Denise says:

  • Honey cake is traditionally served at Rosh Hashanah as it is naturally sweet and a lucky omen for a sweet New Year.  This recipe uses date honey (silan), which is a vegan thick brown fruity syrup as well as dried dates.
  • Dates are also a great choice for this time of year as it is symbolically believed that eating them will help to end our troubles during the year ahead. And here’s another fun fact– Biblical scholars believe that the honey repeatedly mentioned in the Torah came from dates (and other fruits), not bees.
  • Preparation Time: 15 minutes
  • Cooking Time: 1 hour
  • Serves: 8-10

Ingredients:

  • 175g whole destoned dates – roughly chopped
  • 140g plain or spelt flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Pinch nutmeg
  • 250ml vegetable oil
  • 100g brown sugar
  • 75ml date honey (silan)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 100g chopped walnuts

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 170C.
  2. Line a 1k loaf tin with baking parchment paper.
  3. Place dates into a bowl and cover them with very hot water. Let the dates soak while you prepare the cake batter.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together vegetable oil, brown sugar, honey, eggs, and vanilla.
  5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir till a thick batter forms.
  6. Drain water from the dates.
  7. Fold the walnuts and date chunks into the batter.
  8. Pour batter into loaf tin.
  9. Place loaf tin into preheated oven.
Bake cake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and set on a wire rack to cool.
Tagged in: Dates, dessert, Dessert, Friday Night, Honey, Israeli, Rosh Hashonah, Shabbat, Succot, Tea, Tea time, Walnuts