Recipe: Honey Almond Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 cup honey
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup dark rum (or water)
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed, ground
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon canela (Mexican cinnamon), ground
- 1 tablespoon crystallized ginger, chopped
- 2 cups rye flour
- 1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 1 cup almonds, toasted lightly and chopped
- 6 granny smith apples
- 1 Mexican vanilla bean, split and scraped
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 pound butter
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 9x5 inch loaf pan, and line bottom with greased parchment paper.
In a large bowl, pour the hot water over the honey, and stir to thin consistency. Add the salt, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder; stir to dissolve. Add the rum, spices, and crystallized ginger; stir until combined thoroughly. Add rye flour slowly and combine well; then add all-purpose flour slowly, then add the orange rind, raisins and almonds, stirring to combine thoroughly.
Transfer to the prepared pan and bake 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake until golden brown, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Test for doneness with a skewer inserted in the center of the cake; when it comes out clean and dry it is done.
Cool the cake on a rack.
Peel and quarter apples, place in a large saucepan with the vanilla bean, brown sugar, and butter. Simmer over low heat until apples are soft. Serve warm over the cake slices.