Honey Cake

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This moist honey cake has wonderful flavor and a fine, tender crumb.

You'll notice an added richness from the buttermilk in the recipe, and the delicious flavor combination of honey, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Photos of honey cake and slice of cake, topped with a honey glaze

What you Need for this Cake

  • Honey: Any type of honey is great in this recipe, whether wildflower honey, clover honey, etc.
  • Butter: We use unsalted butter since we use salt in the recipe. It shouldn't be completely soft, but should easily "dent" when pressed.
  • Sugar: We used both brown sugar and white sugar in this recipe. The brown sugar adds depth, moisture, and complements the honey perfectly.
  • Eggs: Room temperature eggs
  • Cake Flour: Makes for an ultra soft, tender crumb. See Notes if you need a substitute
  • Baking Powder: To give the cake lift
  • Salt to enhance the flavor and balance the sweetness of the recipe
  • Cinnamon: Adds a light, spiced flavor
  • Buttermilk adds a slight tanginess and makes for a more tender cake

How to Make a Honey Cake

This heavenly cake couldn't be easier to make! With just a handful of ingredients, you can whip the recipe up in no time.

  • First, preheat oven to 325 F and grease & flour a tube pan or bundt pan. (Our pan measured 10 inches across and had a baking capacity of 12 cups). If using a smaller pan, be careful not to overfill past the ⅔ mark.
  • In a separate bowl whisk the cake flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to combine, set aside for later.
Bowl of dry ingredients for honey cake with whisk
  • Using an electric mixer (paddle attachment if using a stand mixer), cream the butter on medium speed until smooth. Next, gradually add the brown & white sugar and beat until light and fluffy for 3 to 5 minutes.
  • Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, blending after each until the yolk is incorporated.
  • Add the honey to the buttermilk in a medium sized bowl or measuring cup.
Honey and Buttermilk, combined in a measuring cup
  • With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk & honey mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture in the mixing bowl. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. I do three additions of dry, alternating with two additions of wet ingredients.
Honey Cake Batter in Mixer
  • Scoop batter into prepared bundt pan.
Honey Cake Batter in bundt pan
  • Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 5-10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. *Baking times may vary.
Freshly baked Honey Cake in bundt pan
  • Allow to cool in the pan (preferably on a wire rack) for 10 minutes before turning out.
Freshly baked honey cake on white pedestal before glazing

Making the Easy Honey Glaze

This simple honey glaze adds a boost of flavor and interest to our honey cake!

After the cake has cooled, this glaze can be applied with a spoon, or piped through a disposable piping bag (with the tip snipped away). Another option is to apply it with a ziplock bag with the corner snipped away.

Drizzling glaze over a honey bundt cake using a piping bag

The glaze is a spin on our easy vanilla glaze. It is a combination of milk, confectioners sugar, a pinch of salt, and a bit of honey.

It is not meant to be eaten by the spoonful as it is very sweet, but on a slice of cake, a drizzle of this glaze is perfect!

Honey Cake, sliced on a white pedestal with honey glaze

Recipe FAQs

Can Honey Pound Cake be Frozen?

Yes! Just as with most of our cake recipes, (from Chocolate Bundt Cake to Maple Pound Cake, Orange Bundt Cake, and more)this honey pound cake freezes beautifully.

Whether you are baking in advance, or saving leftover cake for another time, simply wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap, followed by foil. You can freeze the cake for up to three months!

When baking in advance, we like to place the cake (still slightly warm) on a foil-wrapped cake cardboard, then cover in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil.

To thaw, it is best to move the wrapped cake to the refrigerator the day before. Then, move from refrigerator to the kitchen counter the next morning.

Is this a Honey Pound Cake?

Technically, yes I would consider this a pound cake. It has similar measurements to our other favorite pound cakes. It is based in part on our favorite Buttermilk Pound Cake recipe!

The crumb is velvet soft and very fine. It is so delicious!

What Purpose does Buttermilk Serve in this Cake?

The acidity in buttermilk softens the strands of gluten, making for an ultra tender cake. We love to use buttermilk as an ingredient, as with our Lemon Pound Cake, Spice Cake, Lemon Buttermilk Cake, and more!

What is the Purpose of Cake Flour in this Recipe?

Cake flour has less protein and therefore produces less gluten. This also contributes to the cake being extra moist and soft. Many of our cake recipes call for cake flour, including Marble Cake, Almond Cake, and Orange Cake.

Does it Matter What Type of Honey is Used?

No, this cake will be delicious no matter what type of honey you use!

Slice of honey cake on white plate

More Pound Cakes to Try

We just love pound cakes and bundt cakes! In addition to today's honey pound cake, don't miss these other go-to recipes!

Some of our favorites are our Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake, Cream Cheese Pound Cake, and Lemonade Cake, but there are so many more!

Enjoy the Recipe!

Thanks so much for stopping by! We hope that you enjoy this amazing honey cake recipe. It is such an easy cake to make, and it tastes fantastic.

Honey Cake, sliced on a white pedestal with honey glaze

Honey Cake

This velvety soft Honey Cake is ultra moist and has a fine, tender crumb. The honey and cinnamon add warmth and richness, and the buttermilk adds a slight tanginess. This is the perfect cake for coffee or tea, holidays, or just because!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Course: Dessert
Servings: 15
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Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups (339g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cups (200g) sugar
  • 1 ½ cups (278g) brown sugar (We used light brown sugar)
  • 5 large eggs room temperature (place in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes to speed up the process).
  • 3 cups (342g) cake flour (Not self rising. We use Swan's Down, bleached)
  • ½ teaspoon (2g) baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
  • teaspoons cinnamon
  • ¾ cup (176g) buttermilk
  • ½ cup honey (any variety of honey will work)

Easy Honey Glaze

  • 1 cup confectioners sugar measure then sift
  • 2 tablespoons honey add additional as needed in small increments
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  • Grease and flour a tube pan or bundt pan, and preheat oven to 325 ℉
  • In a separate bowl whisk the cake flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to combine, set aside for later.
  • Using an electric mixer (paddle attachment if using a stand mixer), cream the butter on medium speed until smooth. Next, gradually add the brown & white sugar and beat until light and fluffy for 3 to 5 minutes.
  • Add the eggs one at a time, blending after each until the yolk is incorporated.
  • Add the honey to the buttermilk in a medium sized bowl or measuring cup
  • With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk & honey mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture in the mixing bowl. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. I do three additions of dry, alternating with two additions of wet ingredients.
  • Scoop batter into prepared bundt pan.
  • Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 5-10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. *Baking times may vary.
  • This makes approximately 8 cups of batter.
  • Allow to cool in the pan (preferably on a wire rack) for 10 minutes before turning out.

Easy Honey Glaze

  • Mix the milk and honey together. Then, pour it over the powdered sugar and salt and mix until smooth. If too thick, add a bit more milk. If too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar.

Decorating the Cake

  • Once the cake has cooled, you can spoon the glaze over the cake, or for more control, you can spoon it into a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away.

Notes

Baking times may vary. Our pan has a baking capacity of 12 cups of batter, and measures 10 inches across. If you use a smaller pan, it may take slightly longer.
Be careful not to overfill your pan if you are using a smaller bundt pan. Filling the pan no more than ⅔ full is a general rule of thumb.
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5 Comments

  1. I just came across your recipe and am planning on making it this week. It looks delicious! As soon as I make it, I will be back with a review! Thanks for sharing 😊.