To make this vegan honey cake just as sweet as the original, agave nectar or maple syrup (or a combination) create an authentic flavor.
In the Jewish tradition, honey cake is served at special occasions, whether formal holidays or not, and is especially beloved in the Ashkenazi Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) repertoire. As we know, strict vegans don’t use honey (though some who do use carefully sourced honey are called “bee-gans”).
Make in a loaf pan or cake pan: Though this cake is more traditionally baked as a loaf, there’s no reason you can’t bake it in a square or round cake pan. Reduce the time to about 40 minutes in the oven.
Symbolic foods in Jewish celebrations
As with almost every sacred celebration, food plays a central role to the Jewish New Year and is filled with symbolism. When making the challah bread for the holiday, for example, the baker might pinch off a bit of dough and burn it in the oven as a metaphoric sacrifice.
Carrot dishes served at Rosh Hashanah symbolize a wish for prosperity in the coming year — the Yiddish word for carrots means “to increase.”
Generally, dishes using the sweeter vegetables (like beets and squashes) as well as fruits are traditional to the Rosh Hashana celebration, in keeping with wishes for a sweet new year.
See lots more recipes for Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashana is more than a New Year celebration
The holiday has ancient roots as a harvest festival, and enjoyment of the abundant produce of early autumn remains central.
Don’t forget the apples: Sliced apples with honey to dip them into is another holiday tradition, so if you’re a honey-free vegan, you can serve the apples with maple syrup, agave, or a combination of the two. And to extend the theme of sweetness, serve this traditional treat with this delicious vegan honey cake.
Recipe adapted from Vegan Holiday Kitchen by Nava Atlas. Photos: Susan Voisin, FatFreeVegan.com
Vegan Honey Cake for Rosh Hashanah
To make vegan honey cake that’s just as sweet as the original, agave nectar and/or maple syrup combine to create an authentic flavor. Recipe doubles easily.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds (flaxseed meal) + 2 1/2 tablespoons water
- 1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry or spelt flour
- 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
- 1/2 cup dark agave nectar or pure maple syrup, or or half of each
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup safflower oil
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup dark or golden raisins, optional
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325º F.
- For a flax "egg," combine the ground flaxseeds with the water in a small bowl or cup, stir well, and set aside
- Combine the first 6 (dry) ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until completely blended.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the agave and/or maple syrup, applesauce, oil, vanilla, and flax mixture.
- Stir together until the wet and dry ingredients are thoroughly combined. Use a wire whisk for best results. Stir in the raisins.
- Cut a piece of baking parchment to fit the bottoms of a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan. Lightly oil the sides. Or, use a lightly oiled 9-inch square or round cake pan.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and sprinkle the almonds evenly over the top.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf tests clean. Take care not to overbake.
- Allow the cake to cool completely to room temperature. The cake is tender, so don't cut while warm. Use a knife to go around the sides of the loaf to loosen if need be, then carefully remove it from the pan by tipping it into your hand, then setting on a platter. Make sure to peel away the parchment if it sticks to the cake.
- Once cool, cut the loaf into 12 slices to serve.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 177Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 180mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 3gSugar: 11gProtein: 4g
Nutrition data is always an estimate depending on program used to calculate and exact products used. This is given for informational purposes only and accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
If you like this vegan honey cake, you might also enjoy …
Here are more Jewish vegan recipes.
Jews traditionally don’t eat nuts on rosh hashana
This is true, though other sources refer only to certain kinds of nuts, especially walnuts, being forbidden. Feel free to leave them out, of course!
can you make GF??? flour?
Hi Lisbeth — I haven’t tried to make this GF, but my best guess is that it would be good. I would go for the obvious choice, Bob’s Red Mill GF flour. If you make it, can you come back to report how it turned out? Happy Rosh Hashanah to you!
Love this cake! I ate !/2 a loaf for break fast, but it’s very crumbly, while still moist. Is there a way to make it hold together more?
Thank you for all your recipes!
Hi Leslie — I’m not sure how to answer this, as it holds together quite well for me. In fact I made too much for my immediate family (no guests this year, sigh …) and it was still holding together after almost a week. Did you make any adjustments to the ingredients? If so, I may be able to troubleshoot. If not, perhaps consider adding a “flax egg” (google it, as I don’t do this) or a bit of Ener-G egg replacer.
Hi Nava! I followed the recipe, and it came out of the baking pan perfectly, but when I sliced it the crumbling into bitesize chunks started. Altho the end slices stayed together. i can try again w/a flax egg, or maybe just do your recipe again. My non-vegan son baked it in NY and said it was perfect1 We had a zoom holiday w/friends and we both used your cookbooks. He took my 5-Ingredient Vegan (I bought another copy) but I still have your Vegan Holiday Cookbook. Shana Tova.
Leslie, I’m so sorry this happened. I wonder if you might have taken it out of the pan before it had a chance to cool completely — I’m just guessing here! Thank you for using my books and I hope that 5781 is a better year for all of us!
Very delicious flavor but it did get pretty crumbly on me as well (yet still moist). More of a lighter honey cake than dense lekach type. Thank you for sharing!
This recipe is tasty, but the crumb too loose, It needs a binder, which in the absence of eggs would be flax:
Suggest adding 2 Tbls of flax in 6 Tbls of water. If you strain the water out of the apple sauce it should come out about right.
Hi Gary, Amira, Leslie, and everyone else — clearly, I need to retest this recipe, and will make the needed adjustments ASAP. The idea of a flax “egg” is a good one — I’ll likely add that. Thanks to all for weighing in!
Hello everyone who commented here … sorry it took me so long to retest the recipe. I’m not sure why it was crumbly for several people, as that had never happened to me, but since several people experienced this, it was definitely worth another look. First of all, I reduced the recipe so the it is now for just one loaf instead of two. I figured it would be easier to double it than halve the recipe (and so no one mistakenly puts a recipes for two loaves into one loaf pan).
I did add a flax “egg” of 1 T ground flaxseeds in 2 1/2 T water, just to be on the safe side for binding. And finally, I added that the loaf shouldn’t be removed from the pan until it’s completely cooled to room temperature, giving it time to firm up. I hope these tips help, next time Rosh Hashanah rolls around!
I made this recipe again today, and made them into muffins because it’s just easier than a loaf (I baked for 35 minutes, convection, instead of 40 and it turned out perfectly.)
I also wanted to tell you that in 2020, I made these as little cakes, and we did little drop off Rosh Hashanah meal packs to all of the family we would have normally spent the holidays with – and it was great, and well received I think (by vegans and non-vegans alike) Anyway, thank you. These are delicious. Shana Tova.
Thank you, Meshell! That’s a great idea to make this into muffins. I actually made mine in a round cake this time around, so evidently it’s very flexible! Shana Tova to you as well.