Lucky charm

Hello? Anybody there? I know it's been a while. I could come up with excuses, but instead let me offer a gift of sorts. Ready? Come close.

This, like all good stories, starts with a stomach bug. I came down with a little something a few weeks back that left me functional but threw my appetite for a loop. Long gone was any desire for that which is cold and creamy - a near disaster for one who subsists largely on soft cheeses and ice cream. Instead, I found myself craving runny egg yolks, peppery hard salami and the honey/butter sandwiches of my childhood.

These weren't just any sandwiches - they were heaven, a sign that my sister and I were home alone with our dad who, unlike my otherwise genius mother, embraced simple carbs and fats with open arms. I can still picture him carefully allowing a stream of golden honey to swirl into a glob of room temperature butter. The out-of-control mess created by the sticky liquid was reined in and spread thickly across a simple slice of white bread. Close to 20 years later, the memory still makes me weak at the knees.

Attempts at recreating the sandwiches proved agonizing - the filling oozed out of the bread, leaving me to tussle with honey-covered baggies at the office. I needed something portable, I decided. I needed a slice of cake.

Fingers sticking to the keys, I managed to type in a search for "Honey Cake" and found something that quite seemed like it would fit the bill. A recipe for a dessert typically served at Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish New Year, the Honey Cake represented a wish for "sweet things." I like sweet things, I thought, in life and in the kitchen.





















Fresh out of the oven, the cake was off-limits. I'm not really one for following recipes to a tee, but I had a feeling I should do whatever I could to bring about sweet things (I had my fingers crossed for good weather) and took the advice to wrap it in plastic and let the flavors brew for two days. For two nights, the cake stared at me from beyond the plastic wrap and by the second morning, I gave in. Or rather, I dug in. The cake was moist but sturdy, more like a loaf and perfect for dunking in a cup of tea or coffee.

Did the Honey Cake bring with it sweet things? Almost immediately the Tri-State area got it's first taste of spring and within days I had happy, happy news: my friend Sarah won two awards and I won three for articles published here.

Did the sweet things last? Well, the Honey Cake soon became a distant, crumbly memory and it didn't take long for winter to take a look at the calendar and blast us with a blizzard befitting February.




















But the good news, I hope, will keep on coming.

***

Honey Cake

Adapted from Gourmet, September 2003

Baking the cake was kind of a spur of the moment decision, meaning I did not have all of the "necessary" ingredients at home. The original recipe called for ground ginger, buckwheat honey, whiskey and a half-cup of freshly brewed strong coffee, cooled. I dropped the ginger and whiskey, used regular honey and, not in the mood to make coffee late at night and wait for it to cool, I substituted my favorite ground espresso.

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup honey
2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon ground espresso

2 large eggs
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
Special equipment: a 9- by 5- by 3-inch loaf pan

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 350°F. Oil loaf pan well and dust with flour, knocking out excess.

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and baking powder in a small bowl. Whisk together honey, oil, and espresso (or coffee) in another bowl until well combined.

Beat together eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, then add honey mixture and mix until blended, about 1 minute.

Add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Finish mixing batter with a rubber spatula, scraping bottom of bowl.

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake 30 minutes. Cover top loosely with foil and continue to bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes more. Cool on a rack 1 hour.

Run a knife around side of cake, then invert rack over pan and invert cake onto rack. Turn cake right side up and cool completely.

Note: If you can resist taking a bite, wrap cake in plastic wrap for two days before eating. Cake keeps, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or in an airtight container, at room temperature 1 week.