Honey Cake is the sweet treat many Jews eat on Rosh Hashanah, AKA Jewish New Year, as a symbol of hope for a sweet year to come. This honey cake recipe is deliciously moist with an alluringly crisp edge.
One day when my niece was about three years old, she declared, “I’m going to make a honey cake!”
I don’t think she had ever heard of honey cakes. But she does love honey. And I love her! So I started searching for honey cake recipes the minute I got home.
Why Do We Eat Honey CAkes during Rosh Hashanah?
The holiday celebrates the dawn of the new year according to the Hebrew calendar. It is one of the two High Holy days in Judaism (Yom Kippur is the other) and therefore one of the most important holidays.
Honey cakes are traditionally eaten on Rosh Hashanah because honey symbolizes our hopes for sweetness in the year to come. It is also customary to eat apple slices dipped in honey on the holiday.
What does Shana Tova mean?
During Rosh Hashanah, you’ll often hear the greeting “Shana Tova umetukah!” Or simply “Shana Tova!”
It’s the Jewish version of “happy new year,” translating more specifically to mean “have a good, sweet year!”
From electric mixers to rolling pins, baking pans, cookie scoops, and more, these are our favorite baking tools.
What makes this the best honey cake recipe?
The biggest complaint people have about most Jewish honey cakes is that they are dry and lack flavor. I wanted something super moist and rich.
I searched for recipes for honey cakes that are nice and moist and found one on Smitten Kitchen. It was a recipe by Marcy Goldman’s from her cookbook A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking.
If anyone knows her way around a Jewish dessert, it is Marcy Goldman. Smitten Kitchen calls Marcy’s honey cake “Crazy moist and soft and plush with a little crisp edge about the corners.”
This Honeycake recipe tastes wonderfully moist with a lovely crunchy edge. Plus it will fill your home with a delightfully sweet fragrance.
This cake is perfect for Rosh Hashana
The first thing you want in a Rosh Hashana honey cake is for it to be sweet. After all, that’s the whole point, right? A sweet cake to usher in a sweet new year. This cake is sweet, and it is also:
- Moist
- Tender
- Not too dense
- Full of the flavor of honey
- Crisp around the edges
Honey, of course, gives the cake its signature honey flavor and makes it plenty sweet. But this cake has other flavorful ingredients, too. Coffee and orange juice give it bitterness and tang to counter the sweetness of the honey. It really is the perfect honey cake recipe.
What ingredients do you need?
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Cooking oil (or soft butter)
- Honey (you can use any honey you like. I love a good wildflower honey or orange blossom honey!)
- White sugar
- Brown sugar
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Brewed coffee or black tea
- Orange juice (for extra orange flavor, you can add orange zest, too!)
Marcy’s version (and Deb’s) includes cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. But I’m not crazy about a spice cake. I just want a cake that tastes like honey.
It may sound crazy, but I left all of those spices out. The result was perfect.
How do you make this easy honey cake?
You only need one bowl and a wooden spoon to mix this cake. You could, however, use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer if you prefer. Just be careful not to overbeat it after adding the flour, as this can make a cake rubbery.
- Preheat the oven and spray the baking pan(s).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients—the oil, honey, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, coffee or tea, and orange juice—and mix thoroughly. You can also mix everything in the bowl of an electric mixer and use the whisk attachment on medium-high speed.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and bake in the preheated oven. You know it is done when the cake is golden brown, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool completely before slicing and serving.
A little trick that makes this cake even better
Remember those crisp edges I mentioned earlier? Before baking, I drizzle a bit of honey over the batter. It caramelizes in the oven, giving the bottom of these honeycakes and edges of the cake extra crispiness.
The honey glaze also adds the deep, rounded flavor of caramelized honey. If you’re lucky you’ll even get a few bits of burnt honey around the edges of your honeycake, which is extra delicious.
Also, check out these 7 Tips for How to Bake a Cake.
My niece was delighted and proud of herself for coming up with the idea. My mother, who doesn’t even like honey cake, took home an extra-large hunk. [Breaking news: Mom called as I was writing this post, and said, “I just ate a third of the cake you sent me home with, and it is the most delicious honey cake I’ve ever had. I can’t stop eating it.”
Tips for success
- This recipe makes a lot (us Jewish ladies worry that someone will go hungry, so we always make extra, especially for special occasions like the high holidays). You can use three 9-by-5-inch loaf pans or one 9-by-13-inch baking pan, or three 9-inch round pan, or make 36 standard cupcakes.
- Alternatively, you can use a mini Bundt pan with 6 cups as well as a few different sizes of small loaf pans.
- Whatever size baking pans you use, be careful not to overfill them. Each pan should only be filled about halfway.
- If you are using several small pans, you can place them all on a baking sheet to make them easy to get in and out of the oven.
- Smaller portions will bake faster so be sure to adjust the baking time and check early and often.
- You can also bake the cake in a convection oven, but you’ll want to reduce the cooking time by about 25 percent.
- If you just want less cake, you can reduce the full recipe by 1/3 or even 2/3. See my recipe notes for details on how to cut down the quantity.
- The recipe uses cooking oil for its fat, which makes it kosher parve (no meat or dairy). You can substitute unsalted butter if you like.
- The recipe calls for strong brewed coffee or tea. The bitterness of coffee or tea balances the sweetness of the honey. But you can substitute milk or water in the same quantity. Note that if you use milk, the recipe will not be parve.
- Feel free to add a diced apple or two, sliced almonds sprinkled over the top, a tablespoon of orange zest, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or 1/4 cup of whiskey to the batter or substitute almond extract for the vanilla extract.
- The texture of this cake improves when it sits for a bit. I think it is best the day after it is made. Make it ahead and let the finished cake sit, uncovered, at room temperature.
This morning I learned inadvertently that this cake, paired with a cup of coffee, makes a great breakfast. If you’re a sweets-for-breakfast person, you might want to try this Japanese Souffle Pancakes recipe, too!
If you’re looking for more cake ideas, try this Orange Sponge Cake, which is perfect for Passover, or this indulgent Chocolate Cake. Or try these amazing Instant Pot Brownies!
Round out your rosh hashanah menu
If you’re looking for more holiday recipes, I like to serve my famous Brisket with Dried Fruit and Spices for just about every Jewish holiday, including Rosh Hashanah. Roasted Beet Salad with Harrisa Dressing is a great side.
If you’re feeling extra, you can serve this cake with vegan whipped cream and it will still be parve!
More Jewish holiday recipes you’ll love
If you love this honey cake recipe, check out these other Jewish holiday recipes! From crispy Latkes to Beef Brisket with Dried Fruit and Spices to Hamentashen, I’ve got the perfect recipe for every Jewish holiday.
Rosh Hashanah Honey Cake
Ingredients
- 3½ cups 420 grams all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup 237 ml vegetable oil
- 1 cup 237 ml honey, divided
- 1½ cups 300 grams sugar
- ½ cup 110 grams brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup 237 ml brewed coffee or strong tea
- ½ cup 119 ml orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and generously grease the baking pan(s) with nonstick cooking spray, baking spray, or butter. (Use either three 9-by-5-inch loaf pans, one 9-by-13-inch baking pan, or any equivalent-sized pans.)
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the oil, 3/4 cup of the honey, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, coffee or tea, and orange juice. Mix thoroughly, until all ingredients are combined and no lumps remain.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s), filling each about halfway.
- Drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup of honey over the batter.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the cake is set all the way through and feels springy to the touch (30 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of your baking dishes). A tester inserted into the center should come out clean.
- Let cool 15 minutes before removing from the baking dish. Slide a knife around the edges to help loosen the cake, if necessary.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
L’Shana tova. Can the cup of oil be replaced by a cup of unsweetened apple sauce?
P.S. If applesauce is used, do I need to adjust the baking time?
I wish I could answer with authority, but I just don’t know. If you try it let us know how it turns out!
Leann, did you try the apple sauce? If so how did it turn out, also, did you have to make any other adjustments? Thanks!
This recipe looks delicious and I’m planning on making it tomorrow for my book club dinner, but I have a question.
For the orange juice, do you just use store bought, or do you fresh squeeze and orange?
Thank you for the lovely recipe!
I used OJ from the store. No need to squeeze!
I made this cake. Super easy to make. I made no changes to recipe. Cake is delicious.
Loved the honey cake. Can I use extra orange juice instead of the coffee?
I’ve never tried that, but I imagine it would be fine. Let us know!
Wow I wish you would put this in the actual recipe. I assumed coffee grounds because it did not say brewed coffee anywhere!!!! This is in my oven right now and I’m sure it’ll go right into the trash
Hi Ashley, I’m so sorry that you misunderstood the ingredient. I have changed it to “brewed coffee or tea.” This recipe has been on my site for 4 years and this is the first time anyone has made that mistake that I know of, although I have gotten many questions about whether a different liquid can be substituted for the coffee or tea so I thought it was pretty clear that it was a liquid. If it was meant to be coffee grounds or tea leaves, I would have said “coffee grounds or tea leaves.” Thank you for bringing it to my attention though so that I could make it totally clear to anyone else who might make that mistake.
Loved the cake- i used all orange juice the second time i made it and it was better yet!!!!🌺
I’m a beekeeper and was looking for a honey cake recipe that would highlight the taste of honey, not bury it with spices and other ingredient flavors. So, I tweaked your recipe a bit and got exactly what I wanted. My changes were: melted butter instead of oil, dropped the white and brown sugar and increased honey to 1.5 cups, dropped the orange juice and coffee/tea liquids and just used 1/2 cup of warm water. Baked it in a 9 x 13″ pan, lined with parchment paper for 45 min, mostly at 350F, although I turned it down to 325F for the last 6-7 minutes because I was concerned about the top getting too brown. If I were too change anything for the next time, I’d think about increasing honey to 2 cups, to increase sweetness and moisture – maybe a tad more water also.
Love the flavour but struggled to get the cakes out of the tins in one piece…not sure where I went wrong….
Any advice would be appreciated!
Hi Helsa,
Thank you for posting! I am glad you liked the flavor of the honey cake, but so sorry you had a hard time removing them from the pans! It could have to do with the pans you used, or perhaps you didn’t grease the pans thoroughly enough (I have just changed the instructions from “grease the pans” to “generously grease the pans” in hopes of helping readings avoid this problem in the future.) I grease the pans with coconut oil spray but any type of nonstick cooking spray should work, as will butter or vegetable shortening.
Robin
I think parchment should be used. I made this recipe, which was delicious, but like Helsa mine stuck to the pan (all 3 of them!). I am going to make again with parchment and see how it turns out.
Hi Loni, I’m sorry that yours stuck too! I have made this cake dozens of times in different pans and never had it stick that I can recall. But yes, using parchment paper would certainly reduce any risk of sticking!
Is the batter real liquidy? Mine is
It is a very wet batter. It should be pourable. I have made this recipe exactly as written at least a dozen times, so as long as you followed the measurements given, I am certain that it is the consistency it should be.
For the coffee, do you use grounds or an actual cup of brewed black coffee?
Hi Bonnie,
It is brewed coffee (a cup of coffee, not grounds).
Thanks!
Robin
Thank you, I’m looking forward to try it
I wanted to love this recipe and make a delicious honey cake for the holidays. I even bought beautiful individual floral bundt pans as I loved the idea of individual desserts. I followed the recipe to a t and the cakes looked beautiful and were very moist but they were gummy and lacked flavor. Not sure what went wrong as so many others loved this recipe.
Hi Lola, I’m so sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you! I am not sure why it would turn out gummy. I mean, the honey does make it pretty sticky, especially the outside, which of course you have more of if you do it in small tins, but that is part of the appeal of the cake to me. Is it possible that you overmixed the batter? I’m not sure what else would cause gumminess, but I will see if I can figure that one out!
I have been making a similar cake (slightly different proportions and probably a little less batter total) for 50 years and I think it is the amount of oil that keeps the cake moist. Originally, I got the recipe from my mother and wrote down 1 cup oil. About 20 years ago a friend told me she liked the cake except it was too oily. I told my mother the story and she said, “How much oil do you use?” When I told her she said, “One cup? It’s supposed to be 1/4 cup!” So the next year I put in 1/4 cup and thought it was too dry. Now I use 1/2 cup. I bake it in a 9″ x 13″ greased and floured pan with sliced almonds sprinkled on the top, and keep it in the pan, covered, on the counter as I eat my way through it. It lasts for well over a week and stays moist.
Hi Andrea,
That’s so funny about the oil! Topping it with sliced almonds is a great idea, too!
Happy new year!
Robin
I would rather use butter and I wish the alternative spice cake was here too. I used another recipe from Spruce Eats awful, made it two years in a row. So upset, dry and burned @ degrees 1 1/2 hrs like as per recipe no oil 1 stick buter Afraid to try ,again. Help
Hi Andrea, You can use butter instead of oil. Use the same amount (1 cup aka 2 sticks) and cream it together wtih the honey and sugar before adding the other ingredients. Let the butter come to room temperature ahead of time. As for the spices, you can add the spices from another recipe that uses them! I promise you this recipe will not turn out dry or burned if you follow my instructions!
BH Hi! I want to make this Honey Cake after finding this recipe by googling it online after reading a lovely inspirational story today (on chabad.org) about a Righteous Rebbe who gave out honeycakes. Honeycake is new for me (never had it)- and i want to make it…but i have one question: about the ingredient CoFFee- is it liquid or grounds?
Thankk you for your time! Shana. Tova!
Hi Marybel,
The coffee is liquid (brewed) coffee! You can also substitute tea or even water or orange juice.
Thanks!
Robin
Hi. Amazing delicious! About the coffee would prob make more sense to write how many tablespoons of instant coffee and then a cup of water.. as not sure how strong coffee cup should be.. but was delicious!!!
Hi Jason,
I’m so glad you liked the cake! About the coffee, really any brewed coffee is fine. I don’t keep instant coffee around, and I’m sure a lot of others don’t either. If you don’t have coffee, you can substitute tea or additional orange juice.
Hi can i change orange juice to milk?
Hi Veronica! I have never tried making it with milk instead of orange juice, but I think it would probably be fine. If you try it, post an update to tell us how it worked out!
I made this with a few tweaks to the recipe. It was so delicious! I used 3/4 cups melted coconut oil instead of 1 cup oil. I also only used 1 cup sugar and I replaced the brown sugar with 1/2 cup coconut sugar. Instead of coffee, I used 1 1/4 cups fresh squeezed orange and lemon juice (about 4 med/lrg oranges and 3 lemons). Since I only had raw honey on hand, it was extra thick and I had to take care to really scrape the bowl while mixing or the honey would settle in a glob. I also used two 9 inch round cake pans and made a layer of honey cream cheese frosting, then covered the whole thing with a lemon glaze. I’m definitely saving this recipe for future use (next time I’m going to try adding pineapple chunks!)
Wow, Julianne, that sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing and I’m glad you liked the recipe!
Honey cake is great. I’m success with your recipe.I want to ask you that How long can I store the cake and how do I store it? Thanks!
I’m so glad you like it! You can wrap it in plastic wrap and keep it on the counter for several days.
I am doing a bee theme birthday party, and of course I need a honey cake. However, it is for small children who do not like strong tea or coffee. Is the taste of the coffee or tea strong? Is there an alternative I can use?
Hi Monica! Your party theme sounds great! I don’t think you can taste the tea or coffee, and lots of kids have eaten this cake as is and liked it. But you can use weak coffee or tea or substitute another liquid–orange juice, water, milk–if you prefer. Have a great party!
Absolutely in love with this sticky sweet honey cake!
I used a lavender & chamomile tea which added a subtle flare to the flavor – I mixed in some lavender blossoms and orange zest and stepped into heaven! I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 for1 Flour and got beautiful results. I also ended up doing 3/4 cup coconut oil instead because I have no vegetable oil.
I took the advice of some of the comments and decided to bake with some aluminum foil the last half of the time to avoid burning the top. Definitely helped!
The cake was overall a big hit with the family but was a tad too sweet for me-I added a dash of nutmeg and a bit more salt to balance the flavors. Next time I’ll try to omit some of the sugar – anyone have any advice??
.
Thank you, Hannah! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake. The lavender sounds like a brilliant addition! And thanks for sharing your gluten-free substitution as I often am asked if this can be made gluten free. As for the sugar, I think you could safely cut the white sugar by as much as 1/3 without issue.
I just made this and with 1/2 tsp orange extract instead of the orange juice the calorie content came out to 2132 according to my ipad. I’m going to let it “age” until tomorrow as suggested to improve the taste.
Hi Cynthia! I’m not sure what you are saying about the calorie count, but the number you are getting will depend on the app you are using to calculate it. The free calorie apps aren’t very accurate. Are you saying 2132 calories for the whole cake? Per serving, your cake should be pretty close to the calorie count of the original recipe since the original recipe uses 1/2 cup of orange juice and makes 24 servings of cake. The calorie count per serving of the original recipe is 265 per serving. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the cake!
Hi,
This sounds delicious. Which oil do you use and which brown sugar/dark or light
Thank you
Hi Lili! You can use any neutral-flavored oil. I like safflower or sunflower seed. For the sugar, either light brown or dark brown is fine. I usually use light brown because it is what I tend to have on hand, but dark brown would work fine, too. Thank you!
Is it possible to use a full-size bundt pan? If so, what baking temperature should be used and what is the approximate baking time?
Hi Brucene! You can use a full size bundt pan. The full recipe will need the largest size bundt pan. The information for cooking in different size pans is included in my post. One word of warning: I have made it in a large Bundt pan and it is not nearly as good as if you make it in, say, 3 loaf pans. When cooking it in such a large pan, the inside of the cake comes out a bit gummy and you get much less of the nice caramelized edges of the cake. So, I don’t really recommend it.