Salty Honey Cake; moist fluffy cake scented and glazed with floral honey and seasoned with flaky sea salt.
It’s no secret that sweet and salty are best friends.
Cheese and chutney, caramel and sea salt, chips and ketchup, chocolate and peanuts. However you choose to enjoy the addictive contrast of savoury and sugary together, it’s always delicious.
After the wonderful response that my Spiced Salted Maple Loaf recipe received last autumn, I knew something similar had to be baked for the summer months. This simple yet seductive Salty Honey Cake is a perfect warm-weather answer to that loaf’s harvest season charm.
Haven’t tried the Spiced Salted Maple Loaf yet? You can find the recipe here!
It’s got the same satisfyingly moist and sticky texture, while being lighter and almost floral in flavour. The crunch of fresh sea salt is still there, without the need for cosy winter spices.
This Salty Honey Cake is simplicity exemplified. Minimal ingredients and effort to make sure you don’t spend too much time indoors on those sunny weekends. No faffy decoration to ensure you can grab a slice and head out without worrying about plates and forks. Light flavour and consistency so it won’t weigh you down too much after that outdoor barbecue feast.
Sink your teeth into the tender crumb to be met with a sticky honey glaze and crisp morsels of sea salt.
I used an Italian millefiori honey, which is a basic unpasteurised honey with a flowery flavour, but feel free to use any kind you like. Typically, better quality honey will provide a better lingering flavour in your cake, but just use whatever your own budget allows! The butter and sea salt will help bring everything together into a beautiful balance of flavours anyway.
You won’t need any fancy or electrical equipment for this Salty Honey Cake either. Just a big bowl, a spoon, and a standard round cake tin should be enough to bring these simple ingredients together into something delicious. Though you could easily turn this recipe into a loaf cake or into a traybake-style cake instead if you like.
We’ve been enjoying this cake for breakfast or as a nice afternoon pick-me-up even on the warmest days here in northern Italy. While you might think gelato and cold desserts might be the only things on the menu in the humid weather, sometimes you just want cake. Well, a kind that isn’t smothered in tasty (but easily melted) buttercream anyway!
I hope you enjoy this Salty Honey Cake as much as we have, and thanks for stopping by.
Want to save this Salty Honey Cake for later? You can pin the image below:
To make this Salty Honey Cake, simply follow the recipe below:
Ingredients
For the salty honey cake:
- 180g (12 tbsp) soft salted butter
- 150g (½ cup) floral honey (I used Italian millefiori honey)
- 2 large eggs
- 180g (1 ½ cups) plain or ’00’ flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- Pinch of coarse or flaky sea salt
For the salty honey glaze:
- 1 rounded tbsp floral honey
- 4 tbsp hot water from a recently boiled kettle
- Pinch of coarse or flaky sea salt
Instructions
For the salty honey cake:
- Preheat your oven – 180 C / 160 C fan / 350 F / gas mark 4 – and grease and line a 18cm (7 in) round cake tin.
- In a large bowl, beat together your soft butter and honey for 2-3 minutes.
- Beat your eggs in one at a time until the mixture is smooth.
- Sift over the flour, raising agents, and salt and gently stir in until JUST combined into a cake batter. (Over-mixing can make your cake come out tough or chewy, and no one wants that!)
- Pour into your prepared tin and bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until risen and deep golden on top. When ready, a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should be cleanly removed.
- Remove the baked cake from the oven.
For the salty honey glaze:
- While your cake is still warm, stir together your glaze ingredients in a small bowl or cup until smooth.
- Pour or brush over your glaze to evenly coat the top of the cake while it is still in its tin.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before slicing.
- Enjoy!
BE A MAVERICK: why not add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the cake for a deeper and warmer flavour on a cold day?
This Salty Honey Cake will keep well on a covered cake stand or on an airtight container for up to 4 days but is best enjoyed fresh.
You may also like:
I made this cake (actually three of them!) for my kids’ bee-themed birthday last year, and everyone gobbled it right up! Such a wonderfully simple recipe, and yet it all comes together to perfectly deliver the honey flavour that I was looking for – plus, it was stable enough for people to just pick up a slice and eat it with their hands. 🐝 I am now back this summer to kick off some baking, now that I have some farmer’s market honey. 😎
Thank you for this wonderful recipe!! 😄
This looks amazing and I’d love to try it! Any suggestions for what could substitute the egg? Thank you!