Picture this: the smell. The taste. The look. This Spiced Orange Honey Cake recipe has it all! It makes the perfect Rosh Hashanah desserts and is delicious to enjoy all day long during Fall and Winter!
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Why we love this recipe
I first baked this cake back in September for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. As it is a tradition to eat Honey to celebrate a sweet year to come, Honey Cakes are a perfect Rosh Hashanah dessert.
You will find thousands of different Honey Cakes recipe as many families have their own one, passed from one generation to another. Here is my twist on the traditional honey cake: an Orange Glazed Spiced Honey Cake decorated with Candied Oranges.
There is something so special about baking with spices, just like my Biscoff Cheesecake, Vegan Sticky Date Puddings or Spiced Pear Muffins. I don't know if its the smell or the flavours (probably a mix of both), but I simply cannot resist it!
Ingredients
The list of ingredients is rather long - but don't freak out! This Dairy-Free Spiced Honey Cake recipe is super easy! There are a few elements make this Spiced Honey Cake so delicious. The Spices and the Honey, obviously, but also the Almonds and Hazelnuts ground into a thin meal.
I absolutely adore using spices in cakes and if you ask me, the more - the better! For this cake, I used Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, Clove and Star Anise Powder.
If you do not have all of these spices at home, you can also substitute them for an All Spices mix. Chinese 5 Spices also works great!
To make this Easy Honey Cake, you will need:
- Eggs
- Brown Sugar
- Honey
- Spiced Tea (your choice of tea) & Water
- Oil
- Orange Zest
- Plain Flour
- Almond Meal
- Hazelnut Meal
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Spices: Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, Clove and Star Anise (or your choice of spice mix)
How to make Honey Orange Cake
There are 3 main steps to make this Honey Cake with Oranges. Prepare the tea, mix in the wet ingredients then add the wet ingredients:
- Prepare your tea in boiling water and set aside.
- Whisk the Eggs and Brown Sugar, then add the Honey. Stir in the Oil, Orange Zest and brewed Tea.
- Add all the dry ingredients, whisk until combined then bake in a loaf pan.
Baking with Honey
When it comes to Honey, we are very lucky here in Australia. We can easily find great quality Honey that has been produced locally and organically.
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Like often when I bake with Honey, I used Tasmanian Honey we brought back from a previous trip.
Although the quality of all the ingredients matter, the quality of the honey is really what makes this cake. You want a Honey that is both floral and fragrant to bring a delicious taste to the cake.
How to make an Orange Glaze
If you have read some of my other recipes, you know that I love to make a simple fruit glaze. Not only it is WAY easier that you may think, it is also a great way to bring flavour - and a beautiful shine - to your desserts.
To make a Fruit Glaze, I use the juice of fruit and boil it with some Agar Agar Powder. This powder is a plant-based gelling agent that works way faster than gelatine and is also vegan.
And that's it - it is that easy! Not only this fruit glaze is ready in about 3 minutes, it is also full of flavours. Because the Spiced Honey Cake is rather sweet, I did not add any sugar to this Orange Glaze. The deliciously tangy citrusy glaze is the perfect way to balance the sweet Honey Cake!
Check out my other recipes made with a Fruit Glaze:
How to make Candied Oranges
To finish this Spiced Honey Cake, I decided to make Candied Oranges - my new obsession! Once again, it is one of these things that seem super complicated but is in fact rather easy.
Candied Oranges are both delicious and a beautiful treat to use as decoration for your cakes, tarts and other desserts. You can make Candied Oranges using both Orange Slices (the peal and the pulp) and Orange Peals only.
For this recipe, I made both. I used half of an orange to make Candied Orange Slices and the other half to make Candied Orange Peal Strips.
The key to make Candied Oranges - and any other candied citrus fruit - is to boil the peals in fresh water a few times. This will remove most of the bitterness you could find in a citrus peal or zest, as well as making them nice and soft.
Once they have been blanched a couple of times at least, the slices or peals are cooked in a sweet syrup until completely reduced. The syrup can be made with only water and sugar, or you can also add some spices like Cinnamon like I did here.
More Honey and Spiced Cakes recipes
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Recipe
Orange Glazed Spiced Honey Cake
Ingredients
Spiced Honey Cake
- 80 ml Spiced Tea, such as Chai
- 3 large Eggs
- 80 gr Brown Sugar
- 175 gr Honey
- 125 ml Canola Oil , or flavour-neutral cooking oil
- 2 teaspoon Orange Zest, about 1 large orange
- 150 gr Plain Flour
- 25 gr Almond Meal
- 25 gr Hazelnut Meal , (Can be replaced by the same quantity of almond meal)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 pinch Fine Table Salt
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Ginger Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Clove Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Anise Seed Powder (optional)
Orange Glaze
- 120 ml Orange Juice
- 30 ml Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon Agar Agar Powder
Candied Oranges
- 1 Orange
- 3 x 250 ml Water
- 120 gr Caster Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
Instructions
Spiced Honey Cake
- Preheat your oven on 170℃ / 340℉. Generously grease a Loaf Pan (and / or line with baking paper).
- Brew your chosen fresh tea and set aside to cool down. Preferably use a fragrant, fruity spiced tea such as Chai.
- In a large bowl, whisk the Eggs and Brown Sugar until foamy. Mix in the Honey (melt for a few seconds in the microwave if needed), then the cool Tea, Canola Oil and Orange Zest.
- Whisk in all the dry ingredients: Plain Flour, Almond Meal, Hazelnut Meal, Baking Powder, Salt, Cinnamon Powder, Nutmeg Powder, Ginger Powder, Clove Powder and Anise Seed Powder.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the tip of a knife comes out clean. Set aside to cool down completely.When completely cool, remove from the pan and put on a cooling rack placed over a flat baking tray (see note 1)
Orange Glaze
- Place the Orange Juice and Lemon Juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the Agar Agar Powder and whisk for a couple of minutes.
- Remove from the heat and directly pour over the cake to fully cover it. Be careful, the liquid will be very hot. Leave to cool and set for about 20 minutes.
Candied Oranges
- Cut the orange in half. Thinly slice the first half, then cut out the orange peal on the second half (see note 2). Slice the orange peals into thin strips.
- In a small saucepan, bring the first 250 ml of water to boil. Place the Orange Slices and Peal Strips in the boiling water for about then minutes, then drain and rince well. Repeat a second time in with fresh water (the second 250 ml).
- Clean your pot, then mix in the last 250 ml of water, the Caster Sugar and Cinnamon Powder. When all dissolved, place the Orange Slices and Peal Strips in the syrup and leave to reduce on low heat for about 30 minutes, or until all the water has evaporated. Try not to touch or stir the oranges while they are candying.
- When all the syrup has evaporated, you should get sticky candied orange slices and strips. Carefully place them on a cooling rack to cool down.
- Place the Candied Orange Slices and Candied Orange Peals on the Orange Glazed Spiced Honey Cake before serving.
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Notes
- This is to make sure the glaze doesn't drip all over your kitchen bench. Lining the Baking Tray with baking paper or a baking mat also allows you to re-use all the orange glaze that has dripped.
- You want peal strips that are relatively thick, so make sure you cut out the zest and the white part. Then, slice thin strips of orange peals.
Alana Coleman says
Is it me or is the amount of cinnamon to put in the glaze not listed in the glaze ingredients list?
Sylvie says
Hi Alana - my bad, you are completely right! I have remove the mention of cinnamon for the glaze. Cheers!
Fran says
Your recipe sounds delish! Have you tried making it vegan? Would it work with aquafaba?
Sylvie says
Hi Fran, I havent tried a vegan version no, sorry!
David says
I am absolutely thrilled by this wonderfull cake
thefoodiejourney says
hehehe merci Papa!
Rebecca Smith says
Not THAT is a cake I could eat whole in one sitting....I'm not even joking! I adore orange cake and the addition of those spices sounds divine. Going to have to work on a tweaked version so my daughter and I can eat it too, but don't you worry, I'll make it work!
thefoodiejourney says
I'm with you - it is the type of cake I could eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and any time in between! I would love to hear how you tweaked it, I love to experiment with recipe too 🙂
jenny walters says
What a fabulous and sophisticated looking cake. I just love the candied oranges too. I agree that spiced cakes are wonderful. I use cinnamon by the bucket load! Thank you so much for bringing to #BakingCrumbs
thefoodiejourney says
I use loooooads of cinnamon too, it just make any bake good taste so much better! Thanks for the love Jenny 🙂
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder says
Such a lovely cake! I like using honey in baking and same goes for oranges or any citrus fruits really. I can only imagine how delicious this cake is with all the spices added too and those lovely candied oranges mmm... Thank you for sharing with #BakingCrumbs 🙂
thefoodiejourney says
Thanks Jo! I'm not a big fan of eating raw honey, but I also love to use it in baking! And it works so well with citrus fruits 🙂
Kate @ Kate These Days says
That looks so good! I will have to save this one for later!!
thefoodiejourney says
Glad you liked the recipe Kate!
Molina says
This looks exceptionally yummy! I will give it a go this weekend, but will swap the honey for something else as I can't eat honey. Do you think agave or maple syrup will be best?
thefoodiejourney says
Hi Molina,
I'm glad you liked the recipe and want to give it a go! I am not completely sure of how this recipe would turn out without the honey since it is the main ingredient. If you would like to experiment a bit, I would probably try with agave syrup or rice malt syrup as their consistency is closer to honey than maple syrup. You might need to add a bit more flour to balance the fact that agave syrup has a more liquid consistency than honey though. Please let me know how you go and if the recipe works with agave instead of honey 🙂