It seems that most women that I talk to this time of year ask “what are you making for Rosh Hashana?” They aren’t looking to me in particular to figure out what to make. It’s just that most people are overwhelmed with the holiday and are looking for something different. After all, this year is a 3 day yom tov.
That’s right, a 3 day yom tov. That means 6-7 large meals in 3 days. That’s a lot of cooking. I may not know what I’m doing for the rest of the holiday, but how can I not make the traditional family honey cake.
Well, since vegans don’t eat eggs and most don’t eat bee honey, I found it challenging to come up with something that tasted like the family favorite. I think that I did a pretty good job. This is a honey cake made with date honey instead of bee honey. After all, when the Torah talks about honey, that’s the kind that they mean. We just switched it to bee honey in recent times.
Date honey is more like molasses than bee honey. To soften the flavor, I added agave syrup. The finished product is a cake that taste just like what mom use to make. Yummy.
- Yield: 12
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
Vegan Honey Cake
I think it would be more appropriate to call this a date honey cake.
Ingredients
- sugar - 3/4 cup
- date honey - 2/3 cup
- agave syrup - 1/3 cup
- apple sauce - 1 cup
- oil - 1/2 cup
- water - 1 cup
- flour - 2 1/2 cups
- baking powder - 2 1/2 teaspoons
- baking soda - 2/3 teaspoon
- salt - 1/2 teaspoon
- cinnamon - 1 teaspoon
- raisins - 1/2 cup (optional)
Instructions
- Pour all the ingredients except raisins in a bowl.
- Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
- Mix in raisins.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes.
Allergens
The batter is thinner than bee honey batter, so the raisin may sink to the bottom. My kids don’t like raisins in their cake, so I leave them out entirely.
I wish everyone a Shana Tova u’Mituka! Everyone should have a sweet, happy and healthy new year full of promise and joy.
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Awesome! Yesterday at work we made traditional honey cakes and it’s really scary how many eggs and how much sugar went into those bad boys. Excited for an alternative. Thank you.
The original recipe that this one is based on had 4 eggs. For each egg, just substitute 1/4 c. apple sauce. It works well for most cake recipes. I also reduced the sugar that it called for, because the apple sauce is naturally sweet.
Have a sweet year!
Inexperienced baker here —
Would Date Lady date syrup be the same thing as date honey?
Is it ok to adjust the other sweeteners and leave out the sugar or is that really important to the recipe (I have the date syrup and agave but no sugar and don’t normally buy it but could)?
Can one use a whisk or blender if no mixer is available?
Any advice for making this in the Instant Pot?
Thanks so much!
I’m not familiar with that brand, but it definitely sounds right. One thing to look for with date syrup or honey is that it is 100% dates, and doesn’t have added sugar.
You can definitely adjust the different sweeteners. The other sweeteners are liquids, so you may need to bake it a bit longer.
Honey cakes are heavy cakes, so you can get away without a mixer. Just spend a bit more time with you whisk to give it extra air.
I don’t have an Instant Pot, so I’m afraid I can’t be of much help with it.
Enjoy!