Short Order: Anytime is very fine for honey cake

For those who meant to bake a honey cake for Rosh Hashana but didn't get around to it, and for those who tasted great honey cake here's a lovely all-year recipe.

By JUDY MONTAGU
honey cake 88 (photo credit: )
honey cake 88
(photo credit: )
For those who meant to bake a honey cake for Rosh Hashana but didn't get around to it, and for those who tasted great honey cake at a friend's and are pining for more, here's a lovely all-year recipe adapted from Rogue's Guide to the Jewish Kitchen: SHABBAT HONEY CAKE 21⁄2 cups flour, sifted 1⁄2 cup honey 2⁄3 cup brown sugar 1⁄2 cup very strong black coffee 4 eggs, separated 13⁄4 tsp. baking powder 3⁄4 tsp. baking soda 1⁄2 tsp. salt 1⁄2 tsp. allspice or cinnamon 1⁄2 tsp. ground cloves 2⁄3 cup oil (optional) 100 gr. slivered almonds In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar, and beat until creamy. Add the oil and beat well. Add the honey, beating until creamy and smooth. Combine the dry ingredients and add to the honey mixture alternately with the coffee, stirring until well mixed. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold gently into the batter. Add the almonds, if using. Pour the batter into a Bundt (tubular) pan and bake in a low oven (160 ) for up to 11⁄2 hours. A knife inserted should come out dry and clean. Allow to cool. This cake is excellent made ahead of time, and it freezes well. A FRIEND of my daughter's was coming for a Shabbat meal and the chicken was done, as were the peas and a rather nice, deep-flavored chicken-vegetable soup. The only thing left to make was a more substantial side dish to complement the entree. "What about mashed potatoes?" "Oh no, not mashed potatoes!" "Rice?" "He'll eat it, but he doesn't really like rice." And couscous was out, having been made the week before. So without more consultation I ploughed ahead with a dish whose ingredients I had at home, but had not yet tried: Thai Rice Sticks in an interesting, piquant sauce. Buy these vermicelli-like, whitish "skeins" (made of ground rice, mixed with water and salt) in the supermarket in 300-gram, see-through cellophane packages printed with blue, labeled Rice Sticks in English and maklonei orez in Hebrew. Use about half the contents to serve six as a side dish. The sticks are initially very brittle, so tear open the packet and break the contents in half over a large bowl, then cover in boiling water and soak for 4 minutes, which should soften these thin "noodles" nicely. Drain well and set aside. Sauce: 1⁄2 cup soy sauce 1 tsp. ginger 4 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar salt to taste brown sugar to taste 1⁄4 cup crushed cashew nuts 1⁄4 cup raisins 2 Tbsp. sesame seeds Heat everything except the last three ingredients. When cool, pour over the noodles and mix well, adding the nuts, raisins and seeds. Serve at room temperature. I HAD no sooner finished speaking to a room of spirited ladies at the Amit Chug Ayelet membership meeting in Jerusalem when Sara Roth rose from the audience and pressed a quaint, hand-lettered little book into my hand, saying I could borrow it for as long as I wished. Collected by Phyllis Connor, Old Timey Recipes represents, Connor says in her introduction, "some of the best cooks in this mountain area" (of Bluefield, W. Virginia). Noting with interest, but passing over, a recipe for Moonshine - illegally distilled liquor - and one for Corn Pone (think Gone with the Wind), I decided to share this more sober offering from Mrs. Marvin Wilburn: COTTAGE COLE SLAW 1⁄2 cup cottage cheese 1⁄2 cup mayonnaise 3 Tbsp. vinegar 11⁄2 tsp. onion juice 6 cups finely shredded cabbage 3⁄4 tsp. salt 1⁄2 tsp. pepper 1 tsp. caraway seed (optional) 1⁄2 medium green pepper, chopped 2 cups apples, diced Mix the cottage cheese and mayonnaise. Add the vinegar, onion juice, seasoning and caraway seed, if using. Combine this dressing with the cabbage, apples and green pepper. THIS BRITISH snack, from International Vegetarian Cookery by Sonya Richmond, could well become an Israeli winter favorite: CHEESE & TOMATOES ON TOAST 3 ripe tomatoes, chopped 2 Tbsp. butter or oil 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped 1⁄2 tsp. dried basil 1⁄2 glass cider or white wine fresh black pepper 2 cups cheddar, grated 2 slices of toast per serving Saute the tomatoes in the butter and, when quite soft, add the garlic and basil. Add the wine or cider and a good grating of pepper, and stir well. Add the cheddar. When it has melted, serve on the toast. judymo@jpost.com