The honey cake commonly served by Ashkenazi Jews on Rosh Hashanah is lekach.
Lekach is a honey-sweetened Jewish cake traditionally associated with the hope for a sweet New Year. It is often baked as a dense loaf and flavored with spices such as cinnamon, cloves, or allspice. Recipes vary considerably: some are dark and rich, while others resemble a lighter sponge cake or gingerbread.
The cake’s strongest association is with Ashkenazi communities of Eastern and Central Europe. Medieval Jewish versions were influenced by German cakes such as Lebkuchen and Honigkuchen, and the name appears in a medieval Jewish source, Sefer ha-Rokeach, associated with Eleazar ben Judah of Worms.
Lekach is easy to confuse with other Jewish pastries. Hamantaschen are triangular Purim cookies, sufganiyot are jelly doughnuts associated with Hanukkah, and rugelach are rolled pastries. Lekach is specifically the honey cake linked to Rosh Hashanah, although honey cakes are also found in other cultures and Jewish communities. Some traditions also give or eat honey cake around Erev Yom Kippur.