Rosh Hashana Honeycake - for Everyone

Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is a day away, and so it's time to break out the honeycake recipe. Honeycake is my favorite part of Rosh Hashana, intended to help usher in a sweet new year. Of course, given most people's new year's resolutions to get healthy or to lose weight, maybe honeycake isn't the best choice. Still, traditions are hard to break ... and honeycake is too good to pass up. So, I just do what I can to make my honeycake a little healthier.

Here is my take on my Grandma Sarna's honeycake, with variations noted for the allergy-prone or vegan baker:

Whole Wheat Honey Cake
1 cup hot water
3 tsps. instant espresso
1/4 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups honey
3/4 cup sucanat
3/4 cup safflower oil
1 egg (or 1/4 cup chia gel or 1 mushed banana)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or barley flour)
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (or barley flour)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. salt

Grease a bundt pan with coconut oil or butter, and dust with flour to keep the batter from sticking. Pre-heat the oven to 325F.

Dissolve the coffee into the hot water. Then add the orange juice to the coffee. In a large bowl, combine the coffee mixture, honey, sucanat, and oil, whisking together well. Allow to cool well before adding the egg, chia gel, or banana to the mixture.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour(s), baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing together until just combined (don't overmix!). A little lumpiness is fine.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Allow to cool in the pan for an hour before turning out onto a serving dish. If desired, dust with powdered sugar or serve with ice cream (or non-dairy ice cream ... like this one!).

Serves 20.