Greek Honey Cake with Orange and Pistachios 

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

1. Greek Honey Cake Ingredients
2. How to Make Greek Honey Cake
1. Make the Cake
2. Flavor the Cake
3. What to Serve with Greek Honey Cake
4. You’ll Also Like: Mediterranean Dessert Recipes
5. Greek Honey Cake with Orange and Pistachios Recipe

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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*This post has recently been updated with new information for readers’ benefit.