Honey and Spice Cake With Date Jam

© 2008 Miri Rotkovitz

My friend Dave got in touch last week, hoping I could help him out with a dessert recipe for the Jewish harvest holiday of Sukkot. "My gut is telling me some kind of cake made with honey and dates, maybe..." he wrote. His wife had put him in charge of the holiday meals, and he'd come up with the ambitious goal to feature the seven species of fruits and grains with which the Land of Israel is blessed according to the Hebrew bible. His menu sounded so delicious that I couldn't let his dessert course go date-less, and so I got to work in the kitchen.

I went with Dave's instinct for something with honey and dates, and his need for something dairy-free. The result was this Honey and Spice Cake With Date Jam. It's sweet, but not too, and it's gently spiced with a mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom.