Honey Cake (Bakery Style)

Honey cake recipe with step by step pics. Honey cake is a well known dessert made famous by the South Indian bakeries, especially Iyengar bakery. This super delicious honey cake is made from whole wheat flour (atta), unrefined cane sugar and uses less oil. Thus, this one is a bit healthier too as compared to its counterparts.

For the cake, I have made a sponge cake with whole wheat flour and the crumb is soft and light. After tasting this cake, it becomes difficult to guess the sponge cake is made from whole wheat flavor.

Baking soda is the only leavening ingredient used in the recipe. So there will be a slight aroma of the baking soda in this cake.

There are 2 glazes made for the honey cake

1. Honey glaze – as per ayurveda, honey should never be heated. When honey is heated it becomes toxic. Thus for this eggless cake recipe I have not heated honey. I have diluted the honey with some rose water. You can even use drinking water or juices like apple, mango or orange.
2. Jam glaze – for the jam glaze, I have used strawberry jam. You can even use mango jam or rose jam (gulkand) or any fruit jam of your liking. Top the Honey Cake with any jam glaze and desiccated coconut, and enjoy the flavors.

Honey cake recipe made without eggs was requested by a few readers and hence sharing the recipe. This is a lovely egg free honey cake recipe and your family and friends will love this cake. That much I can assure you.

In fact, it is quite addictive. So, you’ll have to keep baking it once a while. You really don’t have to wait to visit the bakery and then relish the cake, as this is going to be your go-to recipe to make it at home.

If you are a vegan, then skip adding honey glaze in the recipe. Just top the cake with your favorite jam glaze and desiccated coconut. The cake will still taste delicious.

Honey cake can be served as an evening sweet dessert or as a dessert after meals.

How to make Honey Cake

Making sponge cake:
A) sifting dry ingredients:

1. Grease a 6×6 inches pan with some oil. You can also use a round pan or a loaf pan. Also preheat oven at 180 degrees celsius/356 degrees fahrenheit for 15 minutes.

For OTG as well as convection ovens, you can use the temperature of 180 degrees celsius both for preheating as well as baking.

2. Take 1.25 cups of whole wheat flour (150 grams) in a sieve.

3. Add ½ teaspoon baking soda. This much amount of baking soda makes the cake soft, but there will be a slight aroma of it. If you do not prefer the aroma, then add ⅓ teaspoon of baking soda.

Since baking soda is the only leavening ingredient used in the recipe, do make sure that is fresh and active. Just dissolve two pinches of baking soda in a bit of water and vinegar solution and it should fizz and bubble immediately. If not then the baking soda is not active and fresh.

4. Add 1 pinch salt.

5. Sift the dry ingredients and keep aside.

B) mixing wet ingredients:

6. In a bowl take 1 cup cold water. The water has to be cold or chilled.

7. Add ½ cup sugar (90 to 100 grams sugar). I have used organic unrefined cane sugar and it has a brown color. It is not brown sugar. You can easily use white sugar or brown sugar.

8. With a whisk mix very well till all the sugar is dissolved.

9. Then add ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract or ¼ teaspoon vanilla essence.

10. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or lime juice or vinegar. For vinegar you can use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.

11. Mix well.

12. Add ¼ cup sunflower oil. If using any other oil, then use a neutral tasting oil. You can also use olive oil.

13. Mix very well.

Making cake batter

14. Now add the wet ingredients to the sifted dry ingredients.

15. With a wired whisk and with light pressure from your hands, begin to mix.

16. Mix to a smooth batter. Small tiny lumps are fine. Do not over mix the batter.

17. Pour the eggless cake batter in the cake pan.

18. Gently tap and shake the sides so that the cake batter spreads evenly in the pan.

19. Place the pan in the preheated oven for 180 degrees celsius. If using OTG then use both the top and bottom heating elements on (toast mode in the Indian OTGs) and keep pan in the center rack.

20. Bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes till the top is golden. Time varies from oven to oven, so it can take less or more time than 30 to 40 minutes. In the OTG which I have it took 35 minutes.

21. Check the egg free sponge cake with a skewer and it should come out clean.

22. Place the cake pan on a metal rack and let the cake become warm.

23. When the cake becomes warm or cools, remove it from the pan and keep on a wooden board or a chopping board or a large plate or tray.

24. Place the cake upright. Then with a skewer poke holes in the cake all over. Keep aside. For a neat presentable cake, you can slice off a thin layer of the top and the sides of the cake.

Making honey glaze

25. In a small bowl, take 3 tablespoons of honey.

26. Add 1 tablespoon of rose water or drinking water. Instead of water you can also use a fruit juice like apple juice, mango juice or orange juice. But do note that some flavor of the fruit juice will be felt in the cake.

27. Mix very well with a spoon. The rose water should get mixed evenly with the honey. Keep aside.

Making jam glaze

28. Take 3 tablespoons of strawberry jam in a pan. You can also use rose jam (gulkand) or mango jam or any fruit jam of your liking.

29. Add 2 teaspoons sugar.

30. Add 2 tablespoons of water.

31. Keep the pan on stove top and lit the gas stove on a low flame. Mix very well and begin to heat this jam glaze mixture.

32. Break the lumps of jam and mix it with the water. Stir often.

33. stir and mix to a smooth jam mixture.

34. Let the jam glaze come to a boil and then switch off the flame. Remove the pan from the stovetop and keep it aside. Let the jam mixture become lukewarm.

Making honey cake

35. Spread the honey glaze all over the cake with a spoon or spatula.

36. Spread honey evenly and all over. Also, spread it on the sides of the cake.

37. Optional step is to slice the cake before spreading the jam glaze. Or else you can slice the cake later.

38. Spread the lukewarm jam glaze all over with a spoon or spatula. Also spread on the sides.

39. Now sprinkle desiccated coconut all over the honey cake. Optionally the desiccated coconut can also be spread at the sides.

40. Gently press desiccated coconut with a spoon or butter knife, so that it sticks to the jam glaze.

41. Let the jam glaze set (about 15 to 20 minutes) and then you can Serve slices of honey cake. Leftover remaining cake slices can be refrigerated and stays good for about a week.

If you are looking for Eggless cake recipes then do check:

• Butter cake
• Choco lava cake
• Fruit cake
• Cooker cake
• Eggless chocolate cake

Please be sure to rate the recipe in the recipe card or leave a comment below if you have made it. For more vegetarian inspirations, Sign Up for my emails or follow me on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.

This Honey Cake post from the archives, originally published in December 2017 has been updated and republished on January 2023.