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This Honey Cake is perfect for Rosh Hashanah! If you've been let down by Jewish honey cake in the past, prepare to have your mind changed. This one is deliciously moist and perfectly sweet.
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What Makes This Honey Cake Special?
Honey cake often gets a bad rap. That's because many of them turn out dry, flavorless, dense, or gummy. But set aside your preconceived notions of honey cake and you’ll discover that this one is wonderfully moist and flavorful. It’s a far cry from the disappointing honey cake recipes that have traumatized so many of us.
This recipe focuses on achieving a tender, moist crumb and a beautiful balance of flavors. So what is it that makes this honey cake different? The key is in the ingredients, obviously, but also in the technique.
Ingredient Notes
Other honey cake recipes use a heavy mix of spices, but this one lets the honey flavor take the lead. Here’s what matters in the ingredient list:
- Oil: A neutral oil keeps the cake moist without competing with the honey. I usually use avocado oil, but canola or another mild option works just as well.
- Honey: The honey you choose makes a difference. Lighter, cheaper honeys tend to fade once baked, while darker wildflower or clover honeys hold their flavor better. Pick one with depth, since it’s the star of the cake.
- Sugar: White and brown sugar work alongside the honey. The brown sugar adds caramel notes that deepen the flavor and keep the sweetness balanced.
- Brewed coffee or strong tea: A touch of bitterness offsets the sweetness and adds complexity. I prefer coffee, but strong black tea works if that’s what you have.
How to Make It
This cake is so easy to make! You don't even need an electric or stand mixer—just stir the batter together with a wooden spoon. Here’s how to whip up this honey cake, ensuring it turns out perfectly every time:
- Grease the baking pan or pans and preaheat the oven.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Add all of the liquid ingredients including the eggs, honey, both kinds of sugar, coffee or tea, and orange juice.
- Transfer the batter to your prepared pan, filling it halfway to allow room for rising.
- Drizzle a bit of honey over the top for extra sweetness and a lovely glaze.
- Bake until the cake feels springy to the touch and a tester comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack.
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Tips for success
- This recipe makes a generous amount of cake. If that feels like too much, the recipe card includes scaled-down versions for smaller batches.
- Whatever pans you use, only fill them about halfway so the cake has room to rise. Smaller pans will bake faster, so keep an eye on them and check early.
- Line standard loaf or cake pans with greased parchment for easier removal. If you’re baking in several small pans, set them on a sheet pan to make them easier to move.
- Mix the batter gently with a wooden spoon. Once the flour is in, stir only until smooth — overworking it will make the cake gummy.
- The flavor improves after it rests. The cake is even better the next day, so it’s worth making it ahead.
What to Serve With It
Honey Cake is so versatile that I serve it on most Jewish holidays. It even makes a great holiday breakfast or brunch. And it's a perfect end to a meal of Brisket or roast chicken, latkes, and Beet Salad with Harrisa Dressing.
A dollop of whipped cream, or vegan whipped cream, or a scoop of ice cream takes it over the top. Try rich vanilla ice cream or, even better, Pumpkin Cinnamon Ice Cream. For a ligheter take try sliced fresh fruit like figs or pears would be lovely on top. If you want to take it over the top, add
Looking for more Jewish holiday-ready sweets? Try Honey Cookies with orange and cinnamon, also perfect for Rosh Hashanah, Rugelach, or Hamentashen. Chocolate Orange Babka is another Jewish dessert that easily shape shifts into a delightful brunch offering. Love that honey flavor? Try No Bake Honey Cheesecake.
Honey Cake
Robin Donovan
Ingredients
- 3½ cups (420 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup (240 ml) vegetable oil
- 1 cup (240 ml) honey, divided
- 1½ cups (300 grams) sugar
- ½ cup (110 grams) brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240 ml) brewed coffee or strong tea
- ½ cup (120 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.
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.