Author Notes: Honey Cake is traditional for Rosh Hashanah, and you eat apples with honey to ensure a sweet year. This cake serves tradition and sweetness. Happy New Year! —drbabs
Food52 Review: Absolutely delicious! This cinnamon honey apple cake recipe offers a heavy warmth of mixed spices that couples well with the honey and sweet apple. I found the directions clear and easy to follow. I would definitely make this again. —Colleen C
Makes: 1 9-inch cake
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 1 hrs
Ingredients
-
3
large apples, divided
-
6
ounces unsalted butter + more for the pan
-
4
tablespoons honey, divided
-
1 1/2
cups all-purpose flour
-
1/2
teaspoon baking soda
-
1
teaspoon baking powder
-
1/4
teaspoon kosher salt
-
1
teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for the top of the cake
-
1/4
teaspoon allspice
-
1/4
teaspoon nutmeg
-
1
teaspoon vanilla extract
-
3/4
cup buttermilk or soured milk
-
3/4
cup brown sugar
-
2
large eggs, room temperature
-
~1/4
cup turbinado sugar
Directions
- Heat oven to 350° F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Core and peel apples, and cut into thin slices. Set aside 6 to 8 slices for the top of the cake. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pan and continue cooking till brown and nutty-smelling. Sauté apples in browned butter until soft, about 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in a tablespoon of honey, and continue to cook until apples browned. Set aside.
-
In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg.
In a medium liquid measuring cup, stir together vanilla extract and buttermilk.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream 4 ounces butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in 2 eggs and add three tablespoons of honey. Beat until thoroughly blended.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to the bowl, stirring gently after each addition. Finish stirring by hand, ensuring that there are no pockets of flour and the batter is thoroughly combined.
- Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Cover with sautéed apples and spread the other half of the batter over the apples. Smooth the top, and place the reserved raw apple slices on top, fanning them out in a circle. Pour turbinado sugar over the top and sprinkle the sugar layer with a little cinnamon.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. The cake may slightly pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a cooling rack and let rest for 10 minutes. Open the ring and remove the sides of the pan. If you want to remove the cake from the base of the springform pan, wait until it has cooled completely, then slide a long thin spatula between the cake and the base. Use a large spatula to then move it to a serving plate.