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Three Ingredient Honey Cake

  • Time preparation 10 minutes
  • cook time 35 minutes
  • Serve Serves 8

This simple cake is dense, moist and syrupy. It uses almonds instead of flour, which gives it a rich, toasty texture, and whisked egg whites to give it height. There's no need for any of the standard ingredients like unsalted butter or baking powder. One of favourite 3-ingredient cakes, and the perfect treat to whip up for a tea party.

Recipe taken from Three Ingredient Baking by Sarah Rainey (£12.99, Michael Joseph)
  • 4 free-range eggs
  • 5 tbsp runny honey
  • 150g flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/Fan 170ºC/Gas 4, and grease a small round cake tin that's about 20cm across, lining it with a sheet of parchment paper. Separate the eggs, and whisk the whites to stiff peaks with an electric mixer - this will take considerable whisking. Beat the yolks with 4 tablespoons of the honey mixture, mixing well.

Blitz 125g of flaked almonds in a food processor to grind them. Put the remaining 25g on a baking sheet and, as the oven gets hot, pop them in for 5 to 10 minutes to toast them. Keep an eye on them; they'll colour very quickly.

Mix the ground almonds with the egg yolks and honey, and gradually fold in the egg whites using a metal spoon, being careful not to overmix and beat out all the air.

Transfer the egg mixture to the cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, lowering the temperature for the final 10 minutes to 180ºC/Fan 160ºC/Gas 3.

Let the cake cool completely in the tin before turning it out on to a wire rack and removing the sheet of parchment paper. Drizzle the final tablespoon of honey over the top, before sprinkling over the toasted almonds. Serve with a scoop of ice cream!

The cake will keep for 1 to 2 days in an airtight tin – if it lasts that long.

Ingredients

  • 4 free-range eggs
  • 5 tbsp runny honey
  • 150g flaked almonds

Method

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/Fan 170ºC/Gas 4, and grease a small round cake tin that's about 20cm across, lining it with a sheet of parchment paper. Separate the eggs, and whisk the whites to stiff peaks with an electric mixer - this will take considerable whisking. Beat the yolks with 4 tablespoons of the honey mixture, mixing well.

Blitz 125g of flaked almonds in a food processor to grind them. Put the remaining 25g on a baking sheet and, as the oven gets hot, pop them in for 5 to 10 minutes to toast them. Keep an eye on them; they'll colour very quickly.

Mix the ground almonds with the egg yolks and honey, and gradually fold in the egg whites using a metal spoon, being careful not to overmix and beat out all the air.

Transfer the egg mixture to the cake tin and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, lowering the temperature for the final 10 minutes to 180ºC/Fan 160ºC/Gas 3.

Let the cake cool completely in the tin before turning it out on to a wire rack and removing the sheet of parchment paper. Drizzle the final tablespoon of honey over the top, before sprinkling over the toasted almonds. Serve with a scoop of ice cream!

The cake will keep for 1 to 2 days in an airtight tin – if it lasts that long.

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