Growing up, the Jewish Holidays were always a joyous time, where my mother would outdo herself preparing many delicious foods.
Ranging from the traditional to the exotic, she would tempt our palates with her great culinary talents.
The food was truly enjoyed by all, including myself, with one exception, the Rosh Hashanah honey cake.
Now don't get me wrong, it's not that others didn't devour these desserts as fast as my mother's other delicacies, quite the contrary in fact.
But for some reason this cake did not taste good to me.
As I grew older, I sampled lots of different people's honey cakes and came to realize that honey cake and I just don't get along.
So I stopped eating it.
I still ate lots of other sweet foods on Rosh Hashanah, in keeping with the custom symbolizing that the new year should be sweet, but honey cake was nixed from my menu.
Now the interesting thing is that I always thought that I was alone in my dislike for honey cake, but when I got married, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my wife also did not care for it.
So our Rosh Hashanah cuisine always consisted of traditionally sweet foods but the cake of choice was not honey.
All this changed 3 years ago.
We received from friends a shalach manos with a honey theme, honey candies, honey cookies, and yup you guessed it honey cake.
So as I am not one to throw out food, I decided to do the supreme sacrifice and ate the cake.
And let me tell you it was unbelievable.
It was light, moist, fluffy and delicious.
I even told my wife that it must not have been honey cake, it tasted so good.
I had my wife call up and get the recipe and it has become a family favourite ever since.
We eat it all year round and have passed on the recipe to many who have tasted it in our home.
Do you want the secret? What makes this honey cake so much better than other honey cakes? Simple, its not really honey cake.
It is a regular cake that after it has been baked, you poke holes in the cake and drizzle a honey sauce over it.
That is what gives it the moist texture and scrumptious taste.
So now everyone can enjoy the sweet taste of honey cake on Rosh Hashanah and all year round.
Here's the recipe.
We use whole whet flour and no one is the wiser.
In a small bowl combine 1 tbsp.
of vinegar with one cup of milk (we use soy milk to keep it parve).
Let stand for 10 minutes.
Mix together 1 cup oil, 1 and 1/2 cups sugar, 3 eggs, 1 tsp.
vanilla, 2 cups flour, 3 tsp.
baking powder, 1/2 tsp.
baking soda 1 tsp.
cinnamon.
Add milk mixture.
Put in bunt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
Bring to a boil, 1/4 cup of honey, 1 tbsp.
water and 1 tbsp.
lemon juice.
After cake has cooled for 10 minutes, poke holes around the cake and drizzle the sauce on the cake, making sure to get the sauce into the holes.
Enjoy and Shana Tovah!