The lightest Honey cake recipe ever!

Making the perfect honey cake for Rosh Hashanah

I used to think that Honey cake was so hard to make! You would think that after years and years of making it I would have it mastered but no. Last year I decided to go all out and make a huge batch for the whole family, tennis mums, and work colleagues alike. It was no mean feat seeing as I only had one evening to do it in an oven with a thermostatic mind of its own.

I set off with my tins and disposable metal containers and started to make 5 times the recipe. It took an age to prepare and I didn’t listen to my own advice – three times any mixture is the most you should do in one go! Apart from anything the trusty Kitchen aid can’t handle any more than that, but it also messes with the ‘science of baking’.  Anyway, It took me so long to get it all whisked, folded and in the tins that my old oven got way too hot. Within 10 minutes of putting the mixture in the oven they were burnt on top and still all liquid mixture underneath. It was a mess. That’s when I started again and came up with this recipe, oh and got a new oven!

The lesson learned from last year is take your time with the mixture and don’t let your oven get too hot!!!!

The winning Honey cake formula

I’ve tweaked this cake so that it’s extra light and fluffy but still a bit firm and sticky -definitely not too heavy. It’s totally moorish and I make it mainly for Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish New Year, but it makes a great tea cake too.

Light and fluffy Honey Cake Ingredients

90g plain flour

100g Self Raising flour

1¼ tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp ground cinnamon

4 eggs (separated)

100g caster sugar

110ml honey

110ml sunflower oil

110ml tea (the stronger the better)

To make the cake

1. Preheat your oven to 150 C / gas mark 2.  Line a round 25cm tin or two loaf tins with baking paper.
2. Sieve the plain flour, self raising flour,baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl mix the egg yolks and sugar.
4.  Add the oil and honey in a steady stream to the eggs and sugar mix, beating the whole time.
5. Whisk up the egg whites till they form soft peaks.
6. Add the flour and dry ingredients and tea to the mixture.
7. Gently fold in the egg whites. Be careful not to over mix. Fold until the whites are no longer visible. The more you mix the less air there will be in the cake and the heavier it will be.
8. Pour the mixture into the tin. Don’t overfill the tins as this cake rises quite a lot during baking.
9. Bake the loaf tins for 25 minutes and the 25cm round tin for 40 minutes.
10. A skewer inserted into the middle will come out clean. You can also press lightly on the centre of the cake. If it springs back it’s ready.
11. When it comes out of the oven the cake will be well risen. As it cools down it will sink. Don’t worry. This is normal.

This is the lightest Honey cake recipe I’ve ever used. My mum uses syrup in her cakes which makes a much more sticky cake (which is also delish) and lots of people add a handful of walnuts or raisins, which are also good additions,but I like it plain and simple.

I hope you enjoy this cake and I wish you a

“Chag Sameach”

(Or Happy Jewish New Year to you all)