Toast Box Honey Cake Recipe

[Piperion Giles]

I had a load of home-harvested honey gifted to me by people in my life who keep their own bees. Thinking how best I could flatter such a lovely ingredient, I developed a slightly mad obsession with creating a cake that used honey and no sugar whatsoever. Sounds simple enough, right?

Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Then take the cake out of the oven but leave it in the pan, and cool for 15 minutes. This is an important step, to let the cake settle before soaking in syrup. If you skip it, the cake ends up too dense (impatience is a virtue rarely rewarded in baking, as I often discover to my detriment!).

TIP: If your cake has a slight dome on it, lightly press the dome down with a spatula after baking to flatten the surface, else the syrup tends to just run off the cake and down the sides. Not the end of the world as it then gets absorbed by the base and sides of the cake. But it is nicer when the syrup has soaked the middle of the cake too.

This Honey Cake is best served warm because the cooler it gets, the denser it becomes. So serve it freshly made or else leftovers also reheat perfectly, making it ideal for making ahead too. To reheat, just 30 seconds in the microwave for a slice will do, or covered in the oven for around 15 minutes.

I was making this for a special B-day party and the first time the batter was runny, I knew something was wrong. I did not whipped the butter and honey enough. Cooked it knowing I would not bring this to the party it still tasted yummy (without the honey syrup). BUT the same night I redid this for the next day party. WOW it was a huge hit. I did microwave it for 20 sec to get warn the next day. I think the same day would be better but had to make it the night before and still YUMMY!!!!! PS vanilla ice cream is a must with this cake.

I am making this cake for a friends B-Day, she love honey cake. I am taking it to a party and do not want it in the pan. How do you take it out and put on a cute plate. I am thinking putting a plate on top and turning up down down, then so the same with another plate? I see you lined the sides too, should I or just the bottom?

I like your recipes. I tried Pineapple upside down cake and it was a hit. Question is you mentioned soak with honey syrup 15 after cooling down but then you wrote in the recipe soak with honey syrup 30 minutes after baking ?
Thanks

LOVED this cake! It was so good. I served it to friends last night and will definitely make again. I forgot to buy an orange so I had no orange zest but I did add 1/2 tsp fiori di sicilia which was perfect with this cake. Thanks for a great recipe!

I first heard about the charm of Russian Honey Cake (Medovik Torte), which is also popular in other parts of Eastern Europe, a little over a year ago, and the idea had me instantly struck with obsession. The thought of a soft, multilayer cake that tastes like a cross between honey graham crackers, stroopwafels, and speculoos with a filling of ethereal, creamy frosting, tickled my inner foodie and painted my daydreams.

So as any cake enthusiast would do, I scoured the internet, looking for recipes that would replicate the taste I had envisioned. Most of them seemed to revolve around the concept of making the cake layers from a roll-out, honey flavored, soft cookie dough, and filled with a lightly sweetened sour cream frosting. Some variations called for pourable cake batters to make the layers, and a few had a dulce de leche based frosting.

Ten thin layers of soft, airy cakes that taste like the fine marriage of Lotus biscuits, honey graham crackers and gingerbread cookies, sandwiched between a cloud-like burnt honey and dulce de leche whipped cream.

This trick not only adds a more concentrated and pronounced honey flavor, but introduces toffee notes, bitterness and acidity, that was otherwise brought through the use of sour cream. This burnt sugar revelation, combined with glorious dulce de leche (thick caramel made from sweetened condensed milk), made for an incredible sweet and tangy whipped frosting, that eliminated that need for sour cream.

While not difficult to make, this is a multi-step, highly involved cake that requires planning ahead. Please read through the instructions and the notes in the bottom of the recipe before starting. Note that the frosting calls for a can of Dulce De Leche, which is readily sold in some countries. If it's not available where you live, you can make your own with sweetened condensed milk. Just know that it takes 4 hours to cook, so plan ahead and make it as far as a month in advance. The finished cake, needs to chill overnight in the fridge before serving.

1. Original recipe calls for wildflower honey, which has more floral notes. However, I used regular, mainstream honey, because I couldn't find it, and still ended up with stellar results.
2. You can divide the work required to make this cake over the course of several days. If you're making your own dulce de leche, you can prepare it up to a month in advance. The cake layers can be baked and frozen for several weeks, then thawed when ready to use. Just be sure to cool the layers first, individually wrap each layer with plastic wrap, then store in freezer zipper lock bags in the freezer. Thaw completely before using. The finished, frosted cake can be made up to 2 days in advance.
3. Here's a link for those 'Bumblebee' decoration on my cake.

Recipe adapted from Treats SF, who adapted it from New York Times.

Measurements Note: All recipes of this site have been developed using weight measurements. Although US volume measurements have been included for your convenience, it is highly encouraged that you weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale to get the best possible results. Due to the sensitive nature of baking, kitchen scales are proven to yield more accurate and consistent results than measuring cups. Enjoy!

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Greek honey cake, like banana bread or Italian carrot cake, perfectly balances sweet and savory to make it welcome at any time of day. Serve for brunch or an afternoon snack with a cup of lemon ginger tea or coffee.
For dessert, serve this honey cake after a Greek-style feast. Start with ice-cold glasses of ouzo and mezze like Tirokafteri and Tzatziki with pita. Move on to traditional Greek salad and something simple like Greek sheet pan chicken. Finish with a sticky square of honey cake, perhaps with Carajillos (Spiked Coffee) on the side.

Loved this easy to make cake. Cut the sugar by 1/2 cup and the sweetness and tart citrus was perfect. Only other change I may make next time is to slightly chop the pistachios and add them after the syrup to keep their crunchiness. Thanks

So far so good and it is smelling great but as of now, it is taking an extra 10 minutes to bake. The toothpick is still coming out with batter on it. Yes, I checked the temperature and yes, all measurements of ingredients were as directed.

Eggless honey cake, Indian bakery style - Honey drenched spongy cake with jam and desiccated coconut on top. Just close your eyes and enjoy this piece of nostalgia! Quick video, stepwise photos.

Hello raks,
Link for eggless orange cake directs to carrot and orange juice.
Very tempting.I have tried cake recipe long back.it was very tasty.now I will try this.as you said bakery smells are so nice

Baking temperature is alwayssame as the preheat temperature unless otherwise it is mentioned. So in this case, its 180 deg C as mentioned in step one. Step 3, I have mentioned the baking time - 30 mins ?
Adding sugar to jam is to make it more spreadable.

Hi.. Just wanted to know that can I substitute oil with butter as the aroma of the oil doesn't cum out well in my cakes.. Though I also use sunflower as mentioned in ur cake recipes.. Thanks.. Looking for ur immediate response as I want to bake this cake tomorrow..

Hi Raji, Big fan of your site :). Please can you clarify if the Powdered sugar you've used is icing sugar or have you just ground granulated sugar into a powder? I'd like to make this cake for my daughter's bday, please can you reply soon?

Hi raji, am new to baking. I bought Nestle milkmaid as it's written sweetened condensed milk on it. Do I have to add enough sugar as per ur recipe or less bcoz of sweetened condensed milk?
Confused , pls clarify?

Hi, i tried the cake. Baked it for 35 mind as felt little under. But to my dismay the cake was cooked around the corner but not in the middle. Besides the corner too tasted like uncooked flour. Let me know the mistake i would have done if possible. Thanks

My mother, who came off the boat in the 60s from Ukraine, made this on occasion. Her variant was to alternate layers with a fruit filling, usually a homemade jelly of either apricot or pineapple. Also, her version of the frosting had a good amount of vanilla bean incorporated as well.

After following the recipe for the icing/filling it is like water.. unsure if sour cream or condensed milk is different here in Australia, but I hope it turns out when I get out of the fridge tomorrow

I did this! It worked beautifully with the whisk attachment, and yes, it does need to be going pretty fast. I think I had it on setting 6. I then put on the paddle beater for the flour addition, and that worked beautifully as well.

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