The history of the honey cake

Traditional Honey cake

It exists in many shapes and tastes and several countries have their own version, though normally many connect the scent and taste of honey cakes with spices and Christmas. Our honey cake is a unique recipe created by my mother and is a popular seasonal product we offer for Christmas season.

What makes the honey cake so special?

It is probably one of the oldest cakes we know. It is naturally high in sugar (thanks to the honey!) and acidity and makes for a natural preservative. Therefore, a honey cake will have a long shelf life.

In historic records, it is said that honey cake, in our region, was baked as early as the Medieval age. Source: “Kogebog for land og by”, by Marie Aas, year: 1903. However, most associate it with Russian (Medovik), Middle Eastern or Jewish traditional food. Some say it originated as we know it today through Italy in the 12th century. Even though, there are traces of honey being used in Egypt, in a more simplified version as honey mixed with yeast or barley.

The actual first finding of the use of honey cake was found in the tomb of Ramesses II. In her tomb there was a drawing of a cake said to be made with dates and nuts. Due to the natural preservative ability of honey, Egyptians viewed honey as a symbol of immortality.

A reipe you can try

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 dl sugar

2 1⁄2 dl honey

1 dl strong coffee

1 dl rapeseed oil (however, personally I always use olive oil, though that is my taste!)

4 dl of wheat flour (spelt flour is another option)

1 1⁄2 ts baking powder

1⁄2 ts baking soda

1⁄2 ts salt

1 ts grounded cinnamon

1 ts grounded ginger

2 Tablespoons of zest from organic orange

2 Tablespoons of zest from organic lemon

1 dl pecan nuts, roughly chopped

2 dl dried fruits, roughly chopped (apricots, cranberry, raisins)

GLAZE

200 g cream cheese

1 dl powdered sugar

4 Tablespoons lemon juice

1⁄2 dl cream

Procedure:

1

Whip eggs and sugar either by hand or in by machine. Might take up to 10 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Make sure there are no lumps of flour.

2

Pour the cake into a buttered bread pan or round form. Bake the cake at 160 degrees Celsius for about an hour. The cake is finished when you can put a knife in the middle and no sticky dough is stuck on the knife when pulling it out.

3

Prepare the glaze while you wait for the cake. Whip the ingredients together either by hand or machine. The glaze can also be used as filling by splitting the cake into two and adding in the middle as well on the top. Enjoy!

Recipe picked from www.honning.no and translated into English (Link: https://honning.no/oppskrift/honningkake-med-krydder-og-notter:


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