Ukrainians (as also  many other Europeans) use honey in cooking, baking, and home remedies to treat almost anything.  My dad would always concoct some home remedy with the use of honey, but then again, one of his hobbies was beekeeping.

I love honey cake, but especially more so around the holidays.  There is something very soothing about having hot herbal tea with a piece of honey cake, on a cold winter day, which is perfect around Christmas.

Here is my favorite recipe for a honey cake, which I call “Never Fail”, as it never has failed me yet.

You can use a little bit of creativity, and turn one plain honey sheet cake into  three different cakes.

Original honey sheet cake.

One third of the honey cake is iced with chocolate ganache and walnuts, second part will remain plain, and third part will also be iced with chocolate ganache.

Once the three sections are separated, the plain one is sprinkled with powdered sugar before serving. One section is layered with two layers of white frosting flavored with Bailey’s Irish Caramel Cream liquor,  and the third section is layered with one layer of chocolate icing flavored with rum.

Cake Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup honey (wild flower, or clover, not buckwheat)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon, ground
• 1/2 tsp cloves, ground
• 1/4 tsp allspice, ground
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Chopped nuts (optional)
• Powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Beat eggs and sugar until thick.
2. Add vegetable oil, honey, and sour cream.
3. Beat well.
4. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice.
5. Gradually mix it into the liquids.
6. Add vanilla, and mix well.
7. Grease and flour two loaf pans, or a 9 x 13 sheet cake pan (I use the sheet cake pan).
8. Preheat oven to  350 F.
9. Pour batter into the pans. Sprinkle nuts over top (optional).
10. Bake on the middle oven rack for 40-50 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven, and cool in pans for 10 minutes.
12. Remove from pans onto wire rack, and cool completely.
13. Sprinkle top with powdered sugar before cutting to serving pieces.

If you decide to make it into a torte, this is the time to cut it into layers, and spread you favorite filling.

Wrap the torte in foil, or saran wrap, and keep it refrigerated.

Honey cakes also freeze very well.

Enjoy.

TIP: You can turn this plain honey cake into a torte, by cutting horizontally in half, or more layers, and layer it with your favorite butter icing.  You can frost the sides as well, but it will be fine just leaving them plain, and pouring chocolate or vanilla glaze over the top and letting it drip down the sides.

My next few posts will include the cookie recipes I have introduced to you in my Christmas cookie post.

I am starting with my most favorite cookies, the Cream Wafers.  If you read the ingredients, you might not be able to envision how decadent these really are. They are very light and flaky, resemble a puff pastry, and practically melt in your mouth.

For your convenience, I am also including pictures of the final step by step preparation instructions, which are very important for a successful outcome of this product.

This recipe makes about 4-5 dozen of cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• ½ cup heavy cream (whipping cream, not sour cream)
• 2 cups flour, all purpose white flour
• Pinch of salt (tip of a tea spoon)
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Colored sugar (optional, for sprinkling on top)
  Granulated sugar (for dipping)

Directions:

1. Combine butter and cream, and mix thoroughly.
2. Mix in extracts.
3. Add flour and mix well.
4. Flour your hands, and divide the dough into, an orange size, balls.
5. Place balls in a bowl, cover, and chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, or overnight.
6. Take out one ball at a time, and massage, by squishing it in your hands, for 8-10 seconds.
7. Flatten the ball, place it on a floured work area, and roll out to 1/8 inch thickness.  (Sprinkle the dough lightly with flour as you are rolling it out.  But use flour sparingly as not to make the dough too dense, thus taking away from the flakiness of the cookies).
8. Keep remaining dough balls in the fridge.
9. Using a cookie cutter, cut out 1½ inch cookies (I use a circular shape).
10. Fill a dinner plate with granular sugar.
11. Transfer the rounds into the sugar.
12. Coat both sides of rounds with sugar, pressing them lightly with your fingers.
13. Gather the remaining dough from your work area, form into a ball and follow the above process until all the dough is done. (I try to work with all the fresh dough balls first, as these make the best cookies.  I keep the remnants of the dough from cut outs, in the fridge, until ready to use again.  At the end, I combine all the dough remnants, form them into a ball and follow the rest of the rolling/cutting out process.  These cookies will get denser with each roll out, as you are adding more flour during rolling.  So use as little additional flour as possible).

Remove and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  You do not need to spread these far apart, as they do not spread out, but rather puff out upwards.

Prick each cookie, about 4 times, with a fork (it lets the steam out during baking, helping it to puff out).

If you choose to sprinkle these with colored sugar, this is the time to do it.

Place in a preheated oven at 375o for 7-9 minutes, or just until set, but not browned (these remain at a very light color, even after baking).

Remove and cool on cookie racks.
You can use them plain, or with colored sugar, if you sprinkled them before baking:

or make them into sandwich cookies, with the following filling (I love them the best with the chocolate filling).

Filling Ingredients:

• ¼ cup soft butter
• ¾ cup confectioner (powdered) sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (I prefer rum extract)
• 1 ½ oz unsweetened baker’s chocolate, melted (I melt it in a microware for 1 ½ minutes, stirring halfway through).
• Few drops of food coloring (optional, and only if you do not use chocolate)

Directions:

1. Cream all ingredients well, to spreading consistency.
2. Add a drop of water, one at a time, if needed.
3. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
4. Spread filling on the bottom side of each cookie, and cover it with another bottom side cookie (sandwich like).
5. Repeat until all are filled.

TIP:  Thicker cookie rounds will need longer baking time, and will result in lesser total quantity.

I hear that many families include a Roasted Turkey, and Pumpkin pie, in addition to the other dishes they prepare for Christmas Day dinner.

In our family tradition, Christmas Holiday begins on Christmas Eve, when we prepare a 12 course meatless meal, followed by a variety of baked goods.  Since I am not a big fan of Pumpkin Pie, I bake a Pumpkin Roll instead.  It might look like a challenging task, but it actually is quite simple to prepare, and it looks appetizing, tastes great, and does not require too much fuss.   Much easier than making cookies….even though I love making cookies as well.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup pumpkin paste (canned)
• 3 eggs
• ¾ cup flour (all purpose)
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• Powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Beat eggs and sugar well, until a light yellow paste is formed.
2. Add pumpkin paste and mix together with the egg mixture.
3. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, and mix well.
4. Spread wax paper, or parchment paper, on a 15 x 18 sheet cake pan. (See TIP below)
5. Grease the paper with Crisco shortening, and spread the batter evenly onto it.
6. Preheat the over to 375° F, and bake for 13-15 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven.
8. Cool for 10 minutes.
9. Place it face down on parchment paper sprinkled with powdered sugar.
10. Gently peel off the parchment paper from the bottom of the baked cake.
11. Again, sprinkle this side of the  cake with powdered sugar.
12. Roll (with the paper) into a jelly roll.  (I start my roll with the longer edge, which makes the roll thinner in diameter, but longer, thus creates more appropriate serving pieces at cutting time).
13. Wrap the roll firmly in a tea towel.
14. Place aside to cool.

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 -8oz cream cheese (regular, not Lite), softened
• 5 Tbs. butter
• 1 cup Powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (I prefer rum extract)

Directions:

1. Combine cream cheese and butter, and mix well.
2. Slowly add the powdered sugar, and keep on mixing.
3. Add extract.
4. Mix well.
5. Unroll the cake and spread the filling over it.
6. Roll it up again.
7. Wrap in a saran wrap, and keep it refrigerated until ready to serve.
8. Before serving, unwrap the roll and sprinkle the top generously with powdered sugar.
9. Slice the Pumpkin Roll into ½ inch thick slices, and arrange it on a platter in a single layer.
10. Enjoy!

Tip: To prevent the parchment paper from sliding around on the baking sheet, I strategically dab some Crisco shortening on the pan before lining it with the parchment paper.