Full of honey flavor, this honey cake recipe comes together quickly in a few easy steps. Made with simple kitchen staples, this cake comes out so delightfully moist and soft. Topped with a sprinkle of almonds, it provides a delicious contrast to the tender and fluffy cake. Don’t like almonds? That’s fine, simply skip it!
Not just for dessert, this cake makes for a wonderful mid-day treat or served alongside some tea. It is a delicious treat that you can whip out for any occasion, especially last minute! Want another easy cake recipe? Try my applesauce cake recipe, banana cake recipe, or olive oil cake recipe.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Flour — you don’t need anything fancy to make this honey cake. All you need is all-purpose flour.
Baking powder — make sure the baking powder is fresh and not expired to ensure a light and fluffy cake.
Cinnamon — a pinch of cinnamon adds a lovely warmth and pairs wonderfully with honey.
Butter — I recommend using unsalted butter as you will add measured salt to the batter. Be sure to bring the butter to room temperature. It needs to be soft enough to where your finger leaves a dent when you press into it. It will be challenging to beat the butter into a smooth and creamy consistency if it’s cold. The best way to let your butter come to room temperature is to bring it out of the fridge 1 to 2 hours beforehand and allow it to sit on your kitchen counter.
Sugar — brown sugar helps the cake taste rich due to the molasses. Using brown sugar also makes the cake softer and moister than granulated sugar. The caramel flavor from the brown sugar also pairs deliciously with honey.
Honey — use your favorite honey! Clover honey, wildflower, or orange blossom honey would taste amazing in this cake.
Almonds — I love the texture of topping the cake with a sprinkling of sliced almonds.
How to Make Honey Cake
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon if using, and baking soda.
2. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and honey on medium-high until light and fluffy.
3. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla until just combined.
4. With the mixer on low, gradually add in the flour mixture, beating just until combined.
5. Pour the batter into a lightly greased 9-inch round cake pan lined at the bottom with parchment, smoothing the batter into an even layer.
6. Bake for 40 minutes. If desired, you can sprinkle the top with almonds after 20 minutes of baking. Loosely cover the cake with foil at any time if the top or almonds start to get too brown. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Serve warm, drizzled with additional honey.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- Make sure your honey is runny for this cake. If it has crystalized, you can gently warm it in a small saucepot of water to make it runny again.
- I highly recommend using a scale to measure your flour as it’s the most accurate method and will prevent you from ending up with a dense cake. If you don’t have a scale, fluff your flour with a spoon and spoon it into your cups before leveling it off with a knife. This method prevents you from overpacking the measuring cup.
- Do not overmix the batter, or you’ll have a tough, chewy, or dense cake. Mix everything until just combined.
- Tap the cake pan on the counter a few times to pop any air bubbles and level out the batter in the pan for an even bake. An offset spatula is a great tool for spreading the top of the batter.
- The eggs should be at room temperature to ensure they incorporate into your batter evenly. If you forgot to take your eggs out of the fridge ahead of time, you could quickly bring them to room temperature by placing them in a large bowl and covering them with warm tap water for 5 minutes.
- Honey is the main flavor of the cake, so I recommend using good-quality honey.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store the cake covered in the fridge for up to 4 days. Keep it tightly wrapped or in an airtight container to keep it fresh.
You can! To freeze, allow the honey cake to cool to room temperature before wrapping it tightly with plastic wrap and then a layer of tin foil or transfer it to a freezer-safe container or bag. Store the cake for up to 3 months in the freezer. When ready to eat, thaw and then slice and serve.
Honey sweetens the cake and helps it retain more moisture. It also adds a richer color and deeper flavor to the cake.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this Honey Cake recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Honey Cake
Video
Equipment
- 9″ round baking pan
- Mixing Bowls
- Electric hand or stand mixer
- Wire cooling rack
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (120g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened (227g)
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar (110g)
- ⅓ cup honey plus more for garnish (80mL)
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup sliced almonds optional (30g)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan with baking spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper and lightly grease the parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon if using, and baking soda.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and honey on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla until just combined.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add in the flour mixture, beating just until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it into an even layer.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. If desired, you can sprinkle the top with almonds after 20 minutes of baking. Loosely cover the cake with foil at any time if the top or almonds start to get too brown. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the cake from the pan, discard the parchment paper, and place it on a serving plate (almond side up). Serve warm drizzled with additional honey.
Notes
- Make sure your honey is runny for this cake. If it has crystalized, you can gently warm it in a small saucepot of water to make it runny again.
- I highly recommend using a scale to measure your flour as it’s the most accurate method and will prevent you from ending up with a dense cake. If you don’t have a scale, fluff your flour with a spoon and spoon it into your cups before leveling it off with a knife. This method prevents you from overpacking the measuring cup.
- Do not overmix the batter, or you’ll have a tough, chewy, or dense cake. Mix everything until just combined.
- Tap the cake pan on the counter a few times to pop any air bubbles and level out the batter in the pan for an even bake. An offset spatula is a great tool for spreading the top of the batter.
- The eggs should be at room temperature to ensure they incorporate into your batter evenly. If you forgot to take your eggs out of the fridge ahead of time, you could quickly bring them to room temperature by placing them in a large bowl and covering them with warm tap water for 5 minutes.
- Honey is the main flavor of the cake, so I recommend using good-quality honey.
Lisa says
This recipe is so amazing! Surprisingly the cake is so moist and airy, almost like a sponge cake. My family loves it so much! I added half a tsp of almond flavoring and decreased the brown sugar because it was a bit too sweet for me, but this recipe is definitely a keeper!
Jasmin says
Wow, this cake was to die for! I didn’t add the cinnamon and instead added one tsp of almond extract for a honey almond cake. The cake was so moist, it’s insane! The honey flavor is intense and beautiful with just a slight flavor from the almond extract. Just so good. My boyfriend has now requested this for his birthday cake!
Margaret says
I was looking for a honey cake and tried three different recipes and this was by far the best – the honey flavor really came through. I skipped the optional almonds – I just needed a 1/2″ layer for the bottom of a Bavarian, so they would have been cut off anyhow, but loved the idea of the almond flavor. Instead, I added an amaretto dessert syrup to the cake layer and honey-glazed almonds as a garnish for flavor and texture. This is definitely going into my recipe binder.
A.A says
Excellent cake. Easy, not too sweet, great honey flavor. The almonds add a nice crunch
Donna says
Made this for a work party, and 3 people asked for the recipe. Super tasty. I’m GF so I used 3/4 cup of cup for cup flour and 1/4 cup almond flour.
Madeline Meza says
Delicious honey cake!! My family loved the cake! I made it yesterday and will be baking it again.
Chi says
This is the first recipe I’ve tried since coming across your Youtube videos a few days ago. The cake came out so yummy and very moist. Thank you so much!
Mayra says
Try this recipe about three days ago and it was a total success. My family loved it so much. I’m doing it again today they gobbled it up and everybody’s happy what a great recipe so easy and so fast and super tasty.
Jodi Trop says
Very quick to make! Perfect for small households! Moist, delicious and not overly sweet! We loved this recipe and will definitely be making it again! Thanks for all you do!
Meg says
This cake is beyond delicious. Rich, moist, and caramel-y perfection. I only had two eggs on hand so I subbed in 120g of full cream yoghurt and it still came out perfectly, which I think is a testament to John’s recipe-writing genius!