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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
Just made this and wow is it delicious!
I did a few changes to the recipe: I used cake flour not AP, used melted butter instead of oil, and substituted sour cream for the orange juice (a family member is allergic to citrus).
This was a huge hit with the family and its almost gone.
Definitely will make again!
Looks awesome!
So tempting to try it.
I am no fan of honey cake and I thought this was absolutely out of this world. My husband said best he’s ever tasted. I did use cinnamon and I did also add chocolate chips! I recommend. Next time I will try raisins.
This honey cake is lovely. I was searching for a Gluten Free Cake and stumbled on this. I used 2 springform pans, and successfully freezed one cake. Note: do not drizzle much over the ‘centre’ of the cake as it goes a bit boggy there. I always re-type and reorganize recipies, as I find ‘sentences’ of instructions hard to follow. For this, my method was … Combined WET + Combined DRY = BATTER then DRIZZLE then BAKE. My Non GF guests were just as pleased.
What type of flour did you use to make it gluten free? People ask all the time if I have a gluten free version but I’m not very experienced with gluten free baking and haven’t attempted one yet.
Hi Robin
I would love to try your Honey Cake recipe, however, nobody in my family likes the taste of coffee. Is there any substitute that may work?
Thank you
You can use just about any liquid. I’ve used tea, more orange juice, milk (then won’t be parve, but if you don’t care about that it’s not a problem). A friend of mine used whiskey! That said, the cake doesn’t come out tasting like coffee at all. The bitterness of the coffee just balances the sweetness, but you don’t actually taste the coffee.
is this a traditional recipe that you bring to people? why three cakes? i know it says you can reduce to make less. just wondering (and yes i made the whole recipe). unfortunately i burned it a little. all that sugar, a dark pan. i didnt have orange juice so i sub’d lavender syrup – still delish.
Thank you for the version to make 12 cupcakes. Since it’s just for me I can freeze the others and save for later. Delicious recipe
I absolutely love this cake. Honey cake was never popular in my family but for Rosh Hashanah, we have to have it, so it was like a Christmas fruitcake, something to be made and admired but not loved. No more! This cake is delicious. I love it without the warm spices that most recipes call for; this cake is about the honey, and it’s great. This is the only recipe I use anymore, and just baked them last night, so they would have time to “mature” before the holiday starts Friday night.
Three cakes are generally more than I need so I freeze one or two (depending on how many guests we’re having). When I need a quick dessert, I buy coffee or caramel ice cream, slice the frozen cake horizontally, spread the ice cream on the bottom later, replace the top, weight it slightly, and refreeze. It looks fancy, which it isn’t, but it’s really delicious too.
Hi,
Loved it, came out tasting amazing in a 13 X 9 tin. For the wow factor, could I use a Bundt tin next time
Thank you for sharing the recipe.
I love this cake, best I have ever made. I cut down the sugar to 1/2 cup vs 1 cup as the last time it was a bit too sweet. Its moist and outstanding we cannot stop eating it.
9 x 13 pan..
Overflowed into the oven
I’m sorry that happened, but the recipe clearly states that as written it should be made in 3 loaf pans or the equivalent. 1 9-by-13-inch pan is not big enough.
This cake is delicious!! It was my first time making it, but will definitely be a go-to in the future. I followed the recipe with the exception of subbing melted butter for the oil, & I added 2 tsp of roasted cinnamon. Baked in a large pan (11×14) for 40 min, so it’s more like a bar cake or brownie once cut. I made it to give out as a treat to my clients for the Christmas/new years holiday… And will probably have to make another batch because the first is already half gone for “testing” purposes. Soooo good!! Thank you for this recipe!
Delicious!! My five year old granddaughter says, “the best muffins ever.”
I wanted to know how long would you bake 12 muffins?
Blessings
I’m not sure but I’d start checking them at about 18 minutes.
Made this for the first time and it turned out really well. The edges were perfectly crisp and the center was moist. It was so good and paired perfectly with my morning coffee. My new fav!
Don’t know if anyone made the same mistake I did but… I misread LOAF pan and thought just cake pan. So I have an 8×3 inch cake pan and thought the recipe for 1 pan would be enough. It wasn’t even filling half. I couldn’t understand until I re-read this and saw the word loaf. Still I think shouldn’t be so off. The cake is currently in the oven. So waiting to see if it rises enough. Smells amazing though!
I am not sure what happened here. This recipe makes enough batter to fill 3 standard loaf pans. And I’m not sure what you mean by an 8×3 inch cake pan. Do you mean an 8-inch round cake pan? It should be enough to fill 3 of those as well, but I haven’t tried it so I’m not positive that it wouldn’t be slightly too much or slightly too little.
Don’t know what happened but the cake didn’t rise and came out very very sticky and sides like burnt sugar. I didn’t even drizzle honey on the batter. Maybe my honey is too dense? I wish I could fix the recipe for next time. BTW in Israel we dont really have baking soda. Only powder. So I only used that.
I’m sorry the recipe didn’t work for you. It is difficult sometimes when you are making recipes in another part of the world from where it was developed as there can be significant differences in ingredients–sugar and flour, for instance, can differ from one place to another. And baking soda and baking powder are not the same thing, so you really can’t just substitute one for the other and expect to get the same results.
In the picture, it showed little cakes, or muffins. I love muffins and wonder if I can pour the batter into muffin pans instead of one cake pan. I know I will like these and I will try putting a little cinnamon in mine, since it is good for you and I love cinnamon in sweet things. Thank you.
Yes you can do that. There are instructions in the post about the varioius sizes and types of pans you can use.
Lovely cake with nice honey flavor! Can you substitute any liquid for the orange juice or do you need something acidic? Some of my family said they’d prefer without the citrus taste.
Thank you! I have not tried it with another liquid besides orange juice, so I can’t say for sure that it will turn out well. I think it would probably be fine, but I can’t promise anything.
Can i use a bundt pan instead?
yes, you can and there are instructions in the recipe for how to do that. The full recipe will be too much batter for a standard bundt, so you can either cut the recipe down by ⅓ (instructions included in the post) or use a bundt pan and a standard loaf pan and make two cakes!
Can i use a bundt pan?