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.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time45 minutesmins
Course: Cake
Cuisine: Western
Keyword: honey cake
Servings: 10
Calories: 376cal
Author: Nagi
Ingredients
Honey cake
1cupplain flour(Note 1)
1 1/2tspbaking powder
1/2tspcooking salt(kosher salt)
225g (1 cup)unsalted butter, at room temperature (Note 2)
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!
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!