Honey Cake is traditionally baked for Rosh Hashanah the Jewish New Year.
The Honey Cake symbolises the beginning of a Sweet Year.

Honey Cake for Rosh Hashanah
My idea was actually to make the Honey Cake a that I remembered having eaten at the Iyengar bakery as a child.
The Iyengar Bakery the cakes are eggless I have used eggs as I needed to finish off the eggs.
I have replaced butter with oil as I keep the butter out in the morning and back again one the fridge by afternoon as I am in no mood to bake.
The moment the mood to bake hit me I baked and hence used oil. In fact, I prefer the oil used in cakes now as the cake does not harden in the fridge.
Also, I suggest you bake the cake and consume it the next day. It tastes better.
Now next time I plan
- to replace the maida with atta or whole wheat flour.
- Use millets to make a cake like this Bajra Carrot Cake Recipe.
- Halve the recipe and make it eggless.
- To make it vegan will have to use maple syrup.
As I said it was after I baked this cake I realised that I have baked a cake that is baked for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New year. Now I wish I had added some cubed apples in the dough and some nuts too.

Rosh Hashanah Cake
How to make Honey cake for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year
Making this Honey Cake cannot get any easier. Since there is no butter involved the beat up the butter and then the sugar process is eliminated. But just whisk the eggs mixture a bit before adding the flour.
I have used store brought orange juice to alternate with flour mixture. You can replace it with coffee, I have heard that you can use tea too but at my place, the rest of my family is not tea fans.
The Traditional honey cake is made with cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. Again since we do not appreciate these spices in a cake I have skipped using it. You can try it out here is the link.
The other cakes I have tried are
- Layered Angel Cake the British Version
- Simple Ice Cream Loaf Cake
- Egg-less Whole-Wheat Chocolate Cake #Choctoberfest
- By far my most popular cake is Bajra Carrot Cake| Pearl Millet Recipes| Millets Special

Honey Cake Rosh Hashanah

Honey Cake
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking mould
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups maida/APF
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder optional
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup honey
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 cup orange juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
Instructions
- Grease and flour a bundt tray. You can also a 9 by 13-inch loaf pan.
- Preheat oven to 175 C/ 350 degrees F.
- Sift the maida, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon(if using). Set aside.
- Take a large mixing bowl and whisk together sugar, brown sugar, oil, honey eggs and the zest. Since I did not use cinnamon powder I used ½ teaspoon vanilla essence.
- Beat in the 1 cup of the flour mix. Add orange juice. Mix well till the flour incorporated. Repeat and finish with flour.
- Transfer the flour to the mould.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes.
- The best check is when the toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Cool in the mould for about 10 minutes.
- Loosen the sides by running a butter knife by the sides and upturn on the cooling rack.
- Allow the honey cake to cool fully before cutting.
- Store in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
Notes

Honey Cake for Rosh Hashanah
This month in A to Z Challenge where we have an alphabet to choose and cook. This month it is the Alphabet H. To join us in this Challenge do contact Vidya or Jolly.
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Honey Cake for Rosh Hashanah
The Girl Next Door says
Ooh, yum! The cake looks moist and supremely delicious! I can imagine how gorgeous it would have tasted if you had added cubed apples and nuts in the dough.
ArchanaPotdar says
Yes, Priya guess I had blinkers on when I made it.:D
Niranjana Sankaranarayanan says
Loved the texture of the cake. It is soft and moist. I will try the eggless version of your recipe soon.
ArchanaPotdar says
When you try the eggless version tag me.;D that much less work for me. 😀
Kalyani says
this looks amazing , Archana and does. remind me of the Bangalore bakery honey cake ! Very well made.
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Kalyani.
Simintini Patil says
Looking forward to your eggless, whole wheat flour recipe. Thank you very much for experimenting and sharing unusual recipes.
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks to people like you Simintini I am encouraged to try something different.
Liz says
Will this recipe be ok without the orange juice? I'm not a fan but the recipe looks amazing.
ArchanaPotdar says
The cake uses 1 cup of orange juice so it will have to be replaced with liquid. It will not work.
Sujata Roy says
Honey cake looks amazing Archana. So soft moist and superbly delicious. Can't wait to try eggless version. I am sure this cake taste divine.
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Sujata.
Jayashree T.Rao says
Lovely, the cake looks so soft and moist. I remember, as kids that Iyengar honey cake was very famous.
ArchanaPotdar says
😀
seema sriram says
Wow, love the texture of this cake. I really and tempeted to try this soon. Can I use whole wheat flour instead of APF as i hardly buy APF?
ArchanaPotdar says
Should work Seema but you will have to adjust the liquids. Let me know if you try it out.
Vidya Narayan says
Loved the crumb and the bake is fabulous. Would be totally sinful with a cup of coffee. btw, I am with you on having cakes the next day. Somehow the flavours really come out. Sadly, no one has patience.
ArchanaPotdar says
😀 true Vidya one would have thought as I grew older I will have more patience. Not the case.:D
Mayuri Patel says
Super soft and moist honey cake. I would love to bake it with all the spices, fruit and add coffee. Haven't baked a good cake in a while, perhaps should try this one.
ArchanaPotdar says
Please do try Mayuri.
Ankita says
The cake looks so moist and yummy...personally i also like to add oil instead of butter . Waiting for your eggless version.
ArchanaPotdar says
LOL Talk about pressure! Will do asap.
Sophie says
When I was in India, this was one of my fav cakes to eat. Now I can make some thanks to your easy recipe.
ArchanaPotdar says
Thank you, dear.
Aruna says
This cake is packed with flavours and must be quite a revelation when you bite into it. Loved the recipe, Archana.
ArchanaPotdar says
😀 Thanks.
Geetha says
Loved the soft yet crumbly texture and I'm particularly loving the use of orange juice and lemon zest. I'm just wondering how it might turn out if I swap in brown sugar for regular sugar! I would love to try this recipe soon.
ArchanaPotdar says
Geetha thanks. If you replace the brown sugar it will be a whiter cake. I will, however, go easy on white sugar as I [ersonally think it is a tad bit sweeter than brown sugar. This is my personal opinion please feel free to substitute equal quantaties.
seema sriram says
Love the texture of this honey cake, my my ... I have to try this soon. Do you have a preffered type of honey, the many varieties in the market confuse me?
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Seema. We sadly get the bottled versions that do not feel like honey. However, Seema when we go trekking we look out for the honey the forest dwellers have. Generally, that is what we buy and use. Hope this helps.
Poonam Bachhav says
I love the crumbly texture of this honey cake. It looks perfctly moist too. Never used honey in my bakes though. Would try this recipe using whole wheat flour and without eggs.
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks.
Jolly says
Perfect bake and crumbly texture . Honey Cake looks tempting!! Healthy cake which I won't mind having anytime.
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks.
Jagruti Dhanecha says
Such a delectable-looking cake and you have baked to perfection. Just need a cuppa now!
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks.
Anshu Agrawal says
This version of Honey cake sounds very interesting and delicious. Loved the use of cinnamon in here. Bookmarked it!!
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks.
Paarul says
Loved the texture.Perfectly Baked Honey cake.Aweosme share.
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks.
Swatyi says
Such a beautifully baked cake!! Love the flavours in it .. it looks so moist and rich in flavours.
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Swaty.
sasmita sahoo says
ahaaaaa lovely texture of the cake.... much perfecty baked I would love to try this honey cake sometime ..
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Sasmita.
Shobha Keshwani says
The texture of the cake is nice and spongy. Nice to learn the history of this cake .
ArchanaPotdar says
Thanks, Shobha.
Myriam says
Hi I need to use plain flour, instead of maida would I still use two and a half cups or less
Thank you for your help
ArchanaPotdar says
Plain flour as in All-purpose flour is perfectly okay. We in the Indian sub-continent call APF Maida. Thanks will update the post accordingly.