Greek Honey Cake is a light, flavor-packed dessert that skips all the fuss. Make this simple, sweet, and citrusy cake to feed a crowd!
I found Greek honey cake in search of easy desserts that aren’t laden with butter or frosting. This recipe, which features an olive oil cake soaked with a honey, fresh citrus and pistachio syrup rather than frosting, is exactly the not-too-sweet dessert I was craving.
This cake recipe is inspired by desserts on the island of Aegina, where pistachios and honey from local beekeepers are aplenty. To be honest, I was ready to try this Greek honey cake the instant I saw that it involved pistachios–whether in a milk pudding or baklava I’ll take any excuse to use creamy, slightly savory pistachios to elevate a sweet treat.
Aside from its incredible flavor, this yiayia-approved honey cake is also ideal for serving a crowd. The squares can easily feed 12 to 15 or so, and it’s adored by kids and adults alike. Plus, it’s the kind of simple dessert recipe where you dump all the ingredients in one single bowl and mix!
Table of Contents
Greek Honey Cake Ingredients
With tangy Greek yogurt, sweet honey, fresh citrus, course semolina flour, and crunchy nuts, this cake has a delightful balance of flavors and textures. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Eggs: Hold the batter together.
- Citrus: You will need 2 lemons and 2 oranges. Both the zest and the juice are used, so opt for organic citrus and give them a good scrub. I like extra fragrant and sweet Meyer lemons if they’re available.
- Greek yogurt: Moistens the cake with a tangy flavor to balance the sweetness.
- Sweetener: Granulated sugar sweetens the batter, and honey soaks into the cooked cake, flavoring and sweetening it. A high-quality, pleasantly flavored honey is essential–I like our Greek Alfa honey.
- Flour: A combination of semolina and all-purpose give this cake a nice fluffy meets toothsome texture.
- Baking powder: Gives the cake a nice rise.
- Extra virgin olive oil: Lends a lot of flavor to the cake. Use a high-quality extra virgin variety that’s not too bitter–I like our Private Reserve Greek for this recipe.
- Nuts: Ground almonds flavor the dough and add crunch to the topping. Use unroasted, unsalted almonds (sometimes labeled “raw”). Pistachios add crunch, creaminess and a pop of color to the top.
How to Make Greek Honey Cake
Though this cake is delicious right away, it’s even better if you let it soak in all the flavor. Ideally, make this cake the night before you plan to serve. Here’s how it’s done:
Make the Cake
- Get ready. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan with oil and dust with all purpose flour (shake the pan a little to get an even coating of flour).
- Make the cake batter. Place 5 large eggs, 1 cup of Greek yogurt, 2 cups of sugar, 5 tablespoons of ground almonds, the zest of one orange and one lemon, 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour, and 1 cup semolina flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 3/4 cup olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon or a whisk to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and spread evenly with a spatula.
- Bake and cool. Bake on the center rack until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cake completely cool in the pan.
Flavor the Cake
- Make the honey syrup. Once the cake has cooled, toast the pistachios in a large dry non-stick pan over medium-low heat. Once they become fragrant, stir in the honey, orange juice, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and reduce until nice and syrupy, 1 to 2 minutes. (Do NOT taste the hot syrup as it will burn your mouth).
- Soak the cake. Stab the cake all over with a small knife or a skewer to create holes. Pour the honey pistachio syrup all over the cake as evenly as possible. If you need to, use a spoon to distribute the pistachios across the top of the cake. Sprinkle on the shaved almonds, if using. For best results, allow the cake to soak with the syrup for a few hours.
- Serve. Cut the cake into 12 to 15 squares and serve.
What to Serve with Greek Honey Cake
Greek honey cake, like banana bread or Italian carrot cake, perfectly balances sweet and savory to make it welcome at any time of day. Serve for brunch or an afternoon snack with a cup of lemon ginger tea, Greek mountain tea, or coffee.
For dessert, serve this honey cake after a Greek-style feast. Start with ice-cold glasses of ouzo and mezze like Tirokafteri and Tzatziki with pita. Move on to traditional Greek salad and something simple like Greek sheet pan chicken. Finish with a sticky square of honey cake, perhaps with Carajillos (Spiked Coffee) on the side.
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Our Signature Private Reserve and Early Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oils, Sourced Directly from Family Farms in Greece.
Greek Honey Cake with Orange and Pistachios
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 5 large eggs
- 1 cup low-fat Greek yogurt (I used fat-free plain Greek yogurt)
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons ground almonds
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 cup coarse semolina (or farina or Cream of Wheat)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing the pan
- Handful of shaved almonds, for topping (optional)
For the Honey Pistachio Syrup
- 1 1 /4 cup shelled salted pistachios
- 1 1/4 cup quality runny honey
- Juice of 2 oranges
- Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Get ready. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with oil and dust with all purpose flour (shake the pan a little to get an even coating of flour).
- Make the cake batter. Place the eggs, yogurt, sugar, ground almonds, orange and lemon zest, AP and semolina flour, baking powder, and olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon or a whisk to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and spread evenly with a spatula.
- Bake and cool. Bake on the center rack until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the cake completely cool in the pan.
- Make the honey syrup. Once the cake has cooled, toast the pistachios in a large dry non-stick pan over medium-low heat. Once they become fragrant, stir in the honey, orange juice, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and reduce until nice and syrupy, 1 to 2 minutes. (Do NOT taste the hot syrup as it will burn your mouth).
- Soak the cake. Use a small knife or skewer to poke holes all over the cake. Pour the honey pistachio syrup all over the cake as evenly as possible. If you need to, use a spoon to distribute the pistachios across the top of the cake. Sprinkle on the shaved almonds, if using. For best results, allow the cake to soak with the syrup for a few hours.
- Serve. Cut the cake into 12 to 15 squares and serve.
Video
Notes
- You can by the almonds ground or grind whole almonds in a small food processor.
- The syrup needs to be hot when you pour it on the cooled cake so the cake will better absorb it.
- This cake is even better the next day when the flavors and the moisture have settled in.
- Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients including olive oils, honey, jams, and spices.
Nutrition
*This post has recently been updated with new information for readers’ benefit.
Hi, I was wondering if you could substitute the Semolina for Polenta? Thanks
I am not 100 percent sure, Sophie. Semolina is wheat (it is also sold as “cream of wheat” in the hot cereal aisle) and polenta is from corn. The cake may turn out far grittier and denser using ploenta. But I haven’t personally tried it.
Do NOT use polenta. While the flavor is great, the grittiness is not good and the day after, it just totally takes away from the cake. But fine cornmeal? I think it would be good that way if you don’t have semolina.
BTW, I also halved the sugar. Especially with the syrup, the cake doesn’t need its deliciousness overwhelmed by sugar.
I also used pistachios instead of almonds in the cake, but almond meal would have worked (if you have that kind of thing on hand), too.
BTW, while I suppose you could sub cream of wheat for semolina, they’re not the same.
Thank you for sharing!
We are a gluten free home because my husband was diagnosed with Celiac Disease 18 years ago. Baking was a tough thing to accomplish because the supermarkets were stocking Gluten Free Foods like they do today. Karl loved his cakes, pies and cookies, I had no idea what I was going todo. Fortunately, I was an experienced baker using wheat flour, even baking my own bread many times, but this stumped me. Thank goodness for the information on the internet and many good cookbooks online. Everything was a huge help. I use 3 basic flour blends that I make myself, depending on what I am baking/cooking. I never found one flour blend that was great for everything. I also have a blend for the most tender delicious pancakes ever, that rival regular wheat flour pancakes. I make my mixes and keep them labeled in plastric bowls with snap on lids. I got the Bowls from the dollar store and these particular bowls are wonderful. The cake flour mix is
3 cups brown rice flour (fine ground)
1 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
1⁄2 cup tapioca flour
1 1⁄4 teaspoons guar gum or 1 1⁄4 teaspoons xanthan gum
DIRECTIONS
Sift ingredients together, combining thoroughly. Use in place of flour 9in cakes and other baked goods.
Store in airtight container or ziploc bag in refrigerator. My Flour Mix for Pizza: This makes a delicious PIZZA ,1 1/2 C. Brown Rice Flour 3C. Corn Starch, 1/2 C. Potato Starch, 1Tabl. Xanthan Gum. Use 3 C. Flour mix,1 Tbl. Sugar 1 tsp. Salt, 3/4 tsp. Baking Powder, 3 Tbls. Dry Yeast, The Liquid is 1/12. C. Water at 120 degrees, 3 Tbl. Olive Oil..Mix for 3 minutes with stand mixer. on Med. Let Raise in a covered bowl for 30 minutes. Bake the pizza on a parchment lined pan or pizza stone and cover the parchment paper with olive oil. Bake in a 450 degree oven. Pre bake the crust in 450 degree oven on lower rack till edges are slightly brown. Add your toppings and bake about 10 min. till cheese melts. This crust is soft and slightly chewy, so delicioius. Recipe for All Purpose G. F. Flour Blend: 24 ounces (4 1/2 cups plus 1/3 cup) white rice flour
7 1/2 ounces (1 2/3 cups) brown rice flour, 7 ounces (1 1/3 cups) potato starch, 3 ounces (3/4 cup) tapioca starch
3/4 ounce (3 tablespoons) nonfat milk powder. To Make Cake Flou: For each cup of All Purpose Flour, Remove 2 Tbls. and add in 2 Tbls, corn Starch, Then sift the new Cake Flour Mix, 5 times. Do not skip this step. I hope that I helped. And don’t forget to pick up one edge of the cake lid to get some moisture out.
Suzy, thank you so much for sharing this information for those who need a gluten-free variation. I will try your flour mix!
This looks so good but would have to make it gluten-free for my mom. Do you think this would work with gf flour?
Hi Julia…I don’t have a ton of experience in GF baking, but I would say if there is a flour you depend on for cakes that’s given you great results before, it should work here too. Enjoy!
Do you have a compilation complete cookbook that I can purchase that has all of your Mediterranian Recipes?
If so, I would like to purchase it. So If you do, send me the information to purchase it….I work so much, and have a cataract in one eye that is strained watching all the little videos, which are great, but it makes my eye and head hurt, so it is torture just using the site. Thank you! Keep up the great work!
Hi Patricia…Thank you for your kind question. I do not have a printed cookbook out at this point in time, but I am hoping to in the near future. Thank you!
It looks awesome, but I am allergic to dairy: how can I substitute?
Thank you!
This looks amazing! I need this in my life immediately. Also gorgeous photo!
Merseidy, you will so love it! My family is already requesting it again!
Wow, I can almost taste this, It looks so good!
You’d love it, Gerry!
This just looks so squidgy and delicious!!!
I can imagine eating it for brunch, whilst being sat overlooking the Argean sea!!!
Awesome! A treat I can give my kids without feeling guilty! It looks delicious!
Definitely a bit lighter than your average dessert…still so yummy!
Oh my Lord!! Looks at that golden beauty ?? this is so full of amazing flavors and textures can’t get my eyes off the screen! Saving it!
Soniya, I hope you’ll give it a try soon! This has become a new favorite dessert here…making it again for my girls!
The colors in your pictures are so vibrant. I can almost taste the honey syrup!
So good! Thanks so much for stopping in, Lisa!
Thank you, love!
This cake has such a wonderful blend of flavors!
It totally does! We loved it.
this is gorgeous! ilove the flavor combination you’ve got going!
Thank you, love!
I’m loving the look of this cake. That honey pistachio syrup truly is everything!
Thank you! It is really tasty and simple!
Seriously loving the sound of this cake!
I knew you would, girl! Thank you!