• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • HOME
  • RECIPES
  • ABOUT
  • PORTFOLIO
  • CONTACT

Lion's Bread logo

menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • HOME
  • RECIPES
  • ABOUT
  • PORTFOLIO
  • CONTACT
  • ×

    Classic Honey Cake

    classic-honey-cake-4
    Jump to Recipe

    an elevated classic honey cake for the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah – notes of floral honey, spicy hawaij, a hint of orange, and a whisper of coffee (trust me!)

    *This post may contain affiliate links. This means that a small portion of the profit goes to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Lion’s Bread possible.

    Check out More delicious and simple cake recipes:

    Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

    Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Halva and Walnuts

    Lemon Poppyseed Tea Cake

    Important Note:

    There are two blends of hawaij – savory/soup Hawaij (cumin, turmeric, black pepper…) and the sweeter coffee Hawaij (this one!). You need to know this in case you find yourself in a Middle Eastern or Kosher grocery store and pick up a jar of hawaij.

    If I don’t have any from the shuk (market) in Israel, I always buy this Hawaij spice blend from Pereg.

    How to make the Best Honey Cake

    • Preheat the oven to 350℉.
    • Spray a 9×4 1-pound loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
    • This cake can either be mixed by hand with a whisk or in a stand mixer.
    • To the large bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the eggs, raw honey, avocado oil, orange zest, and brewed coffee. Mix well until all of the wet ingredients are combined.
    • To the bowl, add the all purpose flour, ground cinnamon, hawaij spice blend, baking powder, and salt. Mix to incorporate the dry ingredients thoroughly, but be careful not to over mix.
    • Pour the honey cake batter into the prepared loaf pan. Smooth out the top into an even layer. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the cake is dark golden brown, and a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. Allow the honey cake to cool, then slice and serve.
    classic-honey-cake-1

    tastes even better the next day!

    classic-honey-cake

    look at that crumb – super tender and moist!

    BAKING TOOLS I USE AND LOVE

    Here are just a few tools that make baking delicious Honey Cake much easier and more fun, and I’ve linked them all for you here!

    IF YOU LOVE IT, SHARE IT!

    If you make these gorgeous Twisted Cardamom Buns (and you should!), please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! I love to scroll through stories and see what y’all are making.

    And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3

    Without further ado, here is the classic Honey Cake recipe! Be sure to save this recipe and Pin It to your favorite holiday and cake recipe boards!

    THE RECIPE

    classic-honey-cake-4
    5 from 1 vote
    Print

    Classic Honey Cake

    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Jewish
    Keyword cake, honey, Rosh Hashanah
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Servings 1 9x4 loaf cake
    Author LeAnne Yaakubov

    Ingredients

    • 3 large pasture raised eggs
    • 2/3 cups raw honey 226 g
    • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed 110 g
    • 1/2 cup avocado oil, or any neutral oil 110 g
    • 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
    • 1/2 cup brewed coffee, cooled 118 g
    • 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour 250 g
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1 tablespoon coffee hawaij spice blend or 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, 1/4 teaspoon all spice, 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

    Instructions

    1. Preheat the oven to 350℉.

    2. Spray a 9x4 1-pound loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

    3. This cake can either be mixed by hand with a whisk or in a stand mixer.

      To the large bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the eggs, raw honey, brown sugar, avocado oil, orange zest, and brewed coffee. Mix well until all of the wet ingredients are combined.

    4. To the bowl, add the all purpose flour, ground cinnamon, hawaij spice blend, baking powder, and salt. Mix to incorporate the dry ingredients thoroughly, but be careful not to over mix.

    5. Pour the honey cake batter into the prepared loaf pan. Smooth out the top into an even layer. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the cake is dark golden brown, and a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. Allow the honey cake to cool, then slice and serve.

    Recipe Notes

    Store the leftover honey cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

    The post Classic Honey Cake first appeared on Lion’s Bread Blog.

    « Twisted Cardamom Buns
    Sourdough Focaccia with Roasted Tomato, Rosemary, and Garlic »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Rachel says

      September 23, 2025 at 4:59 pm

      5 stars
      Lovely cake! I’m glad I re-watched your Instagram video – The instructions here failed to include when to add the brown sugar!

      • LeAnne says

        October 08, 2025 at 2:27 pm

        Hi Rachel, thanks so much for catching that! Updated the recipe now, hope you loved it as much as we do!

    Primary Sidebar

    LeAnne

    I'm LeAnne, artisan baker, writer, weenie lover, and sourdough enthusiast with a lifelong passion of teaching you all how to bake. Lion's Bread is full of everyday deliciousness that's meant to be shared - let's bake some memories together!

    More about me →

    Featured In

    FeedFeed

    Let's Connect!

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube

    Freshly Baked

    • Bake like a 90’s Mom: B is for Banana Bread
    • Beginner Sourdough Bread – Start Here!
    • Bake like a 90’s Mom: A is for Apple Crisp
    • Iconic Roast Chicken with Schmaltzy Sourdough Croutons and Caramelized Onions

    Find a REcipe

    • Bread + Pastry
    • Breakfast
      • Muffins
    • Brownies + Bars
    • Cakes
    • Confections
    • Cookies
    • Doughnuts
    • Drinks
    • Ice Cream
    • Pies + Tarts
    • Puddings + Mousse
    • Resources
    • Savory

    Looking for something?

    AS FEATURED IN

    FeedFeed

    Subscribe

    FRESHLY BAKED

    • Bake like a 90’s Mom: B is for Banana Bread
    • Beginner Sourdough Bread – Start Here!
    • Bake like a 90’s Mom: A is for Apple Crisp
    • Iconic Roast Chicken with Schmaltzy Sourdough Croutons and Caramelized Onions
    • Matzo Toffee Crack

    Footer

    lions.bread

    bake beautiful bread at home
    • slow living • mom of 4 🪬 • horse girl 🐎
    • Pocono Mountains, PA 🌳
    🔗 RECIPES BELOW ⬇️


    NEW💫 Beginner Sourdough Bread - START HERE! comme
    NEW💫 Beginner Sourdough Bread - START HERE!  comment ‘recipe’ to get this sent straight to your DMs 🤎
I’m walking you through making this delicious loaf of sourdough bread - perfect for the beginner sourdough bread baker. Crispy crust, airy crumb, and a no-hassle simple method – what more could you ask for?  I’m so glad we found each other! Here, I’m teaching you how to make this foolproof rustic artisan loaf of 100% naturally fermented sourdough bread. Baking bread at home is so rewarding, satisfying and much healthier for you than store-bought bread.  THIS IS A JOURNEY, with ups and downs, and plenty of learning curves. It requires practice to get really good, as does everything. Take it easy on yourself, and just start. It doesn’t have to be perfect ✨  My method is straightforward, and I’m breaking down simple sourdough concepts to help you succeed and make delicious bread at home 😎  https://www.lionsbread.com/beginner-sourdough-bread-start-here/
.
#sourdough #breadbaking #bakingfromscratch


    Meet the newest addition to our family, Camille 🤎✨
    Meet the newest addition to our family, Camille 🤎✨  Back in November 2025, a dear friend from our barn told me about an amazing Arabian breeding program that unfortunately was closing, and the whole herd needed homes.  I immediately laughed and said I had enough on my plate, but later that night looked them up online… wow 😮😍I put it to the side in my mind, again, how could i possibly make room for one more?! I made the mistake of telling Ellie and Maya about it, and of course they had to go see her. 
The whole drive there I was telling myself “no” and I was just going for the experience. Ya right 🤣 we instantly fell in love with her, her sweet nature, her stunning build, and gorgeous movements.  Camille just turned 5 a couple of weeks ago, and is the blankest slate I have worked with yet. She didnt know anything, anything. But I like it that way.  In the past 2 months, i’ve been introducing her to the real world (she lived in quite a fancy quiet bubble), loads of groundwork, desensitisation, hours of hand walks in nature, and just as many hours hanging out together with no agenda - just getting to know each other and building the relationship.  Starting a young halter well-bred Arabian mare from scratch isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s definitely mine and I like it piping hot 🔥☕️  Just when you think your heart can’t get any fuller, G-d laughs and proves you wrong 🪬🧿 Follow along here for more of our training journey and updates ✨


    ✨ Fluffy Crispy Sourdough Waffles (using discard)
    ✨ Fluffy Crispy Sourdough Waffles (using discard) ✨ comment the word RECIPE to get it sent straight to your DMs 🤎
It took me years (!!!) to formulate this recipe just right, and now I’m sharing it with you! They are perfectly golden brown, crispy, fluffy Sourdough Waffles! They are so delicious and one of my favorite way to use up sourdough discard, you have to try them ✨  https://www.lionsbread.com/fluffy-sourdough-waffles/
.
#sourdough #waffles #bakingfromscratch


    comment RECIPE for the full recipe straight to you
    comment RECIPE for the full recipe straight to your DMs 🍎🍏  i’ve seen it with music, fashion, parenting styles, but let’s actually feel the 90s ✨🌀💥 this gem of a children’s cookbook compiled by @goldmedalflour in ‘97 is full of nostalgic recipes that immediately take you back to a simpler time when everything was far less fussy ✨  grab your kid, remove the nasty slime, squishies, and needohs from their hands, and make something delicious together!  https://www.lionsbread.com/bake-like-a-90s-mom-a-is-for-apple-crisp/  #Bakelikea90smom #bakingfromscratch #bakinglove


    the way he & the hardware store man talked about n
    the way he & the hardware store man talked about nuts and bolts for 10 minutes 😵‍💫🤯 extremely grateful this legend has my back, I love you Dad @drshor1  also, this is maybe 20% of the “projects” he did on his visit 😆 #diy #dad


    Blueberry Cream Brioche Buns✨🫐 I can’t wait for yo
    Blueberry Cream Brioche Buns✨🫐 I can’t wait for you to make them ✨ comment RECIPE to get the full tutorial straight to your DMs
.
https://www.lionsbread.com/blueberry-cream-brioche-buns/
.
#bakingfromscratch #bakinglove #artisanbread


    for the girlies who are a little more Dandelion ✨
    for the girlies who are a little more Dandelion ✨ make one, set it and enjoy it all summer long! @ellalangleymusic said it best:
🎶 Dandelion born to live free, ridin’ on a breeze… 🎶


    my favorite meditation ✨🐎 if you know you know, th
    my favorite meditation ✨🐎 if you know you know, there are less and less ways to be fully present in the world today, but my horses always bring me back to the center ✨ #equestrian #horsegirl #countryliving



    Follow on Instagram


    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Portfolio

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Recipe Index

    Copyright © 2026 Lion's Bread, All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer