Ringing in a Sweet New Year

September 29, 2008 at 11:13 am | In Baking / Cooking, Food | 22 Comments

For someone who claims to love holidays so much, nearly forgetting about the Jewish new year is a rather shocking oversight. Indeed, whether it’s a testament to how much I have on my plate right now as far as projects go or my quickly diminishing memory, I cut it very close this time around. Although I’m hardly religious and haven’t even been to temple once in the past seven years, I can still appreciate the significance of this commemoration; another chance to start fresh, and the opportunity to kick the year off on a sweet note, literally and figuratively. As a kid, my favorite part of this day would always be the traditional bowl of sliced apples placed at the center of the table, accompanied by a deep dish of amber honey. Of course, I would dive straight into the sea of gold syrup unencumbered by any of those “boring” apples, fingers knotted tightly together to shovel the sticky stuff straight into my mouth.

Having grown up a bit and matured (I hope) since then, the holiday has certainly become a less messy occasion, and instead of honey, I smother my crisp apples with agave. The thought of this simple pairing led me to contemplate other customary treats for Rosh Hashana, and it was no time before I hit upon the perfect thing to bring to dinner this year: Honey cake.

Not wanting to mislead, I would call this tender loaf a Rosh Hashana Cake instead, but for all any of my family knew, it was the original thing. Amber agave lends a slightly caramel-like sweetness, and that tiny drop of orange blossom water adds that tiny floral hint that honey always seems to carry. By adding a good deal of applesauce into the mix, you’ve got the two staples of the holiday right there in one easy to make cake, and with a thick slice after dinner or even for breakfast, it’s almost a guarantee that this new year will be a sweet one.

Rosh Hashana Cake

2 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/3 Cup Canola Oil
1 Cup Amber Agave Nectar
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 Teaspoon Orange Blossom Water

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease a 9 x 5 greased loaf pan.

Sift together both flours, baking powder and soda, and salt into a large bowl. In a separate dish, measure out the oil, agave, applesauce, vanilla, vinegar, and orange blossom water, whisking thoroughly to combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry via the “muffin method,” and stir the mixture together using as few strokes as possible to prevent over mixing. Once the batter is smooth and no pockets of wet or dry ingredients remain, pour into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 45 – 55 minutes. Since agave causes baked goods to brown much faster than sugar, cover your pan after it’s been in the oven for about 35 minutes to prevent it from becoming too dark.

When it’s done, a skewer inserted into the center should come out clean. Let it cool completely in the pan before slicing.

22 Comments »

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thanks for the recipe, Hannah! what a beautiful sweet bread, indeed! it sounds divine, and looks just perfect! i love that it’s got agave + apple sauce! mmmmmmmmmmm! i’m such an agave nut! yay!

Comment by jessy — September 29, 2008 #

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This looks delish! Happy new year!

Comment by mihl — September 29, 2008 #

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The trouble with being so busy is that you feel your memory is going but there are just too many things to think about. By the time you get back to “remembering” something it might have passed. I now make my phone remember things for me, or my computer. Things beeping at me. That helps.
The sweet bread looks so yum. I too am an agave nut (I always have spare bottles of it in my cupboards).

Comment by bex — September 29, 2008 #

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Looks and sounds delicious! With a wealth of different New Years – of various traditions – available to the multi-culturalist, there are so many opportunities to “start afresh” or turn over a new leaf. Thank goodness! I quite fancy having this cake on each and every one of them…

Comment by Discover Unearthed — September 29, 2008 #

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This looks terrific–I love loaf cakes and can easily see having this for breakfast, too! :)

Comment by Ricki — September 29, 2008 #

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I had been thinking about making a “honey” cake all week; your recipe looks delish!

Comment by Jes — September 29, 2008 #

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Shanah Tovah!

Comment by Vonnie — September 29, 2008 #

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La Shanah Tova, girlfriend!!! :) That Rosh-Hosh Cake looks YUM-Diddleeumptious! ;) (Nerd.)

Comment by Julz — September 29, 2008 #

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Happy new year! Hooray for a festive cake :0)

Comment by VeggieGirl — September 29, 2008 #

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Mmm, sounds good to me!

Comment by melisser — September 29, 2008 #

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That is one delicious looking loaf! Happy New Year too :)

Comment by janet — September 29, 2008 #

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Ok I am going to go find Orange Blossom Water right now so I can make this amazing looking loaf!!!

Comment by Shelby — September 29, 2008 #

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Don’t feel bad, I almost forgot that it is Thanksgiving in two weeks (Canadian). I haven’t even bothered to invite people over.
Great looking loaf.

Comment by peabody — September 29, 2008 #

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Happy Rosh Hashana! Beautiful and sweet way to ring in a new year.

Comment by Alexa — September 29, 2008 #

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Your loaf look great! I feel like taking one slice off the screen. lol

Comment by didally — September 29, 2008 #

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A beautiful cake! Delicious! Happy Rosh Hashana! Shana Tovah!

Cheers,

Rosa

Comment by Rosa — September 30, 2008 #

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Looks delicious! Happy New Year.

Comment by dayna — September 30, 2008 #

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Nice loaf! the only thing I think I’d add is some chopped dried apple. Happy New Year!

Comment by danamccauley — September 30, 2008 #

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Shana tova u’metukah! Great honey cake. Also, about your butternut squash soup, my aunt made that too! It was popular this year, for our second night, I made butternut squash risotto.

Comment by Hillary — October 2, 2008 #

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wow ! a nice recipe of rose hashana cake..loved it and would surely try it…you have a nice blog !

Comment by anamika: the sugarcrafter — October 9, 2008 #

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Where do you find Orange Blossom Water? This sounds so good!

Comment by sheree — October 9, 2008 #

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amazing! I used to adore honey cake, and I was just looking for a recipe recently that I could adapt to add caraway seeds to (to make it medieval). So bookmarked, thanks!

Comment by Liz² — October 15, 2008 #

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