A Medieval Rosh Ha’Shanah Meal

SPICED HONEY CAKE

Honey was a common sweetener used from pre-history up to, including, and beyond the Middle Ages.  It is an extremely healthy food and a good source of energy. Many of the period recipes contain butter which would exclude the treat from being served with a meal containing meat.

Honey Cakes are a traditional Ashkenazi sweet treat for Rosh Ha’Shanah. German-Christian pilgrims discovered these sweet cakes in the Holy Land during the Middle Ages. They took it home, where it evolved over time into its contemporary form. (Koenig)

Just as modern Challah evolved from non-Jewish German bread, the first Jewish honey cakes (Lekach) originated in Germany in the Middle Ages. Lekach comes from the German word lecke, which means “lick.” 

The following is from the 16th century and can be viewed in the Germanisches National Museum in Nuremberg.

Original Medieval Nürnberger Lebkuchen Recipe

Ingredients

700 g / 1.5 lb. honey

240 g / 0.5 lb. muscovado sugar

930 g / 2.1 lbs. wheat flour Medieval Nürnberger Lebkuchen Spice Mix Alternative

2 tsp cinnamon 4 tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg 2 pinches of nutmeg

1 tbsp cloves 1 tbsp cardamom

3 tbsp ginger 2 tbsp ginger

2 pinches of pepper

A version of the following recipe appears throughout many sources as is mostly labeled Gingerbread – even when ginger is not an ingredient. This one is from Gode Cookery Presents.

Gingerbread

This medieval gingerbread really IS made with ginger and bread (and honey). It is more like a sweet than later gingerbreads and can be made into all sorts of shapes when cool.

Ingredients

230 gm honey

230 gm breadcrumbs

½ tablespoon ginger (optional if you don't like ginger)

½ tablespoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon white pepper (ground)

1 pinch saffron (optional)

Grease a shallow pan (a flan tin or swiss roll pan will do).  Put the honey into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and add the spices - stir.  Add the breadcrumbs, mix well and beat until thick and quite stiff. Take off the heat and spread evenly into the greased pan. Turn pan over onto waxed paper. Cool. Cut into small pieces to serve.

HONEY CAKE

Christina Mercer provides the following recipe but provides no source. It appears to be traceable back to the Romans. It does not produce a cake as we would modernly think of a cake. Imagine an extra flat pancake sweet enough to make your whole body buzz and you're on the right track. 

Original Recipe Modern Translation

3 eggs 3 eggs

¾ filled mug of honey ¾ cup of honey

¼ mug of ground flour ¼ cup of sifted flour

Beat the eggs until extra frothy. Beat the eggs until extra frothy.

Gradually add most of the honey to let mixture thicken. Gradually add most of the honey to let mixture thicken.

Fold in flour and pour mixture in small, greased pan with edges. Fold in flour and pour mixture in small, greased cake pan.

Set pan in hot embers for the time it takes one candle to burn Bake in pre-heated 350-degree oven for 35-40 minutes,

down, checking often to make sure the edges of your cake checking to make sure the edges don’t burn.

do not blacken.

Remove from heat, drizzle rest of honey on top, and cut into pieces when cooled enough to eat.

The CookIt website provides the following redacted version of the above recipe and attributes it to the Romans of the early Middle Ages.

Ingredients

3 eggs

200 g clear, runny honey (a strong flavoured one is best)

50 g spelt flour, sifted

Preheat oven to 330F.  Grease well one or two baking tins, according to size - about 2 x 17 cm circular tins or 1 rectangular approx. 20 x 22 cm. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them hard and well until stiff, creating lots of air bubbles. Gradually beat in the honey. Gently fold in the sifted flour. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin(s). Bake in oven for approx. 40 to 50 minutes depending on type of oven and how deep the mixture is in the tins. Take out and turn onto a wire tray to cool.

My Honey Cake Recipe

The recipe I used was Christina Mercer’s with two slight modifications: 

Ingredients

3 eggs

¾ cup of honey + 2 Tbsp

¼ cup of sifted flour

½ tsp Cinnamon

small amount of oil to grease pan  

Directions

Beat the eggs until extra frothy.

Gradually add ¾ cup of honey to frothy eggs and let mixture thicken.

Add cinnamon to sifted flour.

Fold flour/cinnamon mixture into the egg/honey mixture.

Pour into a small, greased cake pan.

Bake in pre-heated 325-degree oven for 35-40 minutes, checking to make sure the edges don’t burn.

Remove from oven, drizzle rest of honey on top.

Let cool and cut into pieces

Serve.