Spiced honey cake

Name: Spiced honey cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Yield: Makes 1 large loaf
Cuisine: British recipes
Ingredients: 200g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing; 100g light muscovado sugar; 100g golden caster sugar (we like Billington’s); 175g clear honey; 2 medium free-range eggs, beaten; 260ml whole milk; 325g plain flour; ½ tsp salt; 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda; 1 tsp baking powder; ¾ tsp each ground ginger, ground cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg; ½ tsp ground cloves; ½ tsp caraway seeds; Finely grated zest of 1 small orange; Finely grated zest of 1 small lemon; 50g candied chopped mixed peel; For the honey glaze; 1 tbsp clear honey; 1 tbsp whole milk; 60g icing sugar, sifted

Published: 30 Sep 13
Updated: 18 Mar 24

Test kitchen approved

Bake this moist gingerbread-like cake recipe. It keeps well for a day or two (although you probably won’t be able to resist it for that long!)

Makes 1 large loaf
Takes 15 minutes to make, 1 hour 30 minutes to cook

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Ingredients

200g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
100g light muscovado sugar
100g golden caster sugar (we like Billington’s)
175g clear honey
2 medium free-range eggs, beaten
260ml whole milk
325g plain flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp each ground ginger, ground cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp caraway seeds
Finely grated zest of 1 small orange
Finely grated zest of 1 small lemon
50g candied chopped mixed peel

For the honey glaze

1 tbsp clear honey
1 tbsp whole milk
60g icing sugar, sifted

Method

Preheat the oven to 150°C/fan130°C/gas 2. Lightly butter and line a 900g loaf tin (about 22cm x 12cm x 7cm) with baking paper.
Put the butter, sugars and honey in a pan and stir over a low heat until melted. Leave to cool slightly, then stir in the beaten eggs and milk.
Sift the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and all the spices except the caraway seeds into a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the butter mixture in batches, along with the caraway seeds, grated zest and candied peel, beating until smooth.
Pour the batter into the tin, then bake for 1¼ hours or until firm to the touch and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.
For the glaze, warm the honey in a small pan. Mix in the milk and icing sugar until smooth. Brush over the cake, then leave to cool completely. Peel off the paper, then cut into chunky slices to serve.

Recipe from October 2013 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

PER SLICE (BASED ON 20)

Calories: 231kcals
Fat: 9.8g (6g saturated)
Protein: 2.9g
Carbohydrates: 33.1g (22g sugars)
Fibre: 0.8g
Salt: 0.3g

delicious. tips

Honey is more hygroscopic than sugar, meaning it absorbs more moisture from the air. Using honey in cakes (instead of some of the sugar) keeps them moister for longer. But if you’re making something crisp, like biscuits, stick to using just sugar

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