giving a cake away as a present. But otherwise, do line the bottom of the tin with parchment and lightly oil the sides. If you’re making this to eat at home, I should tell you that I rather adore it still slightly warm.
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