My grandma Ursula relied on honey to solve nearly any culinary or health problem. Have a nagging nighttime cough? Swallow a spoonful of honey. Chocolate sauce not smooth enough? A dab of honey will do it.
My mom loved honey, too, favoring the creamy spun variety, which she smeared on toasted hunks of white bread slathered with butter. And her go-to dessert was a sweet n apple-honey Rosh Hashana-style torte she learned to make during a short period in my childhood when we celebrated both Christian and Jewish holidays.
Now in my own home, I add a dollop of honey to sweeten smoothies or iced tea, steep it with rosemary and brush it on salmon, or drizzle it on top of ricotta or Greek yogurt with roasted fruit for a quick dessert.
And with school back in session, I’m back in the business of baking up one of my kids’ favorites — a simple snack cake inspired by the apple-honey torte my mom used to make. Because it’s technically a quick bread, the whole thing it takes just 10 minutes to assemble (mix wet and dry ingredients separately, then together) and about 30 minutes to bake. The hardest part of this recipe is getting the ingredients out of the cupboard.