Egyptian spiced honey cake

A recreation of a 4,000-year-old confection

Origin: Ancient Egypt

From the journey of Cinnamon.

Cinnamon reached Egypt from Sri Lanka via Red Sea trade routes around 2000 BCE and was immediately incorporated into sacred and festive food. Egyptian honey cakes (sweetened with date syrup and wild honey, spiced with cinnamon and coriander) were offered in temples and served at celebrations. This recreation uses emmer wheat (or spelt as a substitute), raw honey, and the same warm spice profile documented in ancient Egyptian papyri, making it one of the oldest cinnamon recipes still recognisably cookable today.

Ingredients

Dry

  • 200 g spelt flour (or emmer wheat flour if available)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 0.5 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1 pinch fine salt

Wet

  • 100 g raw honey, plus extra to serve
  • 2 tbsp date syrup
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 egg

Topping

  • 2 tbsp sesame seeds, for topping

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the honey, date syrup, olive oil and egg until well combined.
  3. Sift the spelt flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground coriander, ground cardamom and salt into the wet mixture.
  4. Fold together until a smooth, thick batter forms. Do not overmix.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Scatter the sesame seeds evenly over the top.
  6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the cake is set and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. The surface should be deep golden.
  7. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. While still warm, drizzle generously with extra raw honey.
  8. Serve warm or at room temperature. The cake can be served with additional honey for dipping.

Notes

This cake is intentionally dense and moist rather than light and airy, in keeping with ancient baking traditions. It keeps well for 3 days wrapped in cloth or stored in an airtight tin. Date syrup can be found in Middle Eastern grocery stores.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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