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Home Cakes

Honey Cake

By:Nagi
Published:1 Jul '22Updated:9 Jul '22
77 Comments
Recipe v Video v Dozer v

This is a Honey Cake made with only honey as the sweetener, no sugar, so you can really taste the honey (such cakes are rarer than you think!). You’ll love how it’s soaked with rich honey syrup, flooding the cake with extra honey flavour and making the crumb beautifully moist.

This sweet gem is brilliant as a pudding-like dessert to finish off a cosy dinner, or served for afternoon tea with friends.

Slice of honey cake with vanilla ice cream

Honey Cake

I had a load of home-harvested honey gifted to me by people in my life who keep their own bees. Thinking how best I could flatter such a lovely ingredient, I developed a slightly mad obsession with creating a cake that used honey and no sugar whatsoever. Sounds simple enough, right?

WRONG!

Turns out, it’s much harder than it seems. For one, sugar plays an important part in making cakes rise. When creamed with butter, sugar creates little air pockets as the cake bakes. When you remove sugar from the equation, cakes have a tendency to be very dense, as I discovered from various honey cake recipes I tried.

The other problem? Pretty much all the ones I tried don’t actually taste of honey. What’s the point then, I ask??! 😂

So I am chuffed to present my own honey cake recipe which I think does the cake justice both in name and the eating! It was broadly adapted from this Greek Honey Cake. If you do an ingredient comparison though, you’ll see that the end result bears little resemblance. The most distinct difference is the absence of sugar in my recipe.

Drizzling honey syrup onto honey cake
Overhead photo of Honey Cake

Ingredients in Honey Cake

Straightforward ingredients in this recipe! The key ingredient is of course, honey (imagine that! 😂).

Ingredients in Honey Cake

  • Honey – Not all honey is created equal! The better quality the honey, the stronger the honey flavour and the better the result. To be honest though, while I don’t want to encourage you to use dirt cheap mass-produced honey since it can sometimes be bulked out with sugar syrup, even if you use a regular mainstream brand the honey flavour will still absolutely come through in this cake.

  • Butter (at room temperature) – When recipes call for butter at room temperature or softened butter, the butter needs to be firmer than you probably think. Ideally it is 18°C / 64°F. This is soft enough to whip, but still cool enough that when you touch it, you don’t end up with a slick of grease on your finger.

    Butter that is too soft can lead to greasy cakes that do not rise as well as they should. In fact, this is one of the most common problems in cake making! 

    Here’s a quick way to bring butter to room temperature: Cut fridge-cold butter into 1.5cm cubes (1/2″ thick slices if you have a US stick of butter). Scatter on a plate. Microwave 2 cups of cold tap water for 4 minutes on high in large mugs or a jug. Remove the warmed water, quickly put the butter plate in its place and close the door. DO NOT turn the microwave back on. The residual heat in the microwave air will soften the butter in 5 minutes.

  • Large eggs at room temperature – The eggs need to be at room temperature and not fridge-cold, to ensure they incorporate into the batter easily. 

    A quick way to warm up fridge-cold eggs: Place eggs in a large bowl, cover with warm tap water (just warm, not hot) and leave for 5 min. Wipe dry and use per recipe. 

    Egg size (“large eggs”): 50 – 55g / 2 oz per egg is the industry standard of sizes sold as “large eggs” in Australia and the US. If your eggs are significantly larger or smaller in size, just crack the eggs into a jug, whisk and measure out 200g / 7 oz.

  • Flour – Just all purpose/plain flour for this recipe. Self-raising flour will work as a substitute but the cake will contain more baking powder than the recipe calls. This will cause the baked cake to dome a little in the middle.

  • Baking powder – To make the cake rise. If yours has been sitting in the dark corners of the pantry for a while, test it to make sure its still alive!

  • Milk – Full-fat is better though low fat is fine too.

  • Salt – Just a bit, to bring out the other flavours in this cake. It’s generally good baking practice to add a pinch of salt into sweet recipes.

  • Orange zest (optional) – Recommended but not the end of the world if you skip it. A pinch of orange zest magically enhances the honey flavour in this cake. You won’t be able to taste the zest in the cake unless you have a very refined palette. (I don’t. Hence why the flavours of my recipes are usually kapow! rather than subtle! 😂 )

  • Flaked almonds – For decorative purposes, for flavour and for shielding the surface of the cake so it doesn’t get too dark when baked (neat huh!)

Next is the honey syrup we use to soak the cake.

Ingredients in Honey Syrup for Honey Cake
  • Honey – Yes, more honey! I told you, you definitely won’t miss the honey flavour in this cake!  😂

  • Water – To thin the honey a bit, so that we can safely simmer the honey for 5 minutes without it getting too thick.

  • Lemon juice – Just the finest touch, 3/4 tsp. It adds a very delicate but welcome hint of lemon freshness. It’s such a small amount you’re probably wondering what’s the point?? But you really can taste the little twang it brings! Having said that though, it’s not a deal killer if you skip it. Not like making this cake without, say, honey. 😂


How to make Honey Cake

The secret to this cake really lies in the balance of ingredients. The cake-making steps themselves are very bog-standard!

First up, making the cake.

1. The cake

How to make Honey Cake

  1. Whisk dry ingredients: Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.

  2. Cream butter and honey: A standard cake making step often deployed for butter and sugar. But here, we’re doing this step with honey instead! Beat it for a good 3 minutes on medium-high, a bit longer than you usually go for when baking with sugar as the honey is denser.

  3. Add eggs one at a time, alternating with flour – Switch to a wooden spoon. We’re going to mix in the eggs one at a time, alternating with portions of flour. So, add one egg, then mix until incorporated. The mixture will curdle at first, but keep stirring and it will come together after around 30 seconds.

  4. Add flour in four lots – After the first egg is mixed in, add 1/4 of the flour and mix just until you can no longer see flour. Add another egg, mix until incorporated. Then 1/3 of the remaining flour. And so on, with the 2 remaining eggs.

    Why switch to a wooden spoon after creaming the butter? Because a beater will aerate the eggs too much, causing the cake to dome rather than finishing with a nice flat surface. This shape will cause the honey syrup to run down the sides instead than soaking into the cake – and we can’t have that 😱!

How to make Honey Cake
  1. Finish batter – Lastly, stir in the milk and orange zest. The finished batter is quite thick and will look a bit like whipped cream rather than completely smooth, as per the photo.

  2. Scrape into pan – Scrape the batter into a baking paper-lined pan and smooth the surface. Even if you have a non-stick pan its best to line it with baking paper to ensure the cake doesn’t stick.

  3. Sprinkle the batter surface with the flaked almonds.

  4. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Then take the cake out of the oven but leave it in the pan, and cool for 15 minutes. This is an important step, to let the cake settle before soaking in syrup. If you skip it, the cake ends up too dense (impatience is a virtue rarely rewarded in baking, as I often discover to my detriment!).

Next, we’re going to SOAK it in honey syrup! Make the syrup while the cake is resting.

2. Soaking in Honey Syrup

My favourite step is here. Nope, not the soaking part. I mean the cake-poking part! So satisfying … 😂

How to make Honey Cake

Make the Honey Syrup while the cake is cooling for 15 minutes.

  1. Simmer the honey and water for 5 minutes to reduce. This concentrates the honey flavour, while heating the honey thins it so it gets absorbed more readily by the cake.

  2. Add lemon juice and simmer for a further 2 minutes. Then cool the syrup for 5 to 10 minutes.

  3. Poke holes in the cake, after it’s rested for 15 minutes. Bamboo or metal skewers work well. Poke with gusto, all the way down to the base – around 30 or more holes. Poke between the almonds so you don’t disturb them. (See … it’s a game … hence the appeal! 😂)

  4. Honey syrup – Pour over the honey syrup in 4 goes, waiting between each pour for the syrup to soak in before doing the next. Use a spoon if needed to spread the syrup evenly across the surface. Then leave to soak for a good 15 minutes.

    TIP: If your cake has a slight dome on it, lightly press the dome down with a spatula after baking to flatten the surface, else the syrup tends to just run off the cake and down the sides. Not the end of the world as it then gets absorbed by the base and sides of the cake. But it is nicer when the syrup has soaked the middle of the cake too.

And we’re done! See the section below for serving suggestions …

Close up of Honey Cake in baking pan

Serving and storing Honey Cake

This Honey Cake is best served warm because the cooler it gets, the denser it becomes. So serve it freshly made or else leftovers also reheat perfectly, making it ideal for making ahead too. To reheat, just 30 seconds in the microwave for a slice will do, or covered in the oven for around 15 minutes.

With its honey syrup-soaked crumb and crunchy toasted almond topping, I like serving this cake plain because there’s plenty of taste and texture going on here already. However, if you want to jazz it up, I would never discourage that! Try a big dollop of cream or vanilla ice cream (or BOTH!) with a an additional sprinkle of lightly toasted almonds (flakes or slivered), and a drizzle of extra warm honey. SO GOOD!

I think I just talked myself out of serving it plain – Bring on the toppings, on second thought!!! 😂 – Nagi x


Watch how to make it

Video typos I need to fix! Oven baking time is 45 minutes, not 50 minutes. And 15 minutes is enough for the honey syrup soaking step though you can leave it for the 30 minutes indicated in the video.

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Honey Cake with vanilla ice cream

Honey Cake

Author: Nagi
Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 45 mins
Cake
Western
5 from 8 votes
Servings10
Tap or hover to scale
Print
Recipe video above. All too often, honey cakes lack any discernible honey flavour. But you can't miss the flavour in this one, that's for sure! You'll love how this is made only using honey, no sugar at all, and how the soft cake gets soaked with honey syrup hot out of the oven.
Serve warm for the best eating experience. Brilliant as a pudding-like cake dessert to finish off a cosy dinner.

Ingredients

Honey cake

  • 1 cup plain flour (Note 1)
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cooking salt (kosher salt)
  • 225g (1 cup) unsalted butter , at room temperature (Note 2)
  • 2/3 cup honey
  • 4 large eggs , at room temperature (Note 3)
  • 3 tbsp milk , preferably full-fat, slightly warmed
  • 1 pinch orange zest , optional (brings out honey flavour)
  • 1/3 cup almond flakes

Honey syrup

  • 2/3 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 3/4 tsp lemon juice (recommended but optional)

Topping options for serving

  • Vanilla ice cream, cream, lightly toasted almond flakes or slivered almonds

Instructions

Honey Cake:

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan).
  • Prepare cake pan: Butter and line a 20cm/8" round pan or springform pan with baking paper (base and sides).
  • Whisk Dry ingredients: Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
  • Cream butter and honey: In a separate bowl, cream the butter and honey for 3 minutes, scraping down the sides halfway, until smooth and fluffy. (Speed 7 handheld beater or stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment).
  • Add eggs and flour – Add one egg, mix with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds until mostly incorporated into the batter (mixture will looked curdled). Then add in 1/4 of the flour and mix until the batter comes together. Repeat again – mixing in 1 egg, then a portion of flour – until you've used all the eggs.
  • Milk and zest: Stir in the milk and orange zest, stir until the batter is almost completely smooth. The batter should be quite thick, but soft.
  • Bake 45 min: Scrape batter into the prepared pan, smooth the surface and sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
  • Cool 30 min: Remove cake from the oven. Cool for 30 minutes in the pan – don’t skip this else the cake gets too dense when soaked with syrup.
  • Honey Syrup: Meanwhile, make the syrup. Bring the honey and water to a gentle boil for 5 minutes over medium-low heat. Add the lemon juice and boil for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat, cool for 10 minutes then use per below.
  • Poke and soak: Poke about 30 holes all across the surface using a skewer (between the almond flakes). Pour 1/4 of the warm Honey Syrup across the surface (if using a springform pan, put it on a plate in case it leaks). Once it mostly sinks in, repeat 3 more times, waiting between pours for the syrup to soak in. Then leave the cake to soak for 15 minutes.
  • Serve: Serve warm. Remove the springform pan sides, or serve it straight out of the cake pan (Note 4 for removing from cake pan). I typically serve it plain. However Topping Options suggested above would never be turned away!

Recipe Notes:

1. Flour – Self-raising flour can be substituted but the cake will dome more (as it contains additional baking powder). After baking, lightly press down on the dome to flatten the surface so the honey syrup doesn’t completely run off! Cake flour is not suitable, it will make the sponge too soft.
2. Softened butter – Don’t let the butter get too soft. This is a common error with baking recipes that call for butter to be creamed. Target 18°C/64°F for the butter. This is soft enough to be whipped, but you should not be left with a thick, shiny slick of grease on your finger when you poke it. Greasy fingers = butter too soft = greasy cake that doesn’t rise well.
If the butter is >20°C/68°F, I would chill the butter a bit before using else your cake may end up greasy.
3. Eggs – 50-55g / 2 oz per egg is the industry standard of sizes sold as “large eggs” in Australia and US. Eggs need to be at room temperature so they incorporate properly into the batter. Quick way to warm up fridge-cold eggs: Place eggs in a large bowl, cover with warm tap water (just warm, not hot) and leave for 5 min. Wipe dry, then use per recipe.
4. To remove from a cake pan – cover the almond surface with baking paper (the surface is tacky and will stick to the plate) then invert onto a plate then invert again so it’s right side up.
5. Leftovers will keep for 4 days in the fridge. Warm before serving as the crumb firms up when cold! 

Serve this for dessert after….

Overhead photo of golden Roast Chicken with crispy skin, fresh out of the oven, bathed in garlic-herb-lemon butter.
Roast Chicken
Garlic Sautéed Green Beans on a plate ready to be served
Sautéed Green Beans with Garlic
Potatoes au gratin (Dauphinoise Potatoes) fresh out of the oven
Potatoes au Gratin (Dauphinoise)
Close up of a slice of Vegetable Lasagna on a white plate, ready to be eaten
Vegetarian Lasagna
Better than Pizza Hut! For a truly religious Garlic Bread experience, skip the artisan bread and use a basic French stick. And no skimping on butter! recipetineats.com
Better-Than-Dominos Garlic Bread
Big bowl of Garden salad
The Garden Salad

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 376cal (19%)Carbohydrates: 48g (16%)Protein: 4g (8%)Fat: 20g (31%)Saturated Fat: 12g (75%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 115mg (38%)Sodium: 150mg (7%)Potassium: 140mg (4%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 38g (42%)Vitamin A: 673IU (13%)Vitamin C: 1mg (1%)Calcium: 56mg (6%)Iron: 1mg (6%)
Keywords: honey cake
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

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When Dozer went to the Grounds of Alexandria. He can’t read.🤷🏻‍♀️

Dozer at Grounds of Alexandria
Dozer at Grounds of Alexandria

Dozer at Grounds of Alexandria

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Hi, I'm Nagi!

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77 Comments

  1. Jenny says

    July 4, 2022 at 6:20 am

    Omg i just made the cake in a loaf pan (didn’t have a 20 cm pan) and the cake came out of the oven surrounded by boiling water(?)! hahaha I guess it has since soaked back into the cake. I’m making the syrup now and hope it will still taste alright! 🤪

    Reply
  2. Maria says

    July 3, 2022 at 8:31 pm

    5 stars
    Really tasty and forgiving cake. Substituted 100g gluten free flour and 50g almond meal for a gluten free version and it was delicious!

    Reply
  3. Renee says

    July 3, 2022 at 7:08 pm

    What kind of honey is best for this recipe – clover, orange blossom, etc, Have a small amount of an organic , wild flower mix of Southern California flowers. Need to get more for this recipe.

    Reply
  4. Carolyn says

    July 3, 2022 at 11:33 am

    5 stars
    Wonderful recipe for honey cake! I didn’t have almond slivers, but cake turned out great anyhow.

    Reply
  5. Norm says

    July 3, 2022 at 2:47 am

    We usually like a relatively dry honey cake. Would this cake be good even without the extra honey syrup soaking?

    Reply
  6. IpadPro says

    July 3, 2022 at 1:10 am

    Really excited for your cookbook!

    Reply
  7. minna says

    July 2, 2022 at 6:54 pm

    Is there a way to make this dairy free?

    Reply
  8. Jo-Ann Giunti says

    July 2, 2022 at 2:19 pm

    Welcome back!!! You were certainly missed. Glad you are pretty well over Covid. Dozer looks great with your bubbles all over him.. The honey cake looks delicious..

    Reply
  9. Karen says

    July 2, 2022 at 1:31 pm

    Great to have you back!
    Just got two large jars of honey. Can’t wait to try this recipe.

    Reply
  10. Kathleen says

    July 2, 2022 at 12:22 pm

    I made this tonight and it was simply delicious. I didn’t have orange zest so I had to skip that step; I *did* have the lemon juice…but I forgot to add it in 🤦‍♀️. Despite these mishaps, this cake was a big hit (even amongst the non-dessert crowd). I served this after your Mediterranean baked chicken dinner recipe and it was the perfect dinner!

    Reply
  11. Deborah says

    July 2, 2022 at 10:34 am

    Hi Nagi! I’m happy to learn you are feeling better!

    This honey cake would be perfect for Jewish New Year (usually happens in Sept). We celebrate by eating foods made with honey to have a sweet new year.
    One of the ways we do that is to eat apple slices dipped in honey. Could apple’s be added to this cake without throwing off its chemistry?

    Reply
  12. Kama says

    July 2, 2022 at 9:27 am

    I’m always looking for new ways to use the awesome honey our amazing girls produce. Can’t wait to try this one, thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  13. Robert Faille says

    July 2, 2022 at 8:24 am

    So happy to hear that you are going well

    Reply
  14. Teresa W. says

    July 2, 2022 at 5:06 am

    So glad to see you are feeling better and that you and Dozer have returned!!

    Reply
  15. MaryJane says

    July 2, 2022 at 4:39 am

    Hi Navi! Great recipe! Love the picture of Bowser. I’m having trouble pinning your recipes. I’m having to go to another site to pin your recipes. Can you help? Thank you!

    Reply
  16. Natalie says

    July 2, 2022 at 4:37 am

    . Now you just need to rest and eat Gut-Healthy food, with plenty of Sun and a little playtime with Dozer. Love this recipe❣️

    Reply
  17. Natalie says

    July 2, 2022 at 4:36 am

    I’m so glad you’re better. Now you just need to rest and eat Gut-Healthy/cleanSing food, with plenty of Sun and a little playtime with Dozer. Love this recipe❣️

    Reply
  18. J says

    July 2, 2022 at 2:59 am

    Forgot to say that I don’t blame Dozer for putting his nose on the flowers bc I would do the same! Those flowers are beautiful with the purple, blue and pink colors!

    Stay safe N and Dozer!

    Reply
  19. J says

    July 2, 2022 at 2:53 am

    So glad you’re back N! I had covid last summer and it was scary! I almost didn’t make it and I have always been healthy! I finally let my guard down and let my daughter come in my house and she caught it! I just got done having the flu so it hit me like a ton of bricks, starting with the worst migraine I have ever had! I got everything else but the sore throat! I’m so glad that your done with covid and are feeling better N!

    This honey cake looks sooo yummy! I’m always looking for ways to incorporate honey into food bc I’ve been trying to use less sugar in baking too! It’s alot easier in cooking with less sugar than in baking something!

    There’s Dozer getting in trouble again! Lol

    Reply
  20. AJ says

    July 2, 2022 at 1:07 am

    Oh I’m excited to try this. I have a beekeeper friend and unlimited access to raw honey in a variety of flavors from different pollinations, so it will be fun to try with different types. First up though, the orange blossom honey.

    Reply
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I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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