Honey Cake: A Spiced Loaf Recipe, Which Honey to Use and Why It Browns

Reviewed by Elena P. · How we review

Honey cake is a moist, spiced cake sweetened mostly or entirely with honey, usually baked as a loaf or a single round layer. Bake it about 25°F lower than a sugar cake, because honey browns faster, and expect it to stay moist for days, because honey holds on to water.

The best-known US version is the Jewish honey cake, or lekach, served at Rosh Hashanah. Russian honey cake (medovik) is a different dessert, built from thin layers and cream, and is not covered here.

Key Takeaways

• Bake honey cake at about 325°F instead of 350°F. The National Honey Board (NHB) and University of Missouri Extension both advise a 25°F lower oven because honey browns faster.
• Honey is 40.9% fructose by USDA data, and fructose starts to caramelize at about 230°F, well below glucose and table sugar at 320°F.
• Any liquid honey works. Mild clover keeps the cake gentle; darker wildflower or buckwheat gives a stronger, molasses-like flavor.
• Of seven popular recipes we compared, four bake at 350°F with no reduction. None explains why honey browns faster, and none mentions babies.
• Honey and anything baked with it must not be given to infants under 12 months; baking does not destroy the spores that cause infant botulism.

Table of Contents

• Honey Cake Recipe: A Spiced Honey Loaf
• Honey Cake Styles: Loaf, Round, Soaked and Layered
• Which Honey Makes the Best Honey Cake
• Why Honey Cakes Brown Faster and Stay Moist
• How Seven Popular Honey Cake Recipes Compare
• Using Honey Instead of Sugar in Any Cake
• How Long Honey Cake Keeps, and Why It Improves
• Honey Cake at Rosh Hashanah
• Honey Cake and Babies
• Honey Cake Nutrition per Slice
• Frequently Asked Questions
• The Bottom Line

Honey Cake Recipe: A Spiced Honey Loaf

We built this recipe from the seven published recipes compared below and the NHB’s baking guidance; honey supplies about 73% of its sugar. We have not test-baked this exact version, so treat the times as estimates and trust a cake tester. Makes one 9 x 5-inch loaf, about 10 slices.

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger and 1/4 tsp ground cloves or allspice
• 3/4 cup (254 g) honey
• 1/3 cup (73 g) packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (109 g) canola or another neutral oil
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) brewed coffee or strong black tea, warm but not hot
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) orange juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C) with a rack in the middle. Grease the loaf pan and line it with parchment, leaving an overhang.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a bowl.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the honey, brown sugar and oil until smooth (measure the oil first and the honey slides out of the cup). Whisk in the eggs one at a time, then the coffee, orange juice and vanilla.
4. Stir in the dry ingredients just until no dry flour remains. The batter will be thin.
5. Pour it into the pan and scatter the almonds on top. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, until a tester in the center comes out clean. If the top is deep brown by 35 to 40 minutes, lay foil loosely over it.
6. Cool 20 minutes in the pan, lift out and cool completely on a rack. If you can wait, wrap it and slice it the next day.

Other pans: the batter also fits a 9-inch round or 8-inch square pan; start checking at 35 minutes. We have not baked these versions.

In this 8 minute 41 second video, Preppy Kitchen bakes a single-layer honey cake. Its official chapters cover the recipe, the honey itself and the bake. We have checked it only against that chapter list, so use the recipe above for our amounts.

Honey Cake Styles: Loaf, Round, Soaked and Layered

Google’s top results for “honey cake” mix single-layer cakes with the Russian layered cake, so check which one a recipe means.

Which Honey Makes the Best Honey Cake

Choose by flavor. The NHB’s honey varietal guide says light-colored honey generally tastes milder and darker honey stronger, and a mild honey can disappear behind cinnamon and coffee.

The recipes disagree: Delish uses wildflower so the honey stands out, and All Ways Delicious says to skip clover and orange blossom for chestnut, avocado or buckwheat. For a dark, traditional flavor, try buckwheat honey, or mix it half and half with clover. Our guide to 16 popular U.S. honey varieties covers the rest of the shelf.

Crystallized honey is fine to bake with. The NHB explains that crystallization is glucose coming out of solution and that crystallized honey is still good to eat. Weigh it (254 g), then set the jar in warm water until it pours, so no grains end up in the batter. For the whole jar, see how to reliquefy crystallized honey without damage. Pricey raw honey adds little here, since the oven heats it anyway.

Why Honey Cakes Brown Faster and Stay Moist

Honey browns early. USDA FoodData Central (entry 169640) lists 100 g of honey as 17.1 g water, 40.9 g fructose, 35.8 g glucose, 1.4 g maltose and 0.9 g sucrose. The Science of Cooking caramelization table puts fructose at 230°F (110°C) and glucose and sucrose at 320°F (160°C). The crust colors before the center sets, so recipes lower the oven.

“Products made with honey brown faster than foods made with other sweeteners.”

Karla Vollmar Hughes and Barbara J. Willenberg, University of Missouri Extension, “Using and Storing Honey” (GH1120)

Honey holds water. Honey is hygroscopic: it attracts and keeps moisture. The NHB calls it a humectant that helps baked goods retain moisture, and the Maryland State Beekeepers Association says honey baked goods tend to be moister and chewier.

Honey is acidic. The same association notes that honey is more acidic than sugar; see how floral source affects honey pH. Baking soda reacts with that acid to lift the batter. Delish uses baking soda alone because its honey and sour cream supply the acid. Our loaf pairs soda with baking powder, as all four oil-based recipes we compared do.

How Seven Popular Honey Cake Recipes Compare

We saved the single-layer recipes that ranked for “honey cake”, “honey cake recipe” or “jewish honey cake” on Google and Bing (US) on November 9, 2026, and read each recipe card. Preppy Kitchen, The View from Great Island and Food Network blocked our fetch, so they are not included.

Sources: each publisher’s recipe card, saved November 9, 2026. “Other sugar” is white plus brown sugar.

Two of the most traditional loaves, All Ways Delicious and Marcy Goldman’s cake, use twice as much sugar as honey. The three recipes baked below 350°F do not say why, and none of the seven mentions crystallized honey or infants.

Using Honey Instead of Sugar in Any Cake

To adapt another cake, follow the NHB’s rules.

“For baked goods, make sure to reduce the oven temperature by 25°F to prevent overbrowning; reduce any liquid called for by 1/4 cup for each cup of honey used and add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey used.”

National Honey Board, “FAQ“

When converting, the NHB also advises replacing no more than half of a recipe’s sugar with honey; a recipe written for honey, like ours, can use more. The Maryland State Beekeepers Association suggests 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda per cup rather than 1/2. For a full conversion table, see how to substitute honey for sugar.

How Long Honey Cake Keeps, and Why It Improves

Wrap the cooled cake tightly. The recipes we compared give up to 3 days at room temperature (Rich And Delish), 5 days in the refrigerator (Pretty Simple Sweet, Rich And Delish) and up to 3 months frozen (Lauren Cermak, Rich And Delish). Thaw it, still wrapped, at room temperature.

“In addition to the beneficial symbolism, honey cake also has the benefits of a long shelf life; it is even said that this cake is better a couple days after it is made.”

Laura Gottlieb, The Nosher, “The History of Honey Cake“

All Ways Delicious, Pretty Simple Sweet and Rich And Delish agree. We found no study that measures this; honey’s hold on moisture, keeping the crumb soft while the spices mellow, is a plausible reason but our inference. For the honey itself, see how to store honey long term.

Honey Cake at Rosh Hashanah

At Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, honey stands for a sweet year ahead, and a round honey cake is a common sight at the holiday meal. Laura Gottlieb, citing the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, writes that the Ashkenazi honey cake was first mentioned in 1105 and the name lekach appears in Germany around 1200, probably from the German lecken, “to lick.”

Honey Cake and Babies

Do not give honey cake to a baby under 12 months. The CDC says not to feed honey to a child younger than 1 year. University of Missouri Extension adds that products made with honey must not be fed to infants either, because the spores that cause infant botulism are not destroyed by regular cooking or baking. Read more on why honey is unsafe for babies. This is educational information, not medical advice.

Honey Cake Nutrition per Slice

Our arithmetic from USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient, without the optional almonds; spices and vanilla are left out as negligible. An estimate, not a lab analysis.

The honey alone adds about 77 calories per slice; see calories in honey by the spoon.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a honey cake?

A cake sweetened mainly with honey, usually spiced and baked as a loaf or single round. The name also covers layered medovik.

What is another name for honey cake?

The Jewish honey cake is called lekach, from Yiddish. The layered Russian honey cake is medovik; related layered cakes include Czech medovník and Armenian Marlenka.

What are the ingredients for honey cake?

Flour, honey, eggs, oil or butter, baking soda and usually baking powder, plus spices such as cinnamon and cloves. Jewish-style recipes often add coffee or tea and orange juice.

Can I add honey to a cake mix?

Box mixes already contain sugar, so honey adds sweetness, liquid and faster browning. Following the NHB’s rules, cut the mix’s water by about 1/4 cup per cup of honey and lower the oven by 25°F. We have not tested this.

Why do Jews eat honey cake on Rosh Hashanah?

Honey stands for the hope of a sweet new year, and honey cake brings that symbol to the dessert table. The Nosher traces the Ashkenazi honey cake to at least 1105.

What is a Russian honey cake called?

Medovik, from the Russian word for honey: thin baked honey layers filled with a sour cream or dulce de leche cream and chilled overnight.

The Bottom Line

Pick a honey whose taste you like, bake at 325°F and let the cake rest overnight. Keep it away from babies under one year.

Image credits: featured photo of a sliced Dutch-style spiced honey loaf by SKopp, CC BY-SA 3.0; honey cake slice by Toa Heftiba, CC0; medovik by NDElsga, CC BY-SA 4.0; honey jars by Claude Truong-Ngoc, CC BY-SA 3.0; buckwheat honey by Maja Dumat, CC BY 2.0; crystallized honey by Zaereth, CC0. All via Wikimedia Commons, cropped or resized. Charts by BeeKeepersRealm.