What follows is a list of four places that do terrific jobs with their own distinctive interpretations of honey cake -- or similar baked confections made with honey.
What’s more is all these places deliver, at least to the major population centers in the center of the country. As is our wont, these recommended establishments -- which include two who were featured in our Hanukkah sufganiyot roundup -- are not ranked, but rather are listed in alphabetical order.
Biscotti
This bakery may be headquartered in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, but its delivery area covers most of the major popular centers of the country -- from Gedera to Hadera, as the saying goes.
Biscotti, which debuted in this column last Hannukah, also operates a cafe, as well as a catering service for events, gift baskets and finger foods. Its website is lavishly illustrated with both sweet and savory delicacies, all mouthwatering.
For Rosh Hashanah, the panoply of honey cake varieties includes: Classic honey cake with almond crumble; Honey-ricotta marble cake; Honey brulee pie; Mangolina -- Mascarpone cream and mango cake with an insert of honey cake; and Yeast cake crunch -- yeast cake filled with almond cream, hazelnuts, raisins and dried apricot, drizzled with crumble and honey.
Biscotti. Kosher (mehadrin). HaAtzma’ut 104, Neveh Oz, Petah Tikvah or Hayarkon St. 67, Bnei Brak. Tel. (03) 570-4015.
Buy the Way
A modest restaurant/convenience store in a gas station compound is hardly the kind of place where you would expect to find great food and baked goods, but that is just one of the surprises in this place on Route 4 that resembles a 24-hour highway rest area.
The restaurant parking lot is always full to overflowing, no matter what time of day you stop by for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The reason is primarily because of Italian-trained Chef Michal Levy, formerly of Brown bistro in Tel Aviv.
Buy the Way -- at age 22, a Sharon institution -- is also an outlet of browny, an acclaimed cafe cum bakery and ice cream shoppe in Ramat Aviv. The cakes, pies and pastries here, therefore, are of the highest quality.
Naturally, it has the usual honey cake for Rosh Hashanah -- but there is even a better treat in the spirit of the holiday season. Drawing on its two strengths, this extension of browny has innovated its own version of apples and honey: apple crumble cake a la mode, paired with premium honey crunch ice cream, studded with nougat crumble and walnut and almond pralines. A truly winning combination.
Dallal
This bakery in Neve Tzedek is also part of a multi-location enterprise, comprising an upscale restaurant next door and a trendy cafe in north Tel Aviv.
Dallal is also a perennial entry in our regular holiday treat roundups: most recently, it was featured in our Hannukah sufganiyot edition.
Its Rosh Hashanah lineup includes some of the fanciest cakes you can imagine, like their beautiful Honeymoon: a layer cake whose stack of walnut financier is layered with honey-flavored mascarpone cream and iced with creme anglaise frosting.
Other holiday items are the honey brioche (both round and loaves) smothered with slivered almonds, a classic honey Kugelhopf, and a black beer honey cake topped with whole walnuts.
Dallal the Bakery. Kol Israel Haverim St. 7, Tel Aviv. Tel. (03) 510-9292.
Lima Limon
This is our lone home-based bakery entry, operated by Andrea Geller, a young olah from Peru. Andrea, the daughter of owners of a bakery in Lima, Peru, bakes dozens of loaf cakes a day, using her mother’s recipes.
Her Rosh Hashanah specialty is a rich honey-maple loaf cake, which may be ordered on its own, or in a lovely gift box containing a variety of her most popular cakes in addition: Canela (cinnamon), apple almond, carrot amd choco-banana.
The package also comes with brownie cookies, a scented candle, a green tea and peach infusion blend, and a fresh flower bouquet.
Lima-Limon TLV. Instagram: @lima.limontlv Tel. (058) 610-0035 (delivery or pickup in downtown Tel Aviv.