Skip to content
Honey cake recipe

Honey cake recipe

8 ratings

Bake up a real treat this Mother's Day with this sweet honey cake, decorated with royal icing and cute little honey bees. Made with orange zest, nutmeg and cinnamon, this easy baking recipe is full of rich flavours any mother is sure to love. See method

  • Serves 12
  • 55 mins to prepare and 50 mins to cook
  • 459 calories / serving
  • Freezable
  • Vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 200g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 250g clear honey
  • 125g light muscovado sugar
  • 1 orange, zested
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 300g self-raising flour, sifted
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg

For the icing and decoration

  • 200g royal icing sugar
  • 1 tbsp clear honey
  • 75g ready-to-roll yellow icing
  • 40g ready-to-roll white icing
  • 1 tube black writing icing
No self-raising flour? Add 2 tsp baking powder for every 150g plain flour

Each serving contains

  • Energy

    1960kj
    459kcal
    23%
  • Fat

    17g 25%
  • Saturates

    10g 48%
  • Sugars

    53g 59%
  • Salt

    0.3g 5%

of the reference intake
Carbohydrate 75.2g Protein 4.3g Fibre 1.5g

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180°C, fan 160°C. Grease and line a 20cm tin with nonstick baking paper.
  2. Combine the butter, honey, sugar and orange zest in a medium pan. Melt, over a low-medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Transfer to a mixing bowl and leave to cool.
  3. Add the eggs, flour and spices, then beat with an electric whisk, until just combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30 mins. Remove, cover with foil and return to the oven for a further 20 mins, or until risen and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. For the icing, combine the icing sugar and honey in a bowl with 1 tbsp water. Add more water, a drop at a time, until the icing is thick but slightly runny. Spoon the icing over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Divide the yellow icing into 3 and roll into ovals for the bees. Divide the white icing into 6 and press into wing shapes.
  5. To attach the wings, make small slits on each side of the bees with a knife. Brush the ends of the wings with water and press into the slits. Draw on eyes and stripes with black writing icing. Stick the bees to the cake by dabbing the undersides with a little water.

Freezing and defrosting guidelines

Bake according to the recipe but stop before adding decoration. Allow to cool completely. Wrap well in clingfilm and tin foil (to prevent freezer burn) and freeze for up to 3 months.

Loosen the tin foil and clingfilm but leave to defrost in packaging at room temperature for several hours before serving.

If you wish to add icing or decoration, add them after the baked goods have fully defrosted and are at room temperature.

See more Baking recipes

Recipes containing honey are unsuitable for children under 12 months of age.

You may also like

Be the first to comment

Before you comment please read our community guidelines.