Lekach | Honig Lekach from Germany

Lekach or Honig Lekach is a German spongy cake made with honey, apple along with many other spice powders. This sponge cake or tea cake has an interesting story behind it, which also sort of becomes appropriate for today.

This cake is made for Jewish New Year or natively referred as Rosh Hashanah. I came across this recipe, that talks about Rosh Hashanah, meaning the "head of the year". On both nights of Rosh Hashanah, Jews eat different foods to symbolize their prayers and hopes for a sweet new year.

Two of the most commonly used ingredients are Apple and Honey. It is a custom to dip the apples in honey, invoking God to shower happiness. So one of the most popular recipes around the world for this Jewish New year is this Honig Lekach. Honig means Honey and this Honey cake has apples, Honey, along with sweet spices.

Lekach is a sponge cake or Tea Cake baked with honey, cinnamon, apple and ginger as main ingredients, including other spices. For a better lekach, it is recommended to prepare it at least one day ahead (2 or 3 days and it’s even better!) and let it mature, well wrapped so that it can develop its flavor.

So while I have been meaning to bake this cake since the weekend, I finally got around baking it yesterday and left it in the oven to rest. When I was back home in the evening, other things kept me busy and the dinner preparation got delayed. So Hubby Dear was asking for the cake at least as he was hungry. So a hurried couple of clicks was what I was able to manage. The cake felt really too good to touch. I sliced it out and it felt so much like my recent Tea Cakes that I created during Bakeathon.

This Lekach is a No Butter, No Sugar recipe, though it does use brown sugar, majority sweetness comes from the honey and apple that is used. I feel so happy sharing this recipe today, on the occasion of Tamil New Year's day.

I wish all my readers a very happy new year.

Today is L for Lekach from Germany

In the ABC Bake around the World series:

A for Afghan Biscuit from New Zealand
B for Brownie from the United States
C for Cheese Crackers with Parmesan from Italy
D for Devil’s Food Cake from the United States
E for English Muffin Bread from the United Kingdom
F for Fougasse from France
G for Garlic Bread from India
H for Hot Cross Bun from England
I for Ischler Cookies are from Austria
J for Johnny Cake from Belize
K for Kugelhopf  from Europe

Step by Step pictures for making Lekach

Lekach | Honig Lekach from Germany

2.5 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup Wheat Flour
1 1/4 cup Honey
1 cup Apple Juice (I used 1 cup Apple puree)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 tbsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Ginger Powder / Sonti
2 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/2 tsp Nutmeg Powder
1 tbsp Walnuts Powder
1 tbsp Almonds Powder
4 tbsp Egg Replacer for 4 eggs
1/4 cup Cooking Oil

How to bake Lekach

Preheat oven to 185C
I halved the recipe and made with only 2 tbsp Egg replacer for which I need to use 6 tbsp water. Mix the Egg Replacer powder with water, blend well and keep it aside.
In a bowl, mix the flours, ground almonds, walnuts, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.
Next add the apple puree, honey, oil and egg replacer mix along with brown sugar.
Gently combine all the ingredients using a spatula to get a lump less batter. If the batter is thick, you can add 2 tbsp water.
Grease and line a 8 inch loaf pan and pour the batter into it. Pat on the counter to even it out.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
Let the cake rest for at least 6 hours before you slice it.
It is mentioned that this cake tastes best after 24 hours.

Notes:

I halved the recipe and made one loaf. The original cake had a rich amber colour. Mine was a pale brown colour.
About 1/2 tsp of other Spices like ground mace and cloves were added, that I skipped. I also skipped 3 tbsp whiskey.
If I had used apple juice, the batter would have been thin enough, so I had to use water to make it little thinner.

Recipe

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Lekach | Honig Lekach from Germany

Course Desserts, Snacks

Cuisine German

By Cook Method Oven

By Diet No Butter, Vegan

Dish Type Eggless Cakes

Author Srivalli

Ingredients

• 2.5 cup All Purpose Flour
• 1 cup Wheat Flour
• 1 1/4 cup Honey
• 1 cup Apple Juice I used 1 cup Apple puree
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 tbsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 2 tsp Ginger Powder / Sonti
• 2 tsp Cinnamon Powder
• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg Powder
• 1 tbsp Walnuts Powder
• 1 tbsp Almonds Powder
• 4 tbsp Egg Replacer for 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup Cooking Oil

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 185
• I halved the recipe and made with only 2 tbsp Egg replacer for which I need to use 6 tbsp water. Mix the Egg Replacer powder with water, blend well and keep it aside.
• In a bowl, mix the flours, ground almonds, walnuts, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.
• Next add the apple puree, honey, oil and egg replacer mix along with brown sugar.
• Gently combine all the ingredients using a spatula to get a lump less batter. If the batter is thick, you can add 2 tbsp water.
• Grease and line a 8 inch loaf pan and pour the batter into it. Pat on the counter to even it out.
• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
• Let the cake rest for at least 6 hours before you slice it.
• It is mentioned that this cake tastes best after 24 hours.

Notes

I halved the recipe and made one loaf.

The original cake had a rich amber colour. Mine was a pale brown colour.

I skipped adding 1/2 tsp of other Spices like ground mace and cloves.

I also skipped 3 tbsp whiskey.

Since I added thick apple puree, the batter was little on the thicker side, so I had to add 2 tbsp water to make the batter little thinner.

Tried this recipe?Mention @spicingyourlife_ or tag #spicingyourlife_!

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