“The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook.” Credit: Courtesy of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
Sometimes, what’s old is new again. That certainly applies to classic Jewish recipes, many jotted down by home cooks—moms, aunts, grandmoms, great-grandmothers—who didn’t add specific measurements or even the temperatures at which to bake their products.
Rye Flour Honey Cake comes from a cookbook that adapts recipes for the modern-day kitchen. This holiday season, take a bite from the past with a taste of rye and seltzer.
Rye Flour Honey Cake (Pareve)
Serves 8-10
Ingredients:
2 cups honey
2 cups sugar
¼ cup seltzer
4 eggs
¾ cup oil
4 cups rye flour
4 cups white flour
ground cloves
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease a large cake pan (9x11x14) or Bundt pan with oil or nonstick spray.
Beat together the honey, sugar (dissolved in a little water), seltzer, eggs, oil and a few finely ground cloves.
Stir in the rye flour and white flour. Beat well.
Pour into the lightly greased baking pan, and bake for 1 hour.
Test cake and bake for 5 minutes more, if necessary.
From “The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook” (page 142) by Fania Lewando, the proprietor of a popular vegetarian restaurant in Vilna who was killed during the Holocaust.
This cookbook and other recipe books are available at the YIVO Store:
www.yivo-institute.myshopify.com.
