the butter lab's honey caramel apple cake
This Rosh Hashanah, after trying and failing to simplify Michelle Polzine’s incredible Russian honey cake recipe (which is already on this site here), I descended into a deep honey cake wormhole and baked more honey cakes than I can count. The main problem with honey cakes is that they’re often dry. But, for me, even the good, tender ones—like Marcy Goldman’s “Majestic and Moist Honey Cake” or Melissa Clark’s “Red Wine Honey Cake”—feel wintry and spicy and, dare I say, Christmas-y. The bigger problem is, the honey flavor seems to be drowned out by everything else going on—all the ginger, cinnamon, coffee, wine, etc.
After baking and eating far too many of these, I realized that what I was really after—my ideal Rosh Hashanah cake—was a very simple, clean honey flavor. Something that would be light for September, the beginning of fall, and the Jewish new year (I didn’t want to feel like I was hurtling towards December). And since Jews also celebrate the new year with apple cake, I wanted to combine apples into my honey cake to make it a kind of two-fer. A cake, though, where the apples wouldn’t overpower the honey or vice versa; I wanted both ingredients to shine and both to bring out the best in the other. Lastly, I wanted the cake to be just the right amount of fancy and celebratory while still being accessible and completely doable for the novice baker.
This, I think, is that cake. It’s essentially an apple upside-down cake with a honey cake base and a crown of honey caramel apples. The format of the cake was largely inspired by Jake Cohen’s popular “Apples and Honey Upside-Down Cake” from his recent cookbook Jew-ish. But instead of a spice-forward cake base, I use an adapted version of Odette Williams’ “Milk and Honey Cake” from her cookbook Simple Cake. The cake base is subtle and not overly sweet. The honey flavor comes through, but is delicate and balanced thanks to the addition of buttermilk, and the crumb is lovely and tender. In his original recipe, Jake uses caramelized sugar, but I felt like this was a missed opportunity to add another bit of honey, so I make a honey caramel instead, with plenty of salt and vanilla. The honey caramel somehow makes the apple more apple-y and also brings out what this cake is all about: the apples and honey of a sweet new year. It seeps into the sides of the cake and the result is something quintessentially fall, sweet and a little salty and, to me, the perfect embodiment of Rosh Hashanah. L’shana tova everyone!
The Butter Lab’s Honey Caramel Apple Cake
Inspired by Jew-ish by Jake Cohen and largely adapted from Simple Cake by Odette Williams.
The base of this cake is best made using a scale (versus cups and tablespoons). That said, I think the extra effort to make it if you don’t have a scale is worth it. Be careful not to overbake the cake to get the most tender cake possible.
Makes one 9-inch cake.
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE HONEY CARAMEL APPLES
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick/57.5 grams) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
1/4 cup (85 grams) honey
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 apples, cored and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
FOR THE HONEY CAKE
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (145 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (120 milliliters) buttermilk
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (127 grams) honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick/85 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (75 grams) granulated sugar
1 1/2 (75 grams) eggs* (see note in method)
METHOD
MAKE THE HONEY CARAMEL APPLES:
Butter a 9-inch cake pan, line with a round of parchment paper cut to fit, and butter the parchment paper and sides of pan.
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the 4 tablespoons butter. Add the honey, sugar, vanilla, and salt and cook, stirring often, for about 3 minutes. The mixture will look frothy, feel slightly thickened, and give off a caramelized aroma. Pour the caramel into the parchment-lined pan and, working quickly, smooth it out evenly to the edges of the pan.
Toss the sliced apples with lemon juice (so they don’t turn brown) and shingle them in concentric circles over the caramel. Eat whatever apple slices that don’t fit in the pan.
MAKE THE HONEY CAKE:
Preheat the oven to 350°F, with a rack in the center position.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. (For an extra tender cake, sift twice!) In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, honey, and vanilla extract. Set both dry and wet ingredients aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed for 30-45 seconds. Gradually add the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat for another 4 minutes, scraping down the bowl periodically, until light and fluffy.
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs. (*To get 1 1/2 eggs, remove about 2 tablespoons from 2 whisked eggs, or weigh out 75 grams of eggs total.) Slowly add the eggs to the stand mixer. If the mixture curdles, add 1-2 tablespoons of flour to bind it back together.
With the mixer on low speed, add the dry and wet ingredients alternately two times, starting and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined and smooth. Do not overbeat. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure it’s well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden. A wooden skewer inserted in the center may not come out completely clean because of the apples, but it should not be wet. When done, the cake will bounce back when lightly pressed. Do not overbake.
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then run a paring knife around the edge of the cake. Place a plate over the pan and invert them together, lift off the pan, and remove the parchment. Let the cake cool slightly, then serve warm or at room temperature. The cake is best the day it is made, but keeps, covered, at room temperature for 1-2 days.