Spiced Honey and Rye Cake

I’ll be honest…I’ve been debating whether Claire Saffitz has a sweet tooth. I know that’s saying a lot for someone who wrote a freaking dessert book. I’ve asked this question because I can tell she has a very elevated palette. In places where I would’ve gone sweet with a recipe, she’ll take it somewhere that’s richer, more complex than just sugar. But now that I’ve made her Spiced Honey and Rye Cake, I can confirm she indeed loves sweets.

This recipe was very easy, and while I came very close to messing it up once again, I didn’t! I was excited to learn this was Claire’s spin on honey cake, which I learned was a traditional Jewish dessert for Rosh Hashanah. For Claire’s book, I am striving to use the exact ingredients in each recipe. I couldn’t find rye flour at my local grocery store, so I ordered it on Amazon. Rye flour definitely has more of a robust texture than all-purpose flour, and it smells like Cheerios to me.

Aside from finding the rye flour, the process was fairly simple—but for whatever reason, I almost forgot to add the ½ cup of oil and applesauce! I overlooked this direction and added the wet ingredients to the dry ones. When I was adding the batter to the loaf pan, I couldn’t help but notice how thick it was; the batter almost had a cookie dough consistency. For whatever reason, I took it back out of the oven and double checked I didn’t miss anything…turns out I did. Adding the oil and applesauce last did not seem to impact the batter, it just took a little extra muscle to mix in completely. Once this cake was out of the oven, I let it cool (I’m just going to set my cake desserts aside to cool for at least 30 minutes from now on to play it safe), and it was very easy to pull out of the pan with the parchment paper.

Once again, this is a dessert I would not typically make, but honestly, I’m not sure why I would avoid such a delicious, easy recipe. I think sometimes my inner child, who loves the simplicity of chocolate and vanilla, stops me from enjoying other delicious recipes that are different from the family recipes I know and love. The cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and ground cloves make this cake so warm and hearty, and the extra addition of honey at the end is perfection. And while it’s certainly easy to go for a second slice with this loaf cake, I appreciate how it’s balanced enough that I can be completely happy and satisfied from one piece (the desserts I grew up with are ones I only know how to stuff in my face). I wonder if it would be a stretch to take this dessert further by using it as a French toast recipe? Either way, Claire is helping me expand my sweet tooth and learn how to use ingredients I’d typically only use once a year in new ways.

I have not yet seen a video on Claire’s YouTube channel for this recipe, but I will add once I do!