This Jewish apple honey cake is tender and moist, and perfect for serving for Rosh Hashanah or any special occasion! It’s a moist honey cake flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, and apples to celebrate a sweet new year.
Apple cake is great any time of year, but the warm spices and apples make it a perfect snack in the fall. And it's especially popular as a dessert during the high holidays: Rosh Hashanah, Break the Fast and Sukkot. For more desserts, try Honey Cookies, French Chocolate Cake, or Chocolate Chip Macaroons.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Easy recipe. No stand mixer or electric mixer required.
- Moist and tender. This cake has added apples to help keep it moist and delicious.
- Dairy free. Made without any dairy products. It's a parve recipe.
- Flavors of fall. This honey cake is made with apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg so it fits right in with a fall menu.
Dana’s note: Some people remember this traditional cake as being dense and dry, but I have designed this Jewish honey cake recipe to be moist and light. I also added apples to the dish to add moisture and flavor. The apples give the recipe an updated twist.
What is Jewish honey cake?
Honey cake is a Jewish dessert that is traditionally served for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It is also great for life cycle celebrations such as a bris, bat mitzvah, or wedding.
Traditional honey cake is a spiced cake, sweetened with honey, and often has coffee or espresso giving it a dark color. The honey in the cake symbolizes the wish for a sweet year. Jewish honey cake is often made in a loaf pan or Bundt pan.
This recipe for Rosh Hashanah honey cake has a light crumb and moist texture. It’s flavored with honey, apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg, so it’s a wonderful cake for the autumn season.
In addition, this cake is lovely to serve throughout the High Holidays for Break the Fast and Sukkot. It also goes well with afternoon tea or brunch like on Mother’s Day. It’s a deliciously simple recipe that is great for many occasions.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
See the recipe card below for a complete ingredient list and measurements.
Jump to Recipe- Instant espresso granules - You can substitute for ½ cup strongly brewed coffee. Coffee balances out the sweetness of the honey, and adds to the traditional dark color of the honey cake. If you don’t want to use coffee, you can substitute with black tea or orange juice.
- All purpose flour - If you don’t have a kitchen scale to weigh the flour, spoon flour into a measuring cup and level off to measure more accurately.
- Neutral oil - Use a neutral flavorless oil for this recipe, like grapeseed or avocado oil.
- Honey - Use a good quality honey for the best flavor. I like floral honeys like wildflower or orange blossom with this recipe.
- Vanilla extract - Use real pure vanilla extract.
- Apple - You need 1 apple, peeled and grated. Use any baking apple such as Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or Golden Delicious.
How to make Jewish honey cake
See the recipe card below for complete directions.
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Dry ingredients
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Wet ingredients
Dissolve instant espresso in water and whisk in brown sugar, oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla.
Whisk
Whisk together wet ingredients and add in grated apple.
Combine
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and whisk until just combined.
Pour
Pour batter into the prepared pan with cooking spray and parchment paper.
Bake
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool before cutting.
Enjoy a slice of honey cake with a cup of coffee or tea.
Top Tips
- Use high quality honey for the best flavor.
- Don't over mix! Mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined with no remaining flour streaks so the cake remains tender. Over mixing will lead to a dense cake.
- Line the cake pan with parchment paper that slightly overhangs the edges for easier removal.
Make Ahead
Many people feel that honey cake is even better the second day! To make ahead of time, prepare per directions, and store at room temperature in an airtight container, then serve the next day.
Storage and Reheating
How to store: This cake can be stored on the counter in an airtight container or bag for up to 2 days and enjoyed at room temperature. Alternatively, store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
How to freeze: To freeze, wrap the cake in plastic wrap and then place in a freezer safe airtight bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. To defrost, leave on the counter in the sealed bag overnight.
More traditional Rosh Hashanah foods
Here are ideas for what to serve with honey cake.
- Honey Cookies
- Homestyle Apple Cake
- Healthier Apple Crisp
- Apple Noodle Kugel
- Carrot Souffle
- Tzimmes (roasted carrots and parsnips)
- Broccoli Kugel
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe for Jewish honey cake is flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, espresso, and nutmeg.
If you want to add something else to this cake, try adding chopped nuts to the top, or drizzling with a honey glaze.
The best way to tell if this cake is done is when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The center of the cake should be slightly domed and no longer jiggly at all.
Because this cake does not contain dairy, it is safe to store unrefrigerated for up to 2 days at room temperature in an airtight container. If you need to store it for longer than 2 days, it is best to store in the refrigerator.
This cake is not kosher for Passover since it contains regular flour.
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Recipe
Jewish Honey Cake Recipe
Equipment
- 9 x 5 inch loaf pan (This is the pan size used to test this recipe.)
- Medium mixing bowl
- Nonstick cooking spray
Ingredients
- ½ cup boiling water
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso granules*
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour spooned and leveled (220 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg optional
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- ⅓ cup grapeseed or avocado oil
- 1 cup honey 11 ounces
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
- 1 medium apple peeled and grated, 1 cup once grated; 8 ounces
- confectioners’ powdered sugar optional garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9”x5” loaf pan with baking spray and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the boiling water and instant espresso until dissolved. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- To the warm water-espresso mixture, whisk in brown sugar, oil, honey, eggs and vanilla extract until combined. Mix in the grated apple.
- Add the flour mixture to the liquid ingredients, and whisk until just combined and no flour streaks remain. Don’t overmix otherwise the batter can become tough.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. It should be filled about ¾ of the way full.
- Bake loaf cake for 55-58 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The center of the cake will be slightly domed and no longer jiggly at all.
- Once the cake is baked, allow it to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it, and use the parchment paper overhang to lift the cake out of the pan. Place onto a wire rack.
- Allow the honey cake to cool completely. Sprinkle confectioners’ sugar on the top of the cake and enjoy!
Notes
- Use any baking apple such as Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or Golden Delicious.
- Instant espresso substitute: You can swap the ½ cup water plus instant espresso for ½ cup of strongly brewed coffee, black tea, or orange juice.
- How to store: This cake can be stored on the counter in an airtight container or bag for up to 2 days and enjoyed at room temperature. Alternatively, store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- How to freeze: To freeze, wrap the cake in plastic wrap and then place in a freezer safe airtight bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. To defrost, leave on the counter in the sealed bag overnight.
- Other size pans:
If you use smaller loaf pans, be sure to fill only ¾ of the way, and bake any remaining batter in muffin tins (muffins bake for about 25-30 minutes). A 9x4" pan holds half the amount of batter as a 9x5" pan and bakes for significantly less time then this recipe specifies. Determine baking time by looking for visual cues for doneness such as cake springs back when tapped at the top center, cakes starts to pull away slightly from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (not raw batter). Always test early. Larger baking pan- This recipe wasn't tested in a Bundt pan and would require a larger amount of batter.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimation only.
Lr says
Can you cut the sugar or honey at all without affecting the cake ?
Dana Shrager says
I haven't tried it, so I can't say how it affects the rising of the cake. If you do try, I would only cut it by a little. Please let us know how it turns out.
Frida Greenberg says
This cake is delicious and moist. The apple keeps it moist, the flavor of the honey cake is still outstanding, the apple is very subtle and compliments the taste of the honey cake beautifully. Our family enjoyed this addition to our Rosh Hashanah recipes, it’s a keeper.
Dana Shrager says
Frida, so glad that you and your family enjoyed!
Cheryl Herbstman says
It is 3 days before Rosh Hashona. So today I went to the kosher market to get holiday challahs, and checked out the honey cakes. I felt that they were way over priced, and decided to use your Rosh HaShona Honey Cake Recipe.
I baked them in 3 - 4”X7” pans @350 degrees for 45 minutes.
I also added a 1/4 t of cardamom, one of my favorite spices. These cakes are scrumptious. I must freeze them before I eat any more of them- they are so delicious!
Thanks so much for this fabulous recipe!
L’ Shana Tova!
Dana Shrager says
Wonderful, thank you for your recipe notes.