Rosh means “head.” Hashana means “year.” There you go: The new year for the Jews.
This holiday marks the time when we can start from scratch, hoping for a good year and praying that G-d will help us fulfill our wishes.
The food on Rosh Hashana, offers symbolic meaning. For example, honey for a sweet year, round challa represents continuity.
I wanted to talk about my favorite holiday food – honey cake!
I love honey cake, and don’t quite understand why it never broke through to become a more prominent symbol of Rosh Hashana food. I never saw a honey cake being sold in the bakeries, right?
Honey cake is one of the trademarks of the holiday. It has spices (like cinnamon, clove, ginger) Tea, coffee or orange juice are added to enhance the aroma…plus of course the honey!
I tried this year to play with a new flavor, adding some lavender to my honey cake and I love it! With some orange juice and zest, you get a moist cake with a twist on the classic holiday dessert. It’s not the classic honey cake that your mother or father (equal opportunity for this day in age) made but it’s awesome.
I made a very easy version of honey muffins to those of you who don’t like a dominant flavor of honey. All you need is 2 bowls and 5-10 minutes:
Ingredients for 6 muffins:
240 gr flour
60 gr. brown sugar (you can use white for more sweetness)
80 gr. honey.
pinch of salt
2 tsp of baking powder
120 gr. heavy cream
1 orange juice +peel (you can use 2 oranges for juice if you like it moister)
2 eggs
120 gr. melted butter
2 tsp of lavender
half orange zest
Directions:
1.On a low heat warm the butter in a sauce pan and add the lavender. Let it cook for a while, allowing it to turn dark brown (beurre noisette)- but don’t let it burn. You should smell the lavander aroma…
2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl: flour, sugar, salt, b. powder.
3. mix the wet ingredients together: juice, honey, eggs, peel, cream.
4. When butter and lavender is ready, pour it through a strainer over the flour mix. Now add the rest of the wet
ingredients and mix well.
5. Pour the batter into muffins pan (fill 3/4 of a cup), warm for 30 minutes or until the toothpick comes out dry.
Shana Tova! Happy new year!
Tags: holidays, honey, Jewish baking, Rosh Hashanah, Sweet Galit
