Absolutely Perfect Honey Pound Cake
Honey Pound Cake is a variation of the Pound Cake Recipe cake recipe that I perfected after months of testing. This honey cake has a lovely tawny color and caramel flavor.
Table of contents
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Cake Flour – Bleached cake flour makes the softest cake.
- Honey – Adds wonderful flavor, color and sweetness to the cake.
- Sugar – A little sugar is needed to maintain the cake structure. Sugar absorbs some of the moisture from the honey to keep the cake from collapsing.
- Baking Powder – To lighten the cake crumb.
- Eggs – Extra egg yolks emulsify the batter so it can hold more moisture. The yolks also enrich the cake.
Process Photos
See the recipe card for detailed measurements and instructions.
- Whisk together the eggs, yolks, honey and the vanilla in a small bowl. Set it aside.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.
- Mix the dry ingredients to combine.
- With the mixer running on low, toss the softened butter into the dry ingredients.
- Mix until the flour is coated with butter.
- Mix on medium high for 2-3 minutes to aerate the batter.
- Add the egg mixture and mix until smooth. Scrape the bowl in between to avoid lumps of thick batter.
- Pour the batter into a buttered and floured loaf pan, Bundt pan or angel food cake pan.
- Use the tip of a small spatula to make a trench down the center of the cake.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool at least 20 minutes before turning out of the pan.
Storage
This cake will keep for 4-5 days, covered, at room temperature. Do not refrigerate the baked cake. Leftover cake can be frozen for up to a month.
The baking science behind this recipe
If you love the science behind the recipe, read through my “Cake Batter Course“. Over 7 classes you can learn all about the ingredients and mixing methods for cake batter.
It’s pretty detailed stuff, but what you learn about baking can be applied to all your recipes, not just cake batter. And it’s free here on Baking Sense.
While I was baking test cakes for the sugar class, I baked a cake using honey instead of sugar. Because I used all honey and no sugar, and didn’t make any other changes to the cake, the cake baked up dense and collapsed a little. It looks pretty awful, doesn’t it?
How did I fix it? In a nutshell, adding extra egg yolks and using chlorinated cake flour enabled me to add more liquid (honey) to the batter.
This recipe includes both honey and granulated sugar. The sugar also takes up some of the extra liquid from the honey.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, please consider giving it a 5-star review.
Honey Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs (room temp)
- 4 egg yolks (room temp)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 oz honey (½ cup)
- 8 oz cake flour (1 ¾ cups, see note)
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 oz granulated sugar (½ cup)
- 9 oz unsalted butter (room temp)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Butter and flour a 9"x5" loaf pan or Bundt pan.
- Combine 3 large eggs, 4 egg yolks, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 6 oz honey in a small bowl, whisk to combine and set aside.
- Sift together 8 oz cake flour, ¼ teaspoon table salt and 1 teaspoon baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add 4 oz granulated sugar to the flour and mix at low speed for 30 seconds. Add 9 oz unsalted butter to the flour and mix until combined. Increase the speed to medium high and mix for a full 2-3 minutes. The batter will lighten in color and texture. If using a hand mixer add another minute to the mixing time.
- Scrape the bowl and beater thoroughly. On low speed, add the eggs in 3 increments, scraping the bowl after each addition. Mix just until the eggs are incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (about 55 minutes).
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If baking in a bundt pan how long would it need to be baked?
I can’t say exactly, but it will bake quite a bit faster since there is more surface area. I would start checking at about 20-25 minutes and take it out of the oven when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Could this cake be baked in round pans? I have a client who wants a honey flavored cake as one tier of her Winnie The Pooh themed cake.
I haven’t done it specifically, but I think it could probably be baked in an 8″ round.
I’m a new baker, so pretty much every recipe is a new experience for me. Followed this one to the letter with one exception. Baked in three small rather than one large loaf pan. It was a good thing I checked it at 45 mins. Probably should have checked at 40 mins. Slightly overdone exterior, but good flavor. Is there a rule of thumb for bake times with smaller volumes?
Certainly batter baked in several smaller pans will bake more quickly since there’s more surface area vs. volume of batter. Baking the same amount of batter in a larger pan means it will bake faster too, for the same reason (surface area vs. volume). Even baking in the same size pan the total time can vary based on the actual oven temp (many ovens are off by a good 25 degrees), material that the pan is made of and the temperature of the batter going into the pan. There isn’t a “rule of thumb” like half the time, etc. Always error on the side of checking too early. If a recipe says 30 minutes I would start checking at 20 minutes. Better safe than sorry. Glad you liked the flavor.
Are results different if using raw honey. Would it need to be warmed before adding to recipe?
Hi Dawn. I haven’t tested it, but I’m guessing you could use raw honey. Since the honey is mixed with the eggs and vanilla I think that would probably loosen it up a bit. Please let me know if you try it how it turns out.
Hi Eileen, Thank you! I used a hand mixer and may have beat flour/butter mixture too long. My cake has a lighter texture, not as dense as the traditional pound cake. I baked it in a sprayed bundt pan, and it cooked much quicker than I expected. It had a beautiful golden color and bounce back after only 35 mins. I made a honey-caramel to glaze the cooled cake. It looks and tastes amazing!
That sounds wonderful. I’m not surprised it baked faster in the bundt pan since it bakes from the sides and and middle. That might also be why the texture was a little lighter since it could rise and set faster. Honey caramel glaze sounds amazing!
Hi Eileen! I’m preparing to try several of your cake recipes. When cake flour is required, what cake flour do you recommend?
I use Softasilk brand cake flour. But any flour marked as “cake flour” should work. Just make sure it’s not a “self-rising” flour.