Happy Rosh Hashanah!

Rosh Hashanah started at sundown tonight. I'm not Jewish, but I felt like celebrating a holiday with festive food.

I used the occasion as a reason/excuse to make (Martha Stewart's version of) the traditional honey cake, which I found amongst my recipe clippings.

Honey Cake with Caramelized Pears

If you keep kosher and would like to make dairy-free versions of these recipes, substitute margarine for the butter and soy milk for the regular milk. The cake can be made (without the pears) one day ahead, and stored in plastic wrap at room temperature.

Ingredients

Makes one 10-inch cake

Unsalted butter, softened, for pan

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons best-quality honey

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

Caramelized Pears (below)

Freshly whipped cream, or nondairy whipped topping, for serving (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 10-inch springform pan. Dust with flour; tap out excess. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl; set aside. Mix eggs and sugars on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until pale and thick, about 3 minutes.

Whisk together honey, milk, oil, and zest. With mixer on low, add honey mixture to egg mixture; mix until combined, about 1 minute. Add half the flour mixture; mix until smooth. Mix in remaining flour mixture. Pour batter into pan.

Bake until dark golden brown and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Run a thin knife around edge of cake; carefully remove sides of pan. Transfer cake to a platter. Top with pears. Serve with whipped cream or topping, if desired.

Caramelized Pears

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 3/4 pounds red Anjou pears, cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges (or 1/4-inch-thick wedges if pears are firm)

1/4 cup best-quality honey

Directions

Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sugar; cook, stirring, until almost dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes. Add pears; cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and just golden, 12 to 20 minutes. Pour in honey; cook, stirring, until pears are coated and very soft, 3 to 5 minutes.

I used apples instead of pears because that's what I had on hand. It took 5 apples to make the 1 3/4 pounds, and I skipped the sugar.