Lemon and Honey Cake

Using honey instead of sugar makes this cake quite rich and moist, and the classic pairing of honey and lemon will have your tastebuds buzzing.

This recipe makes two 6″ (15cm) cake layers.

Ingredients

• 150g honey
• 175g margarine, plus extra for greasing
• 3 large eggs
• 175g self raising flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp plant based milk

Process

1. Preheat the oven to 155°C fan assisted and put a shelf in the middle. Grease and line the bottom of two 6″ (15cm) cake tins to ensure your cake doesn’t stick
   • Lightly grease the inside with margarine. Cut a circle of non-stick baking parchment the size of the tin and use it to line the bottom – the margarine on the bottom of the tin will keep the parchment in place. Dust the side with some flour, making sure to knock off the excess
2. Put the honey and margarine in a bowl together and beat them until light and creamy (at a medium speed if using a stand mixer)
3. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure they are fully incorporated before adding the next one
4. Add the lemon zest and juice, and mix until combined
5. Sift in the flour and bicarbonate of soda, and fold until combined. If the mixture feels stiff, add the plant based milk to slacken it slightly
   • This is still a very thick mixture that shouldn’t be runny, but you should also be able to stir it without difficulty
6. Pour the mixture evenly between the two prepared cake tins and level off with an offset spatula or butter knife
   • I tend to weigh the tins to make sure the quantities are even
7. Bake for 25 minutes, at which point the tops should spring back to the touch. You can’t trust a skewer with this cake, and this recipe gets dark really quickly because of the honey
8. Allow the cakes to cool for 15-20 minutes in the tin before removing onto a wire rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely on the wire rack before storing or decorating

I coated this cake with just a crumb coat of lemon buttercream (recipe here, I swapped out the vanilla extract for lemon extract), but you can decorate it how you wish.

Enjoy!

Amazon Associate Links

Most of the baking equipment I used can be found on Amazon, find them here