Egg size (“large eggs”): 50 – 55g / 2 oz per egg is the industry standard of sizes sold as “large eggs” in Australia and the US. If your eggs are significantly larger or smaller in size, just crack the eggs into a jug, whisk and measure out 200g / 7 oz.
Flour – Just all purpose/plain flour for this recipe. Self-raising flour will work as a substitute but the cake will contain more baking powder than the recipe calls. This will cause the baked cake to dome a little in the middle.
Baking powder – To make the cake rise. If yours has been sitting in the dark corners of the pantry for a while, test it to make sure its still alive!
Milk – Full-fat is better though low fat is fine too.
Salt – Just a bit, to bring out the other flavours in this cake. It’s generally good baking practice to add a pinch of salt into sweet recipes.
Orange zest (optional) – Recommended but not the end of the world if you skip it. A pinch of orange zest magically enhances the honey flavour in this cake. You won’t be able to taste the zest in the cake unless you have a very refined palette. (I don’t. Hence why the flavours of my recipes are usually kapow! rather than subtle! 😂 )
Flaked almonds – For decorative purposes, for flavour and for shielding the surface of the cake so it doesn’t get too dark when baked (neat huh!)
Next is the honey syrup we use to soak the cake.
Ingredients in Honey Syrup for Honey Cake
Honey – Yes, more honey! I told you, you definitely won’t miss the honey flavour in this cake! 😂
Water – To thin the honey a bit, so that we can safely simmer the honey for 5 minutes without it getting too thick.
Lemon juice – Just the finest touch, 3/4 tsp. It adds a very delicate but welcome hint of lemon freshness. It’s such a small amount you’re probably wondering what’s the point?? But you really can taste the little twang it brings! Having said that though, it’s not a deal killer if you skip it. Not like making this cake without, say, honey. 😂
How to make Honey Cake
The secret to this cake really lies in the balance of ingredients. The cake-making steps themselves are very bog-standard!
First up, making the cake.
1. The cake
How to make Honey Cake
Whisk dry ingredients: Place the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.
Cream butter and honey: A standard cake making step often deployed for butter and sugar. But here, we’re doing this step with honey instead! Beat it for a good 3 minutes on medium-high, a bit longer than you usually go for when baking with sugar as the honey is denser.
Add eggs one at a time, alternating with flour – Switch to a wooden spoon. We’re going to mix in the eggs one at a time, alternating with portions of flour. So, add one egg, then mix until incorporated. The mixture will curdle at first, but keep stirring and it will come together after around 30 seconds.
Add flour in four lots – After the first egg is mixed in, add 1/4 of the flour and mix just until you can no longer see flour. Add another egg, mix until incorporated. Then 1/3 of the remaining flour. And so on, with the 2 remaining eggs.
Why switch to a wooden spoon after creaming the butter? Because a beater will aerate the eggs too much, causing the cake to dome rather than finishing with a nice flat surface. This shape will cause the honey syrup to run down the sides instead than soaking into the cake – and we can’t have that 😱!
How to make Honey Cake
Finish batter – Lastly, stir in the milk and orange zest. The finished batter is quite thick and will look a bit like whipped cream rather than completely smooth, as per the photo.
