Sally's daughter Rita writes, "My late mother, Sally Rosenkranz, who was from Radom, Poland, lost her mother in the Holocaust. Mom learned to cook and bake from her aunt, refining recipes over the years. I bake this crowd-pleasing honey cake for the holidays, and also freeze individual slices for drop-in guests."
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease two 9-inch loaf pans or a 16 x 11 x 4-inch baking pan.
- Brew the coffee and set it aside to cool.
- In a medium bowl sift the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.
- In a separate large bowl, beat the eggs on medium speed, gradually adding the sugar and beating for several minutes, until the mixture turns a pale yellow.
- Beat in the oil, honey, and cooled coffee. Gradually add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, beating on low speed to prevent the flour from flying out of the bowl. Turn the speed up to medium and beat for several minutes, until a smooth thick batter is formed.
- Stir the chopped nuts into the batter. If adding raisins, stir them in at this time.
- Fill the prepared pans halfway with batter. The cake rises considerably when baking. (Any extra batter can be used to make delicious muffins). Bake at 325°F for 1 to 1 1/4 hours until the top of the cake is a cinnamon brown, but not burnt, and a bamboo skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before slicing.
Primer on Honey
Honey is a great way to sweeten just about anything. Your taste buds interpret it as being sweeter than sugar, so start slowly when adding it to your dish. Honey is one of the only foods that does not spoil. Some say honey was actually found fresh, in the unearthed tombs of the Pharaohs, so when adding honey to your cakes and recipes you prolong their freshness. If the honey crystallizes, place the jar or container in a warm water bath and let it liquefy. You can do this over and over. Important to note, honey should never be given to an infant, their bodies cannot always process it safely.
Reprinted with permission from Recipes Remembered: A Celebration of Survival by June Feiss Hersh (Ruder Finn Press, 2011)
