Make a Honey Bee Cake
Bring a buzz to any occasion with this delicious Honey Bee Cake Recipe! Begin with a moist, honey-infused loaf cake – easy and flavorful. Now for the real buzz – we add bees (not real ones of course). The honey bee theme adds a special touch, making this a delightful centerpiece for any gathering. Using simple ingredients that you may already have in the pantry, this loaf pan cake is easy to make. But, the rich flavor will have folks thinking you worked in the kitchen all day.
Using honey in baked goods is a great way to add flavor and retain moisture. It also adds a bit of sweetness allowing you to use less white sugar.
How to Make a Honey Bee Cake
Home baked items are just special. You just can not get that home flavor from a box mix. But, maybe you don’t have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen – or baking is not really “your” thing? No worries, this honey bee cake recipe is almost fool proof.
Ingredients
Baking a honey bee cake begins with a gathering of all the needed ingredients.
Cake
- all purpose flour, baking powder, salt – basic cake essentials
- granulated sugar and vanilla flavoring
- eggs, milk and butter at room temperature
- honey
Honey Glaze
- powdered sugar
- honey
- milk
Bee Decorations
- yellow fondant or yellow jelly beans
- almond slices (optional)
- black gel icing
Most of these ingredients are kitchen basics that you likely already have in your pantry. Do a quick check though – to ensure that you have them and all are still within freshness date.
Honey
What kind, variety or type of honey should you use to make your Honey bee cake? Well, it depends on your preferences. A flavored variety such as Sourwood Honey or Orange Blossom may give a unique flavor to your cake.
However, you are only using a small amount. I would not overthink my honey selection. Raw is always a personal preference and in this recipe the regular wildflower variety works just fine.
Being a beekeeper, I always have jars of honey sitting around. I enjoy experimenting with using honey in recipes of different kinds.
Honestly, I don’t always prefer honey over sugar in a recipe. Sometimes, I have to try both and decide which works best to achieve the texture and flavor that I want.
Make the Honey Cake
1. While the oven is preheating to 350°F, prepare your loaf pan using a light coat of oil.
2. Stir together the dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, use a mixer to blend the butter, sugar and honey – gently. Add vanilla and beat again at higher speed until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time – beating in between. Slowly add the flour mixture and milk to the batter. Alternate between flour – milk, flour – milk until all ingredients are added. Stir only enough to combine.
3. Place mixture in loaf pan and bake in oven 40-55 minutes (until top is firm- and an inserted toothpick comes out clean).
4. After letting the cake cool, remove it from the pan and place on a piece of parchment paper (or wax paper).
Making the Honey Glaze: Mix together the powdered sugar, honey and milk to make the icing glaze and pour it over the cake top. Allow it to flow – it will naturally be thin.
This cake is dense and delicious straight out of the oven. You do not have to add the honey sugar glaze. But, it is a nice touch and adds a special sweetness.
Making Bee Decorations
To complete our honey bee theme – we need some bees. Sometimes, you can find sugar bee decorations to add to cakes or cupcakes. But, you can make them yourself (maybe as a gift for a bee lover).
- fondant bees
- jelly beans
Fondant Bees
Using a small pack of yellow fondant is the easiest way to create some adorable bees for your honey cake.
Just cut off a few small chunks and use your fingers to shape them into a bee shape. I like to make the bee body a bit pointed at the end.
Then, you can really jazz things up by using black Decorating Gel Icing to add some stripes and a couple of eyes. If you are really into it now and want to go farther – how about a couple of slice almonds for wings?
Handy tip – when inserting the almond slices into the fondant bee, it was much easier to use a knife point and cut a little slit first. Then, the soft fondant does not become out of shape as you push the almond slice into it.
Perhaps your hands are much steadier than mine but I have difficulty inserting the wings without disturbing the black icing. Yet, if you put the wings in first – it is harder to get nice stripes.
Let your bees rest on pieces of wax or parchment paper until you are ready to place them on top of the cake. You can also use marzipan to shape some bees for the cake if you already have it on hand. Have fun.
Jelly Bean Bees
Another option is to simply use yellow jelly beans. Because they are smaller, I only added a couple of stripes to give the impression of a bee theme.
If you are doing this project for your own enjoyment – don’t stress out if it doesn’t look perfect. It will still taste great! Do what works best for you.
How to Store
Store your honey bee cake at room temperature in a air-tight container for up to 3 days. It will last in the refrigerator for up to a week – freeze for longer term storage.
If your have bee decorations on your cake – it is best to remove them before placing it in the refrigerator or freezer. They will become hard and brittle.
More Ideas
Your honey bee cake is sure to delight all of the bee lovers in your life. If you want to ditch the idea of powdered sugar icing – perhaps a bit of homemade honey blueberry syrup would make a nice touch as a topping.
When you need something more portable – consider these bee-themed cupcakes – decorated with candy bees. And of course, there are the every-popular honey bee cake pops.
For the kids, let them help make some honey gummy bears. They are much better than purchased varieties.
Another special treat that focuses on honey and has a bee theme – forget these crispy honey bee cookies cut out in bee shapes. They are delicious and almost too cute to eat.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.
Did you like this recipe? Please leave a 5 star (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) rating in the recipe card below. And, don’t forget to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest.
Honey Bee Cake
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Read my disclosure.Equipment
- loaf pan 9 x 5"
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring
- 2 eggs (room temp)
- 3/4 cup milk (room temperature)
Honey Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon milk
Making Bee Decorations
- 1 bag Yellow Jelly Beans (optional)
- 1 bag Yellow Fondant
- 1 tube Black Decorating Gel
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 inch x 5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray or use a nonstick pan. (if using non-stick cake pans lower temp to 325° F)
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a small bowl. Stir to combine.
- Use the paddle attachment on a stand mixer or hand-held to combine the soft butter, sugar and honey at a slow speed. Add vanilla and mix again. Increase mixer speed and beat until the mixture is fluffy. (takes several minutes)Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to incorporate any stray ingredients. Add and blend eggs one at a time.
- Mix at low speed (stir) as you add the flour mixture in three stages. Alternate adding the flour mixture with the milk – begin and end with flour. (add flour, add ½ milk, add flour, add remainder of milk, add flour). Only mix enough to combine the ingredients.
- Spread the cake batter into your prepared pan. Add slowly and use spatula to spread it evenly. Place in center of oven and bake for 40-55 minutes – until cake is firm on top and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
- Let cake cool in the pan on a wire rack – then remove from pan. When cool – enjoy as is or glaze with the honey glaze.
Making Honey Glaze
- Mix together powdered sugar, honey and milk in a small bowl. Mix until well blended and thick. Drizzle over cake.