Ukrainian Honey Cake

Every couple of months I'll roll up my sleeves and step into the kitchen and try to recreate the Ukrainian honey cake recipe from my mothers childhood that she still talks about. It's hard because I don't know what it's supposed to taste like and all my mom recalls is that it had strong coffee in the recipe, so I'll putter around, trying out different proportions, adding a spice here and there, hoping I'll come close. I'll wrap it up and take it to my parent's house, make a pot of tea and hold my breath as my mom tries a slice. So far I've come close, and I've gotten some good recipes in place, but the perfect one still alludes me.



Round two of the FoodBuzz Challenge is to write about a classic dish, and there's nothing more classic then a slice of honey cake and a cup of tea with maybe a spoonful of jam to sweeten things up a bit more. So here's my hat in the ring once again and hopefully this time it will also trigger a memory and recover a lost recipe. Wish me luck and don't forget to vote :D

Ukrainian Honey Cake
my recipe...for now

1.5 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup strong coffee
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Icing:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift flour, soda, baking powder, spices, and salt together into a bowl. Whip the eggs until thick and light, about 5 minutes, gradually adding the sugar. Beat in honey, coffee, and oil. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low until combined. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake ~ 30min, until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool a few minutes and unmold.

Mix together all the icing ingredients until it forms a thin paste and drizzle over the cake to give it that honey tea with lemon flavor.

Cross your fingers and hope you got it right this time :D