Fill your kitchen with the aromas of honey and cinnamon while baking Honey Apple Cake. This moist and tender loaf is ideal for celebrating Rosh Hashanah, gifting, and care packages too.
What you'll love about this recipe
This loaf tastes like honey dipped apples. The recipe was originally adapted from a recipe for applesauce bread.
I substituted honey for some of the granulated sugar. The result is a moist, sweet cake that makes a delicious snack or dessert. It's the best honey cake I've ever eaten.
Though it's quick and easy to throw together, this honey cake recipe is great for making ahead. The flavors continue to improve after aging the loaves for a day or two. They also freeze well for up to a month.
The recipe makes two large loaves or six mini loaves. Eat some and freeze the others, or give them away and sweeten someone’s day!
Recipe ingredients
Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, sugar, and honey. Beat in the eggs, then mix in the applesauce.
- Gradually add the flour, cinnamon, and baking soda and beat just until incorporated.
- Spread the batter evenly into pans lightly coated with vegetable oil spray.
- Bake loaf pans for 35-45 minutes and mini pans for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Storage
- Store the honey cakes at room temperature for 5-7 days. Individually wrap each loaf in plastic wrap then place in an airtight container or freezer weight ziplock bag.
- For longer storage times, honey cake freezes well. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze in a freezer weight ziplock bag for up to one month.
- The loaves are best mailed during cool weather months due to the high moisture content which could promote mold in heat
Tips
- Resist the urge to eat the loaves straight from the oven. They gets sweeter and more flavorful 1-2 days after baking.
- If using disposable foil mini loaf pans, place them on a cookie sheet for more even baking and easy removal from the oven.
- Loaves baked in disposable pans can be left inside the pan for mailing. The pan provides some protection during shipping. Be sure to wrap in plastic wrap for freshness.
- This honey cake recipe can be used in large and small loaf pans, muffin tins, and in bundt pans. The baking time will vary with the size of the baked goods.
- Don't attempt to remove the loaf from the pan until it has cooled. It will fall apart.
Frequently asked questions
It is a honey sweetened cake traditionally eaten on Rosh Hashanah to usher in a happy new year. It is commonly baked in a loaf or tube pan.
Honey adds moisture to cakes giving them a light, soft crumb. It also adds flavor and enhances the flavors of other ingredients.
This traditional Jewish dessert is a symbol of our hope for a sweet new year.
More baking with honey recipes
If you love baking with honey, next time try one of these honey sweetened treats.
Apples and Honey Cookies are soft and chewy apple butter cookies topped with honey flavored icing.
One of the most popular cookies in Australia are Honey Jumbles. The sweet flavors in this cookie make them a perfect Jewish New Year treat.
This Honey Gingerbread recipe was developed especially for successful use with cookie stamps. Stamp with holiday symbols or pretty designs and enjoy!
Honey Sesame Cookies remind me of honey halvah in cookie form. If you love sesame, this whole grain cookie is for you.
Honey Roasted Peanut Cookies are crunchy and flavorful. Peanuts taste better , in my opinion, when they are honey roasted. Better peanuts mean better cookies.
My experience with this recipe
On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, it’s traditional to eat honey cake and dip apples in honey, symbolizing hope for a sweet new year.
Baking this Rosh Hashanah honey cake is a tradition I began when my children were little. I make many loaves every year and share them with local family and friends.
Though I'd been making and gifting Honey Applesauce Cake for years, I'd never stopped to think about what a great care package treat it is until I shipped some to my son when he was in college. This loaf travels well and tastes even better after a few days.
For those of you who celebrate Rosh Hashanah, I wish you l’shana tova, a happy New Year. I wish everyone a year of health, happiness, and peace.
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Honey Cake
Equipment
- 9" x 5" loaf pans
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup honey
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 ½ cups unsweetened applesauce
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 ˚F. Lightly coat baking pans with non stick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, at medium-high speed, cream together butter, white sugar, and honey.
- Add eggs. Beat until combined.
- Mix in applesauce.
- Gradually add flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.
- Pour batter evenly into pans (approximately 1 cup per mini pan or three cups per loaf pan). Mini loaf pans can be placed in the oven on a cookie sheet for more even baking and easy removal.
- Bake loaf pans for 35-45 minutes and mini pans for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- If removing the honey cakes from the pans, cool for 10 minutes in the pans before moving them to cool completely on a wire rack.
- Once completely cool, the cooled cake should be wrapped in plastic wrap to keep it deliciously moist. Store honey cake at room temperature (or in the refrigerator) for 5-7 days.
Notes
- Though this sweet treat is traditionally made in Jewish culture during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, it's just as delicious on a random Saturday morning with a cup of tea!
- This recipe makes 2 bread pan loaves (9-inch x 5-inch loaf pans) or 6 (3-inch x 5-inch) mini loaves or one bundt pan.
- This moist cake recipe can also be used in large and small loaf pans, as applesauce muffins, and as bundt cakes. The cooking times will vary with the size of the baked goods.
- The loaves stay fresh for up to a week and are sturdy enough to travel well. They are best mailed during cool weather months due to the high moisture content of the cake.
- Resist the urge to eat this delicious honey cake straight from the oven. It gets sweeter and more flavorful 1-2 days after baking.
- Place disposable foil mini loaf pans on top of a baking sheet for more even baking and easy removal from the oven.
- Loaves baked in disposable pans can be left inside the pan for mailing. The pan provides some protection during shipping. Be sure to wrap in plastic wrap for freshness.
- Don't attempt to remove the loaf from the pan until it has cooled. It will fall apart.
- There is no specific kind of honey that must be used in this tender cake. Varieties to try include orange blossom honey, wildflower honey, or clover honey.
Nutrition
First Published: September 25, 2014. Last Updated: July 31, 2021. Updated for additional information and improved photographs.
Irene Siegel
I am getting ready to bake this honey cake. Can I use margarine instead of butter. I want to serve it with a meat meal and butter would make it dairy.
Wendy Sondov
Yes, the recipe can be made with margarine.
Robin
Can you use regular applesauce instead of unsweetened? Would I need to adjust the amount of honey?
Wendy Sondov
If you use sweetened applesauce, I would add 1/4-1/2 cup less granulated sugar. Don't adjust the honey because you need that for flavor.