The Best Honey Cake of Your Life

Bonus: Festive Rosh Hashanah rice with pomegranate seeds!

Sep 15, 2024

Shalom from Israel.

We don’t have the luxury of lazy Sundays. It’s just a normal work and school day. And being the first day of the week, it’s a generally more chaotic morning than any other day of the week. Though I can’t say I was prepared for this morning’s chaos. The Houthis caused my heart to race as I was abruptly awakened by a cacophony of beeping phone alerts, blaring rocket warning sirens, and my vigilant wife mobilizing our family to seek shelter. Yet another missile was on its way. Details are still a bit fuzzy, but what we do know is that a fragment fell just a few miles from our house. Nonetheless, the children made their way to school, and judging by the morning traffic, people went to work. I can’t say I like this new normal.

You might think there's no connection between missile alerts and honey cakes, but let me tell you – they both have a tendency to ruin a perfectly good morning. Since we've already dodged one bullet today (literally), let's see if we can't dodge another one lurking in our holiday traditions.

Once again, it’s Rosh Hashanah and the aroma of deeply caramelized honey cake is wafting through the air. It’s a smell of comfort, warmth, home and family. It’s love. But let’s be honest and say the quiet thing out loud: No one ever asks for a second piece of honey cake. No offense to your family recipe, but it’s dry, over-baked, burnt and the only reason we eat it is because that’s what we do on Rosh Hashanah (and perhaps we don’t want to offend Aunt Rachel?). It’s the emotional connection we have with the scent that we love, not the taste of the cake. And that’s not OK. Time to level up and put away that recipe torn from your grandmother’s copy of The Settlement Cookbook. I’ve got you.

My Honey Chocolate Cake with a Mocha Tahini Glaze will fill your home with the familiar scent of Rosh Hashanah AND be devoured by your entire family.

Honey Chocolate Cake with Mocha Tahini Glaze

1 cup (240 ml), boiling water

3 heaping tablespoons (40 grams), cocoa powder

1 ½ cups (190 grams), flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup (120 grams), light brown sugar

⅔ cup (130 grams), white sugar

⅔ cup, (160 ml), neutral oil (canola, grapeseed oil, etc)

⅔ cup plus 1 tablespoon (180 grams) honey

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 F / 180 C.

Generously oil and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

The first step in achieving supreme chocolateness is to “bloom” the cocoa to maximize and deepen the chocolate flavor. Sift the cocoa powder and add the cup of boiling water. Keep whisking until all lumps vanish! Let it cool. Ideally, it should be lukewarm or slightly warm to the touch, not hot. This will help prevent it from scrambling the eggs when added to the wet ingredients.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk until combined.

Combine the light brown sugar, white sugar, oil, honey, eggs, vanilla extract and bloomed cocoa powder. Note: Make sure the bloomed cocoa powder has cooled, it can be warm, but not super hot. Whisk thoroughly until all the ingredients are combined.

Fold in ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Once fully incorporated, and another ⅓ and once that is incorporated, add the last ⅓.

Pour batter into the loaf pan. This cake will rise a lot, so make sure to leave at least a ⅓ of space at the top. Any extra batter can be used in muffin tins, mini bundt cakes, etc.

Bake until the cake is set. Generally 25-30 minutes, but it can certainly be more. Insert a toothpick or paring knife into the center of the cake to see if the crumb has set. If the toothpick is wet or has crumbs on it, your cake needs more time. Let the cake cool for about 30 minutes before removing from the pan. This helps prevent it from crumbling or breaking apart when removed. Slide a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake if necessary. Let the cake completely cool before icing.

Tahini Mocha Glaze

2 tablespoons, raw Tahini

2 tablespoon, cold dark coffee

1 ½ teaspoons, sifted cocoa powder

2-3 tablespoons, sifted powdered sugar

In a small bowl, whisk together the tahini, coffee, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar until smooth.

If the glaze is too thick, add more coffee (or water) 1 teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency. If it's too thin, add more sifted powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time.

The ideal consistency is the "ribbon stage" - when you lift the whisk, the glaze will fall in a ribbon that holds its shape for a few seconds before melting back into the bowl. If it drips immediately, it's too thin. If it's clumpy, it's too thick.

Let the glaze thicken slightly for a few minutes before drizzling over the cooled cake.

Allow the glaze to set for about 30 minutes to an hour before serving.

Important: Even though you're likely going to bake the cake the day before, make sure to drizzle the glaze on the day you serve it for optimal freshness and texture.

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Festive Rice with Pomegranate Seeds

Back in the early 2000s, the Israel Information Center at the Consulate in New York put out a cookbook with recipes from many of Israel's top chefs of that time. I'm not sure how I came upon it, but it still sits proudly with all my cookbooks on my bookshelf and it's where I found what has become our family holiday staple.

My version of this dish is based on a recipe by Hanoch Bar-Shalom, a legendary Israeli chef who ignored and purposely avoided the hubbub of the burgeoning food-tainment industry. While other top chefs were looking abroad for inspiration, Bar-Shalom looked local. His style was influenced by the myriad of cultures in Israel and the magic of the Carmel Market, just blocks away from his home. Bar-Shalom was doing 'market to table' cuisine before it was trendy. He called himself a simple man who likes to make simple food. As a result, this is a simple dish with simple ingredients, but its flavors are bright and bold. I've been making this side dish every holiday for years. In my home, it's known by all as "Festive Rice." I invite you to join the tasty tradition this holiday - or any day really, it’s damn good rice!

1 cup basmati rice

3 tbsp. olive oil plus 1 tsp.

30 grams of pine nuts

15 grams of slivered almonds

1 onion, finely chopped

3 tbsp. dill, chopped

1 tbsp. mint, chopped

1 tbsp. parsley, chopped

3 tbsp. cilantro, chopped

⅛ tsp. of cinnamon or small stick of cinnamon

1 pomegranate, seeded

To prepare the rice, begin by thoroughly rinsing it under cold water. Then immerse the rice in a bowl filled with water and let it soak for about 20 minutes.
Dry toast the almonds on a small flame. Don’t take your eyes off of them, because they will get toasty very quickly. Remove and set aside.
Heat one teaspoon olive oil in a pan. Add the pine nuts and lightly toast being careful not to burn them (they burn very easily). Remove and set aside.
In a saucepan, heat the oil and saute the onion until golden and slightly caramelized (or go nuts and caramelize them as much as you’d like).
Add the rice and fry for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Add 1 ½ cups of water and season with salt, pepper and cinnamon (or small stick). Cover and cook on a small flame for about 12 minutes.
Remove from flame and let pot rest for 10 minutes before opening.
Fold in the dill, mint, parsley and cilantro, pine nuts. Place herbed rice in a serving bowl and liberally sprinkle pomegranate seeds.

Serve and enjoy.

It was great hearing from so many of you. Feel free to reply directly to this newsletter with your thoughts or experiences. Even though Rosh Hashanah is a few weeks away, it's never too early to wish that your year be as sweet as that mocha tahini glaze and as plentiful as the seeds in a pomegranate.

Shana Tova!

Harry