Honey Cake Recipe

This delicious honey cake recipe is moist and buttery with the perfect amount of sweetness from honey and brown sugar. It's finished off with a crunchy almond topping and an extra drizzle of honey. This is a simple and easy dessert that's impossible to resist, and it's ready in under an hour!

The Best Honey Cake

This honey cake recipe is a delicious change-up from the typical chocolate cake or vanilla cake. It's made with similar baking ingreidents as those classic cakes, with a few secret ingreidents that turn it into something amazing.

This honey cake is a cozy dessert reminiscent of buttery pound cake but with a rich brown sugar honey flavor and a hint of cinnamon. It's so moist, tender, and sweet, with an added texture from the toasted almond topping.

This honey cake recipe is the kind of dessert you'll want to make for every holiday and get-together.  Everyone who takes one bite of this dense cake will think you bought it from a bakery, it's that good!

Oh, and if you're hosting and are putting out a dessert platter, this honey cake is great served with these crescent roll apple dumplings. The two together are the perfect Fall dessert pair!

Why This Recipe Works

Simple ingredients. You don't need any fancy ingredients to make this honey cake. You might even have most of what you need in your pantry already!

The flavors. This simple dessert is hiding layers of spectacular flavor, from the sweetness of honey and toasty brown sugar to the warmth of the cinnamon and the nutty crunch from the almonds. The combination of everything is incredible! 

Perfect for any occasion. Honey cake is a great dessert to make for holidays, birthday parties, or just as a sweet treat after dinner for the family. Whenever you serve it, it's sure to be a hit with both kids and adults.

Ingredients

As you already know, this honey cake recipe is made with simple pantry staples. Check out everything you'll need to make it:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup sliced almonds

You can also use most of these ingredients for another one of my favorite cakes, this sweet potato pound cake. It has a maple brown sugar praline sauce that you absolutely have to try.

How To Make Honey Cake

1. Prep work: Preheat the oven to 320°F and lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan with butter. Line the bottom of the prepared cake pan with parchment paper and lightly grease the top of the parchment paper with butter as well.

2. Mix the wet and dry ingredients: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate large mixing bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and honey together on medium-high until you get a light and fluffy consistency. Add the eggs to the butter-sugar mixture one at a time, beating the mixture between each addition and pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

3. Combine the ingredients: Add the flour mixture and the vanilla extract to the bowl of wet ingredients. Gently mix on low speed just until everything is well-combined and you have a smooth cake batter.

4. Bake the cake: Pour the honey cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer with a rubber spatula. Bake the cake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes or until the cake is cooked through. Halfway through the baking time, sprinkle the chopped almonds on top of the cake.

5. Cool and serve: Let the cake cool in the pan on top of a wire rack. Transfer the cooled cake to a plate and serve warm or cold, drizzled with more honey on top. Enjoy!

Tips To Make the Best Recipe

• Experiment with different kinds of honey for slight variations in flavor, like citrusy orange blossom honey or delicate clover honey.
• Be careful not to overmix the batter. Only mix until all of the ingreidents just combine together.
• Try using pecans instead of almonds for a different texture and flavor.
• You'll know the cake is baked a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Serve your honey cake à la mode with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

How To Store Honey Cake

At room temperature: Wrap the cake pan in plastic wrap or transfer the cooled honey cake slices to an airtight container. Keep at room temperature for about a day or two.

In the fridge: Transfer the airtight container to the fridge, and the cake will last in the fridge for up to 5 days.

In the freezer: Wrap the cake slices tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap and store them in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months. Let the frozen cake thaw in the fridge overnight before enjoying it.

Honey Cake Recipe FAQS

Can I use honey in my cake?

Yes, you can definitely use honey in your cake! Honey is a great addition to elevate the flavor and texture of cakes.

What does honey do to cake?

Honey is a great way to add more sweetness and flavor to a cake. It also will give the cake an amazingly moist, dense texture that you just can't get in any other cake.

What are honey cakes made of?

Most honey cake recipes are similar to pound cake but sweetened with honey. In addition to honey, they usually call for flour, butter, eggs, baking powder or baking soda, and sometimes milk or buttermilk. Variations depend on the kind of honey cake you're making. Jewish honey cake is made with brown sugar, warm spices, coffee or black tea, and orange juice. Russian honey cake is layered with a sweet cream filling made from whipped cream and sour cream. Arabic honey cake is made with sugar, dates, cinnamon, and sliced almonds on top.

More Cake Recipes

• Coffee cake
• Burnt almond cake
• Strawberry crunch cake
• Cinnamon muffins
• Chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting
• Banana cake with cream cheese frosting