This orange blossom honey cake starts Rosh Hashanah on a sweet note

[Celerity]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/09/14/orange-blossom-honey-cake-recipe-rosh-hashanah/

https://archive.ph/1ExUM



For me, September has always felt like the start of a new year, more than January ever did. With the return to school and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, following one another in quick succession, there are new and renewed routines, goals and resolutions. Besides celebration, Rosh Hashanah invites personal reflection, as you take stock of the closing year and contemplate your intention for the new one. Symbolic and traditional dishes — apples dipped in honey, pomegranates and round challah (to symbolize the completion of the year) — are just some of the foods that grace the holiday table. And a typical greeting may include, “L’shanah tovah tikatevu v’tichatemu,” which means “May you be inscribed and sealed [in the Book of Life] for a good year.”

This year, I wanted to do something new but still feature a traditional ingredient. I found inspiration in the delightfully charming new cookbook “Gâteau” by Aleksandra Crapanzano. The book, featuring beguiling illustrations in lieu of photographs, is an exploration of French home cooks’ baking repertoire. In her introduction, Crapanzano notes that while the French bake a great deal, the recipes are unfussy and far simpler than we might think. “The French master the classics,” she writes, which allows them to “improvise with confidence and panache,” making seasonal riffs based on what’s on hand. You won’t find recipes for laminated pastry in the book but instead cakes ranging from everyday to special occasion, including a simple yogurt cake that’s taught to all French children in nursery school.

While looking for Rosh Hashanah inspiration, I came upon an unassuming recipe with a charming name, Orange Blossom Honey Cake. Crapanzano describes the cake — made with honey, orange blossom water and orange zest, and dressed in a lovely honey-orange-blossom-water syrup — as a “gentle cake, subtly sweet and floral.” Given my preference for cakes with reserved, rather than aggressive, sweetness, and my instant affection for desserts featuring orange blossom water, I was sold.

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[XanaDUer2]

1. Kick nt

[CJW]

2. Honey cake

That sounds sooo good!!

Remembered well from back in my NY days

[The Blue Flower]

3. Where does one find orange blossom water?

Is there an equivalent to substitute?

[Celerity]

4. Orange Blossom Water can be found in many Middle Eastern grocery stores and at Whole Foods. It can

also be found online at Amazon, etc

https://www.amazon.com/orange-blossom-water/s?k=orange+blossom+water