This dessert was one of the very first recipes I posted on my blog. It has since become a holiday favorite for many families! I have updated this post and republished it with new pictures and more detailed recipe instructions. Enjoy!
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Summer is coming to an end, which means goodbye sunshine, hello holidays! From September through the end of the year, we celebrate some amazing food-filled Jewish holidays.
The first is Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year signifying the end of the Hebrew calendar cycle. It is the first of what we call the High Holidays (or High Holy Days), a ten-day period that ends with Yom Kippur—the holiest day of the Jewish year. Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second days of Tishri, which is the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar. On the Roman calendar, Rosh Hashanah usually occurs during the month of September.
The Rosh Hashanah holiday is a time for reflection. We recognize and admit the things we’ve done wrong over the past year. Let’s face it, nobody’s perfect. Rosh Hashanah allows us to recognize our shortcomings, providing an opportunity to better ourselves through prayer. We are also actively encouraged to repent by seeking forgiveness from the people we have wronged during the previous year. It is not uncommon for Jews to apologize to people they have mistreated so they can start the new year fresh, with a “clean slate.” We are reminded not to repeat these mistakes in the coming year; in this way, Rosh Hashanah is an opportunity to improve the way we approach the world. It’s a holiday that helps us to become better people. And that’s a beautiful thing. 🙂
The shofar, a special instrument made from the horn of a kosher animal, is blown on Rosh Hashanah
Jews from different parts of the world celebrate Rosh Hashanah in a variety of ways. Holiday traditions vary according to family background and local customs.
A special prayer service is held at synagogue emphasizing both repentance and remembrance. During this service, gratitude is expressed to God for the creation of the world and humanity. The shofar, a special instrument made from the horn of a kosher animal (usually a ram), is blown. Tzedakah, or charitable giving, is also part of the holiday. Good deeds are done in the hopes that God will seal our names in the “Book of Life,” which brings the promise of a happy year to come.
And then, of course, there’s the food. What would a Jewish holiday be without a celebratory meal of epic proportions? (Unless of course it’s Yom Kippur, a fasting holiday.)
The Rosh Hashanah meal—or meals, depending on the way you celebrate—are particularly fun, because they feature symbolic foods that signify our hope for a “sweet new year.” We enjoy “new fruit,” a fruit that has recently come into season but we have not yet had the opportunity to enjoy this year (often a pomegranate). The head of a fish is sometimes served, symbolizing the literal translation of Rosh Hashanah, which means “Head of the Year” in Hebrew (on our table it’s strictly symbolic, we don’t eat it). Challah is baked fresh, sweetened with raisins or fruit and braided into a round shape. Apples and challah are dipped in honey, again symbolizing sweetness. In fact, honey is a major ingredient in many traditional Rosh Hashanah dishes, including the famous (or should I say infamous!) Rosh Hashanah honey cake.
Honey, apples and challah are traditional Rosh Hashanah foods.
I had trouble getting excited about this whole honey cake tradition. At my first few Rosh Hashanah celebrations, the honey cake was my least favorite part of the meal. It’s usually a dry, overly-spiced, overly-sweet cake that sits virtually untouched on the Rosh Hashanah buffet—more like an afterthought than a truly inspiring dessert.
I tried many traditional honey cake recipes over the years, but each one seemed more disappointing than the last. I experimented with my own recipe ideas, but it always turned out kind of…well, honestly, kind of blah tasting.
A few years ago, as we were dipping our apples into honey, it occurred to me that maybe I’d been approaching this whole honey cake thing from the wrong perspective. Yes, a honey cake is traditional—but apples are also a traditional Rosh Hashanah food. Why not combine the two flavors into one dessert cake?
Around that same time I bought my first Bundt cake pan, so I decided to play around with it and see what I could come up with. After a few failed attempts, I discovered the right combination of ingredients and baked an irresistible Honey Apple Cake. Shredding apples into the batter lends moisture and creates a lovely texture.
This recipe is now our Rosh Hashanah tradition. My family enjoys it so much that I often serve it for other cold weather holidays like Sukkot, Thanksgiving and Purim. I’m so excited to share it with you!
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Honey Apple Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/4 cups canola oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 cups all purpose baking flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- Dash ground cloves
- 4 Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored, and shredded)
Icing
- 1 cup + 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 to 2 tablespoons water or non-dairy creamer
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until they are frothy. Whisk in the honey, white sugar, brown sugar, oil and vanilla. In a separate medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and spices. Incorporate the flour mixture into the liquid, stir to blend. Fold in the shredded apples and their juice.
- Spray your Bundt pan with cooking spray, making sure to evenly coat the entire inner surface. Pour your batter into the pan. Bundt pan depths vary, so make sure the batter fills the pan ¾ full or less. Do not fill beyond ¾ or your cake might overflow during baking. Use a spatula to gently push the batter to the outside of the pan, pushing slightly up the walls. This will help to get rid of any air pockets that might interfere with the pretty details of the pan. Smooth the batter on the top so it is flat and even all the way around the pan.
- Bake cake in preheated oven for 75-90 minutes (if you're using a black or dark-colored bundt pan, yours may bake faster - start checking around 50 minutes). When the edges darken and pull fully away from the sides of the pan, and the cake browns all the way across the surface, insert a toothpick deep into the thickest part of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. It’s a very moist cake, so it’s easy to undercook it– err on the side of caution and let it bake a little longer if you’re unsure (but don't bake it too long or it will dry out!).
- Let the cake cool for exactly 10 minutes, then invert it onto a flat plate. Tap the Bundt pan gently to release the cake. If your cake sticks, use a plastic knife to carefully loosen the cake around the center tube and sides. Allow cake to cool completely (very important to let it cool before frosting).
- Now it’s time to decorate your cake. Decorate this cake the same day you serve it; the cake is moist so it tends to “soak up” the powdered sugar, plus the icing looks prettier fresh. To keep things neat, I like to do this part on a wire cooling rack with a piece of parchment paper underneath to catch extra sugar/ drips. You can simply do it on a plate if you prefer. First, put 3 tbsp of powdered sugar into a handheld mesh strainer or sifter. Sprinkle sugar onto the top of the cake by tapping the strainer or sifting to release an even shower of sugar around the surface of the cake.
- Next, make your drizzle icing. Sift 1 cup of powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Add ¼ tsp of vanilla extract and 1/2 tbsp water or non-dairy creamer to the bowl (when I first posted this recipe years ago I used non-dairy creamer, but I actually prefer using water now). Stir sugar and liquid with a whisk or fork to blend. The trick with this icing is to add liquid very slowly - you only want to add until it just comes together. Add additional liquid by half teaspoonfuls, mixing constantly, until the mixture has the texture of very thick honey. You want the icing to be quite thick. When you can pull a spatula through the icing, and it takes a few seconds for the gap in the icing to close again, the texture is right.
- Place a sealing bag (reusable or disposable) inside a tall water glass, open end facing upward and wrapped around the edge of the glass, so there is an open space for easy filling. Pour the icing into the bag.
- Close the bag, leaving a small bit open to vent. Guide the icing towards one of the lower corners of the bag. Cut the very tip of that corner off the bag.
- Drizzle the icing in a zig-zag pattern around the cake by squeezing the bag gently to release the glaze.
- Allow icing to dry completely before serving—this usually takes about 30-60 minutes. Slice and enjoy!
NOTES
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
I’m curious to see if applesauce would work here, too. Any thoughts on how much applesauce might be an appropriate amount to sub for the grated apples? Thank you!
Hi Beth, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. My only concern with using applesauce instead of apples is that it would add a lot more liquid to the recipe. Unfortunately I’m not sure how well the cake would turn out.
Hi Beth– I really can’t advise on modifications here without testing them first. Baked recipes can be very finicky. However, another reader may have tried this modification, hopefully somebody will respond to your question.
Do you think adding raisins would effect the consistency or bake time?
No it shouldn’t.
Would I be able to use gala apples with this recipe? I just bought plenty of them. Thanks! Looks delicious
Yes that will work. 🙂
I make the same mistake as another poster and added the shredded apples without the juice (used a hand grater). It was a little dry. Unfortunately, I didn’t read all of the comments until after baking. Maybe add that bit of info. “Fold in the shredded apples (including juice)”.
Hello Natalie,
Thanks so much for posting this. I’ve been looking at this to see if anyone had that same experience, as I did as well. I left out the juice, thinking that it would make the batter too wet, and the cake was dry and disappointing. Now I’ll try the recipe again, with the juice.
Do you think it too dry to serve if you diced the apples quite small instead of grating? It smells good, but I’m worried I overbaked it
I wish I read the comments before baking. I also squeezed out the liquid from the apples. It’s in the oven now hopefully it’s not dry oy!
I am making this apple cake for the holidays to take to my cousins home, and making one for my home.
Instead of shredding the apples , can I chop into small pieces?
I am excited about the combination of a honey cake and apple cake! Thank you
Hi Debby– I do not recommend that, the shreds are important to the texture of this cake and help with moisture level throughout the batter. Enjoy!
What is the baking time for cupcakes?
Hi Carol, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. Here are the instructions for Honey Apple Cupcakes:
https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/family-fun-rosh-hashanah-honey-apple-cupcakes/
The bake time is about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
What exactly is creamer? I’m in Israel, and we have what’s called sweet cream (shamenet metukah). It’s dairy. Will that work? We also have non-dairy versions of that – like coconut cream.
Just use water for the icing, it will work equally well– the key is making sure you don’t add too much. The mixture should be thick and opaque white, not see through or translucent.
Tnuva has nondairy creamers for coffee-maskeh chalav (מאשקה חלב) or use almond milk works well too.
Do you think the cake will be good on a Friday if I make it on a Thursday and leave it covered on my counter? thanks
Hi Debra, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. This cake would be fine to make a day ahead.
I want to make the cake a week before and then freeze it, can I do that with this cake.
Hi Carla, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. This cake should freeze well.
shalom I like so much all your recipes but I got problem mesaure with cups if you can tell me in metric.
I live in Croatia
lot of nice recipes and lot of nice days in your work
Hi Jasna, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. The site now has a converter for metric measurements. 🙂 Just beneath the recipe ingredients there is a drop down menu next to the word “Units”, you can change to metric there.
Hi, I can’t find the drop down menu with the word “units”? Can you please clarify where it is? Thanks!
Hi Sandra, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. My apologies! It looks as though only some of the recipes have this option right now. There are many online recipe converters that can help to convert this recipe for you, just search “imperial to metric recipe converter”. Again, I apologize for the misleading information!
Have you ever swapped out olive oil for the canola oil? Thank you.
I made this yesterday for multicultural potluck at my kids school. it was delicious and a huge hit. thanks, tori!
I made this for Rosh Hashanah and it was a hit. I measured the batter to determine what size Bundt pan I should use. The recipe made 8 cups of batter, so I was comfortable using a 12-cup bunt pan (the “original” Bundt pan), given your guideline not to fill the pan more than three-quarters full. I was glad I did not use my anniversary Bundt pan, which holds up to 15 cups. I made the cake the day before, and then frosted it the day of, as you suggested. Your excellent, precise frosting instructions enabled me to create a cake that looked almost exactly like yours!
HI , I made it for my tosh hashana dinner and it was amazing , very moist and sweet !
I subsitute one cup of oil in one cup,of crushed pineapple from a can (got the ides from another receipe ) so it will be more healthy receipe and I use canola oil since that’s all I had , and it’s still came out amazingly moist ,
Thanks for all your great receipes
Galia (the israeli ?✡) shana tova
I made this for dessert last night- rave reviews! Thanks for a deliciously moist cake! L’shana tovah!
Thank you for a delicious recipe.
Yesterday we celebrated “Rosh Hashana” an every one loved this cake.
Wishing you shana tova
Esti
Israel
Just fyi, I guess I’m the only one who made this mistake- but I think you should have specified liquid non-dairy creamer. Because I bought the powdered one not realizing (since I’m not a coffee drinker) the difference in terms of what would work for the icing.
I’m so glad I read this comment before making the cake! I also assumed “non-dairy creamer” in the ingredients referred to the powder stuff.
Made it for Rosh Hashanah tonight. There was enough extra batter to fill two ramekins to sample it before serving for dinner. Moist, fluffy and came right out of the bundt pan; just greased it very well with butter first. I didn’t have powdered sugar, so I made a caramel sauce on top. Excellent recipe and suits everyone’s taste.
How did you make your carmel sauce, that sounds wonderful!
Can this recipe be made in a loaf pan? I don’t own a bundt pan!
Hi Amy, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. While I’m sure this recipe can be made in a loaf pan, we haven’t tried it, so I’m not sure how to adjust for cook time. Sorry I can’t be of more help!