for rosh hashanah

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No doubt, it looks spectacular. But, I’ve convinced many a honey cake-hater to just try one bite. And every single one went back for more. It’s moist and tender, with just the right amount of sweetness and spice.

It’s so delicious you might find yourself slicing off “just a sliver” again and again until…oh no!…it’s gone!

I’m going to give you complete instructions for decorating this delicious cake. That said, you can streamline the process by eliminating the bees, or the gold spray, or even the marzipan icing. You could even bake this cake in a loaf pan for the traditional honey cake presentation. You’ll still have a wonderful cake.

The year my now-grown daughter decided that she must have a Barbie cake for her birthday, I purchased a specialty pan to make a doll skirt cake. The cake was a hit, my daughter was thrilled, and a happy birthday was had. The pan was washed and stowed away. It was the one and only Barbie cake I was ever asked to make.

Years later, while sorting through baking pans, I came upon it. I picked it up, turned it around, and looked at it. I thought, “it kind of looks like a beehive.”

Hmmmm. All at once it came together in my mind. Beehive = honey, honey = honey cake, honey cake = Rosh Hashanah.

The process was fairly simple. I already had my fabulous honey cake recipe. I just needed to adjust the baking time for using an unusual pan.

I baked the cake. It smelled great. but, except for the shape, it didn’t look at all like a beehive.

Many Norwegian cakes pastries are made with a rolled out sheet of marzipan over the top and under the icing or whipped cream, and I picked up an appreciation for it when I lived in that country. I thought the almond flavor would pair nicely with the flavor of this cake, and I was right about that. But how to get the little cartoony cells in the beehive?…..hmmmm again. Bubble wrap! I could impress the marzipan with (fresh clean) bubble wrap to create the cells!

It was a great idea that didn’t work. The marzipan was too stiff to take the imprint.

• The solution was to use soft, homemade marzipan. Now that almond flour has become so common in grocery stores, it’s super easy to make. The homemade marzipan worked perfectly. And the cake itself was sturdy enough to hold up to my gently pressing on the bubble wrap to make the imprint.

• I was on the right track, but it wasn’t yet an obvious bee hive. The light beige, natural color of the marzipan didn’t give it that “Wow!” factor. I worked some yellow food coloring into the marzipan, which helped its appearance somewhat, but still didn’t take it to where I wanted it to be. Honey is golden, not lemon yellow… I tried dusting on a little gold luster dust, but the effect was unremarkable. Finally, I picked up a can of Wilton’s Color Mist food color spray and lightly sprayed the entire cake with it. Presto! It shimmered and sparkled and had no effect on the taste. It made me happy.

  But what’s a bee hive without bees?

  I grabbed a block of commercial marzipan. I knew my homemade stuff would be too soft for this project. Solo Brand almond paste is the way to go. Most supermarkets carry it in the baking aisle. The smooth, thick texture makes it the perfect medium for modeling edible figures and decorations to embellish baked goods. I took a few chunks of the paste and colored one chunk yellow and another black. I made some translucent blue for wings. Then it was time to employ my artist husband. I sat him at the table, handed him the blobs of almond paste, and said, “make bees.” He did.

• Here’s a tip—don’t over-work the almond paste when you’re working in the colors or it will break down and become greasy.

The final step was to install the bees onto the bee hive. I didn’t want them to just sit on the cake; I wanted them flying around and hovering over the hive. Florist’s wire was the answer.

And…

My Beehive Honey Cake for Rosh Hashanah was born.

Now, I love food to be attractive and fun, but ultimately it’s food.

How many times have you seen a beautiful cake, only to find it less than pleasant to eat?

Visually, this cake is always a hit. But when people convince themselves to actually eat it, they are invariably amazed by how fabulous it tastes.

I only make this Beehive Honey Cake once a year, for Rosh Hashanah. I usually bake two of them—one for my family and one for my synagogue—aside from the day’s spiritual significance (which is honestly what it’s really about), it’s a big part of why they all look forward to the holiday. (I’m a big fan of creating a secret back door to holiday observance, and food is often involved.)

Mind you, it’s critical that there are enough bees for all the children…and some of the grownup children…to have one.

I thought about saving this recipe for the cookbook rather than posting it for free, but in the spirit of the holiday, I now present…. my Beehive Honey Cake.

Have fun, enjoy, and may you and your loved ones be blessed with a good year and a sweet year.

Beehive honey cake for rosh Hashanah

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Grease and flour a dome shaped pan. Make sure to grease and flour the rod that is placed in the center of the mold as well—the cake won’t bake properly without it.

Makes 16 nice slices

For the Cake

Ingredients:

• 3 ½ cups AP flour

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• 5 teaspoons cinnamon

• ½+⅛ teaspoons ground cloves

• ½+⅛ teaspoons ground allspice

• 1 cup neutral oil (preferably cold-pressed fruit or nut oil)

• 1 cup light—medium honey (clover, wildflower, etc.)

• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar

• ½ cup dark brown sugar

• 3 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract

• 1 cup espresso or 1 rounded teaspoon instant espresso powder and 1 cup water

• ½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice

• ¼ cup Bourbon

Method:

• Sift dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.  Make a well in the center and pour in the oil, honey, white and brown sugars, eggs, vanilla, coffee, orange juice, and bourbon. 

• Beat it all together on low speed, just enough to combine everything and create a thick batter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, evenly.

• Place the dome pan on a cookie sheet for support, and bake it until the cake springs back when indented with finger.  This should take about an hour. Remember that ovens vary—start checking for doneness at around 50 minutes.

• When the cake is done, place the cake pan on a cooling rack and allow it to cool for 15 minutes.  The, invert the cake onto the wire rack and let it cool completely.

For the Marzipan Icing

Ingredients:

• ½  lb super fine almond flour

• ½  lb confectioner's sugar

• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten

• ½  tsp almond extract

• Edible gold spray paint, such as Wilton’s

• edible gold glitter

Method:

• Combine almond flour and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to blend.

• Add 2 egg whites and the extract, then process until the mixture is homogenous. Check the dough. It should be soft and pliable, like play dough. If it’s dry, add up to another egg white, a little at a time, until the correct texture is achieved.

• Be sure that the cake is completely cooled before decorating. Coat your hands with powdered  sugar and press the marzipan onto the cake, smoothing it and trying to make an even thickness all around. About 1/4 inch is good. You might find it helpful to gently press one hand against the side for balance as you use the other hand to press the marzipan onto the opposite side. (This is where you’ll be glad that it’s a sturdy cake.)

• Tuck it in on the bottom. There will be a hole at the top of the cake, where the rod from the baking pan was. Push a little marzipan into the hole to create a smooth doorway for your bees to exit and enter their hive. As you can tell from the photo, I haven’t always done it this way—I’m constantly revising and improving everything I do.

• Immediately grab some small-cell bubble wrap and press it into the marzipan. Again, you will need to support the cake from the opposite side in order to make an impression. Try to get the design to cover the whole thing. It’s ok to go over an area more than once if you need to.

• When you’re happy with your beehive, grab your edible gold spray paint. With a light, even hand, spray the entire gold, following the directions on the can for using the product. It will dry almost instantly. Next, add a little more dimension and a bit of sparkle with edible gold glitter. From the entrance to the hive at the top of the cake, and going straight down, squeeze a short thick line of edible adhesive, such as Wilton’s Dab-N-Hold. Make a few more streaks, making sure they’re vertical, and a few dabs as well. Working quickly before it dries, sprinkle some edible gold glitter over the dab-n-hold. This will make it look like honey seeping down from out of the hive.

and now it’s Bee Time!

Ingredients:

• ½ box Solo almond paste

• Black, yellow, and baby blue food colors (paste colors, like this starter set, work best.

• Edible glue, such as Wilton’s Dab-N-Hold

• Florist’s wire in varying lengths

Method:

• Work the food colors into each of three lumps of commercial almond paste.

  I’ve learned that the most efficient way to make these is by creating an assembly line. Roll all of your balls before you start putting them together.

  When it comes to bees, the more the merrier. Keep going until you can’t stand making them anymore! You can make them several days in advance, which is a good thing because they can keep you buzzy for a long time…or is that busy?

  Note: Yours probably won’t look exactly like mine. Every artist’s hand is different. That’s a good thing.

• For each bee you’ll need to make two little balls of yellow and three balls of black for the body. Notice in the picture that the bee bodies are wider in the middle and then taper at the ends. Vary the size of the balls accordingly.

• For each head you’ll need another ball of black and two tiny balls of blue for the eyes,

• Last, you need to make the wings. Flatten tiny ovals of blue. You want the wings to be very thin.

• Assemble your bees by sticking the parts together. You can use a tiny bit of edible glue or make a thick-ish glue out of confectioner’s sugar and water. Cut your florist’s wire to varying lengths. You want some bees to hover close and others to be further out. I usually have one or two directly on the cake, going in or coming out of the hole on top. Bend one end of each piece of wire to make an “L” and insert the bent part into the bottom of the bee bodies.

• Insert your florist wires randomly, and at varying heights, into the hive to make a swarm.

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