• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Belly Rumbles
  • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Contact
  • Work With Us
  • Subscribe
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Travel
  • Work With Us
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Cakes

    Simple Spiced Honey Cake

    October 12, 2015 By Sara McCleary Updated April 23, 2021 - This post may contain affiliate links

    Jump to Recipe

    Aromatic spiced honey cake is a simple cake with honey. Lots of honey, butter, and a generous addition of spices. Perfect for afternoon tea, picnics, or a slice as a lunch box treat.

    Sometimes I simply feel like a slice of cake. Nothing fancy, something to satisfy my urge for a homemade baked treat. To have with a cup of tea in the afternoon or after dinner.

    If you feel the same way, my spiced honey cake may be right for you. A cake with honey and spices that is easy to whip up. If you are after more honey cake recipes, you may also like my honey coffee cake.

    Sara xxx

    Honey Cake Recipe | www.bellyrumbles.com
    Contents
    • Ingredients
    • Spiced Honey Cake Tips
    • How to Make Spiced Honey Cake
    • Printable Recipe
    • More Easy Cake Recipes

    Ingredients

    • Butter: Butter is the preference, but you can substitute margarine.
    • Honey: Use a mild tasting honey that won't fight with the spices for taste prominence but still give a glorious honey flavor.
    • Brown Sugar: Standard or dark brown sugar. If you use dark brown sugar the cake will be slightly darker and more caramelised.
    • Self Raising Flour: You can replace self raising flour with 300 grams (2 cups) of plain flour + 4 teaspoons baking powder.
    • Spices: Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ground Cloves, Ginger. I regard this as the magic mix of spices, when pair together not only do they taste amazing, but smell sensational when baking.
    • Eggs: Always use free range eggs if you can
    Honey Cake Recipe | www.bellyrumbles.com

    Spiced Honey Cake Tips

    Dress the Cake Up
    Cake made with honey is perfect just as it is, let the honey and spices shine through. But of course you can jazz it up if you want to!

    Simply dust with icing sugar/confectioners sugar
    Drizzle with lemon glaze (thin lemon icing)
    Fluffy lemon or vanilla frosting

    Bake in a Loaf Tin
    I often make spiced honey cake in a loaf tin, which means that after a few days you can even give it a light toasting to make it go that extra mile. That is of course if you haven’t eaten it all by then.

    Rosh Hashanah Honey Cake
    This recipe isn't a traditional honey cake for Rosh Hashanah. Very similar but it is missing a few key ingredients like orange juice and tea.

    Over Baking
    Be careful not to over bake the cake as it will dry out. It is quite a dense cake, but not a dense moist cake when baked. Watch the timing and test with a skewer. If it comes out clean it is done.

    Honey Cake Recipe | www.bellyrumbles.com

    How to Make Spiced Honey Cake

    • Preheat the over to 180°C (360 °F). Line and grease a 20cm round cake tin.
    • In a medium saucepan place butter, honey and brown sugar. Over a low heat stir the ingredients until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove saucepan from the heat and set aside to cool.
    • In a large bowl sift flour and spices. Add the cooled butter mixture and eggs. Using electric beaters, beat until the mixture is combined and smooth.
    • Pour batter into prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for around 40 minutes, or until golden and cooked. Test with a skewer to ensure that the cake has cooked through. The skewer will be sticky, but there should be no batter attached to it when cake is tested.
    • Cool in tin for 10 minutes and then remove cake from tin and cook on a wire rack.
    Honey Cake Recipe | www.bellyrumbles.com

    Printable Recipe

    spiced honey cake recipe

    Honey cake

    Recipe Author: Sara McCleary
    Aromatic spiced honey cake is a simple cake with honey. Lots of honey, butter, and a generous addition of spices. Perfect for afternoon tea, picnics, or a slice as a lunch box treat.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 20 mins
    Cook Time 40 mins
    Total Time 1 hr
    Course Cake, Sweet Baking
    Cuisine English
    Servings 10
    Calories 351 kcal

    Ingredients

    • 150 grams butter
    • 250 ml (1 cup) honey
    • 115 grams (½ cup) brown sugar
    • 300 grams (2 cups) self raising flour
    • 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
    • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
    • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
    • 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
    • 2 eggs

    INGREDIENTS: USA Measurements

    • 5.3 oz butter
    • 8.45 fl oz (1 cup + 1 tablespoon) honey
    • 4 oz (½ cup + 2 teaspoons) brown sugar
    • 10.6 oz (2 cups + 4 tablespoons) self raising flour
    • 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
    • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
    • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
    • 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
    • 2 eggs

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat over to 180°C (360 °F). Line and grease a 20cm round cake tin.
    • In a medium saucepan place butter, honey and brown sugar. Over a low heat stir the ingredients until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove saucepan from the heat and set aside to cool.
    • In a large bowl sift flour and spices. Add the cooled butter mixture and eggs. Using electric beaters, beat until the mixture is combined and smooth.
    • Pour batter into prepared cake tin and bake in the oven for around 40 minutes, or until golden and cooked. Test with a skewer to ensure that the cake has cooked through. The skewer will be sticky, but there should be no batter attached to it when cake is tested.
    • Cool in tin for 10 minutes and then remove cake from tin and cook on a wire rack.

    Notes

    GENERAL COOK’S NOTES
    All oven temperatures are fan forced, increase the temperature by 20 Deg C (70 Deg F) for convection ovens.
    All measurements are Australian tablespoons and cups. All measures are level, and cups are lightly packed unless specified;
    • 1 teaspoon equals 5ml
    • 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml (Nth America, NZ & UK use 15ml tablespoons)
    • 1 cup equals 250ml (Nth America use 237ml)
    • 4 teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon
    • I use the below unless specified in my recipes;
    Herbs are fresh | Vegetables are of a medium size | Eggs are roughly 60 grams in weight (large) 
     
    NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION BELOW IS A GUIDE ONLY

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1gramsCalories: 351kcalCarbohydrates: 54gProtein: 5gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 65mgSodium: 125mgPotassium: 81mgFiber: 1gSugar: 32gVitamin A: 424IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 28mgIron: 1mg
    Keyword cake with honey, easy cake recipes, non iced cake recipe
    Did You Make This Recipe?I do a happy dance when people share how they went. Tag me on Instagram or Twitter @bellyrumbles & #bellyrumbles

    More Easy Cake Recipes

    Our Cake Recipes index has some great recipes. There are also cheesecakes and cupcakes including the ones below.

    • Tangy Lime Coconut Cake with Lime Frosting
    • Easy Sultana Cake Recipe
    • Amazing 2 Ingredient Nutella cake
    • Simple Melt and Mix Vanilla Cakes
    « Basil Meringue, Rose Cream & Toffee Strawberries
    Made for Memories Cookbook, Almond Biscotti »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Vanessa

      January 09, 2016 at 11:09 am

      Why are the measurements so weird?!

      Reply
      • Sara

        January 09, 2016 at 1:34 pm

        Hi Vanessa, which measurements and in what way weird?

        Reply
    2. Tricia

      November 01, 2015 at 8:02 pm

      Love the recipe - you said it can be made in a loaf tin - what size and how long would the cook time be? I'll be giving this a try tomorrow. Thanks

      Reply
      • Sara

        November 02, 2015 at 12:13 pm

        Hi Tricia, you could use a loaf tin around the size of 10cm x 20cm. My loaf tin is 10.5cm x 21.5cm. I envisage cooking time to be roughly the same, but just keep an eye on it so it doesn't dry out.

        Reply
        • Tric ia

          November 02, 2015 at 1:37 pm

          Thanks Sara- will give it a go. I too love a simple cake - simple doesn't equate to boring in my mind. Sometimes you just don't need fuss

          Reply
    3. john | heneedsfood

      October 21, 2015 at 9:29 pm

      I adore honey cake. Dangerously adore. That thing wouldn't last a day in this house. Honestly!

      Reply
      • Sara

        November 02, 2015 at 12:13 pm

        It didn't last too long in ours either 😉

        Reply
    4. Lynn @ The Actor's Diet

      October 18, 2015 at 4:10 am

      Ha ha! I feel like the term "Plain Jane" should be "Plain Lynn" = because I hardly know any other Lynns but I know a ton of Janes!

      Reply
      • Sara

        November 02, 2015 at 12:14 pm

        Hehehe. I am positive there is nothing plain about your Janes or yourself Lynn!

        Reply
    5. Helen | Grab Your Fork

      October 13, 2015 at 5:27 pm

      This looks so similar to the Dutch breakfast cake I've been eating. And the fact I have all the ingredients in my pantry could be a very dangerous thing!

      Reply
      • Sara

        November 02, 2015 at 12:15 pm

        Sounds like it could be dangerous, and it does taste similar to Dutch breakfast cake.

        Reply
    6. The Surprised Gourmet

      October 12, 2015 at 10:12 pm

      This looks like my kind of cake, simple and delicious.

      Reply
      • Sara

        November 02, 2015 at 12:16 pm

        Thank you, there are times when you just feel like a slice of simple.

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    photo of Sara McCleary, Founder, Belly Rumbles culinary travel blog

    Well hello there! I’m Sara McCleary a food photographer, creative recipe developer, and avid traveller (when the World isn’t in a pandemic).

    Welcome to Belly Rumbles, my slice of the Internet.

    I share Recipes discovered or inspired by my adventures and family favourites too! Come join me on my culinary adventure.

    More about me ?

    Footer

    back to top


    Nitty Gritty

    About Us

    Let's Connect

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosure
    • About
    • Sara McCleary
    • Work With Us
    • Contact
    • Sign Up! for emails and updates
    • Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

    © Sara McCleary and Belly Rumbles® 2009-2022

    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Yummly
    • LinkedIn
    • Reddit
    13 shares