Fresh Ginger Honey Cake

One of my sisters-in-law loves ginger and  lemon. So, as a treat, I baked her a ginger cake and made some lemon curd to serve alongside. The ginger cake recipe I made (with a couple of small changes) was David Lebovitz’s famous Fresh Ginger Cake.

We all noticed how much the cake tasted like honey cake, even though it was made with molasses and white sugar. My husband asked if I could make this as a honey cake and I happily complied (adding a few more changes).

What makes this moist cake a little different from the run-of-the-mill honey cake is the massive amount of pureed fresh ginger (a whole quarter pound of the stuff).  To make this easy, I make this in a generic foil 9″x13″ pan, but it could also be baked in a 9″ springform pan or a 9″ round/3″ high cake pan.

David’s ginger cake was delicious with lemon curd, and I think that this cake would be nice with lemon curd, as well.

Welcome to the first ever Jewish Holiday Blog Party, hosted by Jessie of Taste and Miriam of Overtime Cook, and sponsored by Kitchen Aid! As you may know, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year is coming up, and Jewish bloggers from all over the world are celebrating with all kinds of twists on traditional Rosh Hashanah foods.

To kick off the celebration, Levana Kirschenbaum is giving away a copy of her fabulous new book, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen to three lucky winners. To enter, leave a comment on this post. Limit one entry per reader per blog so click over to the other participating blogs below (at the end of this post) for your chance at additional entries! Giveaway ends 5 am eastern time on September 11th, 2012.

Prize is sponsored by Levana and available to readers from all blogs participating in the Rosh Hashanah Blog Party. Prize can only be shipped within the US.

Fresh Ginger Honey Cake
Inspired by David Lebovitz’s Fresh Ginger Cake, with honey instead of molasses, 3/4 cup of sugar instead of 1 full cup, and some optional coffee flavor added in. I also changed around the preparation method  quite a bit.

Combine in mixing bowl:
1 cup honey
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil, preferably peanut

Combine and add to the honey/sugar/oil mixture:
1 cup boiling water (or, if you want to use coffee, add 1 tsp. coffee powder)
2 teaspoons baking soda

Puree in a small food processor until smooth (it will be easier to get a smooth puree if you add a little of the oil/honey/sugar/coffee mixture to the food processor along with the ginger):
4 ounces fresh ginger, preferably young ginger, which is less fibrous than regular ginger (available where Asian produce is sold), chopped fine

Add the ginger puree to the mixing bowl along with the eggs and stir well to evenly combine:
2 eggs, at room temperature

Combine in small bowl until evenly mixed and then stir into the batter in the mixing bowl:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Pour the batter into a greased 9″x13″ pan and bake at 350 degrees for an hour, or until the center of the cake springs back to the touch.

Optional lemon curd:

Lemon Curd
Makes 1 1/2 cups. Adapted from Martha Stewart. The amount of egg whites is flexible: you can use all yolks, or use two whole eggs and four yolks, or you can use four whole eggs and two yolks.

4 yolks (or you can use 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks if you don’t want too many leftover whites)
2 eggs (or can use just 2 yolks if you need the whites for something else)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
lemon zest from 2 lemons (optional–obviously, you have to zest the lemons before juicing them)
4 Tbl. coconut oil (you could use butter or margarine, but I like coconut oil here)

Combine and cook over low heat in a saucepan until thickened, about 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly  (or cook in a bowl set over a pot of hot water, stirring regularly, for about 15-20 minutes). Cool thoroughly before using.

Or, you can make lemon curd cream:

Lemon Cream
Adapted from James Beard’s recipe for Lemon Angel Pie

Lemon Curd:
4 egg yolks
4 Tbl. lemon juice
8 Tbl. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
Cook in a bowl over a pot of hot water, stirring until thick. Cool.

1/2  cup cream or pareve whip

Whip the topping, and fold into the lemon curd.

This is the first of hopefully many exciting Holiday Blog Parties, so if you would like to join in the fun, please email:

holidayblogparties@gmail.com.

Stop by and check out some of these amazing Rosh Hashanah themed recipes on the following blogs:

 Challah and Bread:

Marlene of The Jewish Hostess made Apple Challah

Amanda of The Challah Blog made Pomegranate Challah

Shelly of The Kosher Home made Apple, Honey and Pomegranate Challah!

Sides, Salads and Starters: 

Sarah of Food, Words, Photos made Tzimmes (Rosh Hashanah Carrots)

Tali of More Quiche, Please made Roasted Beets and Butternut Squash

Roberta and Lois of Kosher Eye made Simanim Salad

Chanie of Busy In Brooklyn made Pomegranate Coleslaw

Rivki of Life in the Married Lane made Super Salad

Hannah of Cooking Manager made Beets Marinated with Ginger and Garlic

Sina of The Kosher Spoon made Pomegranate, Almond and Raisin Couscous

Hindy of Confident Cook-Hesitant Baker made Warm Roasted Beets with Farro

Sarah of Kosher Street made Sweet Potato Apple Tzimmes

Main Dishes:

Jessie of Taste made Smoked Salmon

Samantha of The Little Ferraro Kitchen made Chicken with Dates

Michele of Kosher Treif Cooking made Coconut Chicken Strips with two dipping sauces

Melinda of Kitchen Tested made Key Lime Glazed Duck

Stephanie and Jessica of The Kosher Foodies made Chicken Braised in Pomegranate

Liz of The Lemon Bowl made Beef Brisket

Estee of Anyone Interested? made Easy Breazy 5 Minute Brisket

Desserts and Drinks:

Miriam of Overtime Cook made Mini Apples and Honey Tarts

Laura of Pragmatic Attic made Fresh Ginger Honey Cake

Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen made Honey Caramel Apple Galette

Amy of What Jew Wanna Eat made an Apple and Honey Cocktail

Nick of The Baking Process made Apple and Date Honey Squares

Lisa of The Monday Morning Cooking Club made Honey Chiffon Cake and Traditional Honey Cake

Leah of Cook Kosher made Pomegranate Ice Cream

Nossi of The Kosher Gastronome made Non-dairy Key Lime Cheesecake Bar with Key Lime Caramel

Tags: cake, fresh ginger honey cake, Honey Cake, Rosh Hashana