By Emanuelle Lee

(The Nosher via JTA) – Rosh Hashanah is a sweet and delicious time of year to spend with family and friends. And, one of the sweetest spots of the Jewish New Year is honey cake – often baked, gifted and eaten in abundance during the holidays. This honey cake recipe combines fresh blueberries with a hint of spice and, of course, honey. It’s the perfect sendoff for the last remaining blueberries of the season and the welcoming of a new year. Serves 8-10.

Ingredients:

3 cups self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon all spice
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup coconut or vegetable oil
1 cup honey
zest of 1 orange
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon whiskey
1 tablespoon almond milk
1/4 cup coffee, cooled down
2 cups blueberries (you can use frozen if you need to)

For the topping:

1/4 cup toasted almonds, chopped
1 cup confectioners sugar
juice of 2 lemons
zest of 1 orange
additional blueberries

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, spices and sugar; mix well. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, oil, honey, vanilla extract, orange juice, whiskey, almond milk and coffee. Combine the ingredients thoroughly with whisk or a hand mixer until smooth. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet mixture into the well. Whisk until you have a smooth cake batter with no lumps, making sure there is no flour at the bottom of the bowl. Add the blueberries and mix well.

Grease a 9-inch cake pan with a little bit of vegetable or coconut oil. Pour in the cake batter and allow it to settle and even out for a few minutes. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when pressed into the middle of the cake. Allow the cake to cool a little and then remove from the cake pan. Allow it to cool fully.

Meanwhile, make the glaze: Combine the confectioners sugar with the orange zest and the lemon juice. Mix well with a spoon until smooth with no lumps and it has reached a syrupy consistency. When the cake has cooled, drizzle it with the glaze and sprinkle it with blueberries and the toasted almonds.

Enjoy for up to 3 days and store it in the refrigerator, covered.

Emanuelle Lee is a recipe developer, food writer and food stylist.

The Nosher food blog (www.TheNosher.com) offers a dazzling array of new and classic Jewish recipes and food news, from Europe to Yemen, from challah to shakshuka and beyond.