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The World’s Best Honey Cake

June 08, 2021
Courtesy America's Test Kitchen; photo by Joe Keller.Courtesy America’s Test Kitchen; photo by Joe Keller.

I am among the legions of loathers of honey cake. Every Rosh Hashanah, someone tells me about their amazing honey cake that I must try, and I wind up having to make polite yum-yum faces while retching internally. The only honey cakes I have ever liked are the ones that do not taste like honey cake, falling into two categories: Honey cake that tastes like gingerbread, and honey cake that is actually apple cake. (Apples save everything.)

Featured in: Here’s the World’s Best Honey Cake, According to Science

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 2½ cups (12½ ounces) all-purpose flour
  • 1¼ teaspoons salt
  • 1teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ cup water
  • 4large eggs
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • ¼ cup orange juice
  • 1teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1¾ cups honey

For the glaze

  • 1cup (4 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
  • 4½ teaspoons water
  • 1teaspoon vanilla extract Pinch salt
Yield: Serves 12

Preparation

To make the The World's Best Honey Cake

Courtesy of America’s Test Kitchen

  • Step 1

    For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Heavily spray 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan with baking spray with flour. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in large bowl. Whisk water, eggs, applesauce, oil, orange juice, and vanilla together in separate bowl until combined. Whisk honeyinto egg mixture until fully incorporated.

  • Step 2

    Whisk honey mixture into flour mixture until combined. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until skewer inserted into middle of cake comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.

  • Step 3

    Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 30 minutes. Using small spatula, loosen cake from sides of pan and invert onto rack. Let cool completely, about 2 hours. (Cooled cake can be wrapped with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

  • Make sure to use unsweetened applesauce in this cake. If you plan to make this cake ahead of time, hold off on glazing it until 30 minutes before serving. You’ll need 20 ounces of honey for this recipe. This cake is sticky; baking spray with flour provides the cleanest release, but if you have only regular cooking spray, apply a heavy coat and then dust the inside of the pan with flour.

To make the The World's Best Honey Cake

Courtesy of America’s Test Kitchen

  • Step 1

    Whisk together all ingredients. Drizzle glaze evenly over top of cake. Let sit until glaze is firm, about 30 minutes. Serve.