If you’re looking for a rich and delicious dessert to put on the table this holiday season, this Russian Poppy Seed Honey Cake is the perfect thing. Sweet and moist, speckled with pieces of dried plum, it looks gorgeous and tastes even better.
And if you’re looking for other great recipes for entertaining, try this Pumpkin Cheesecake or this Drunken Chocolate Cherry Cake.
Poppy Seed Honey cake
Poppy Seed Honey Cake is a rich and decadent dessert. From the fluffy cake that is full of poppy seeds and cooked honey to the sweet cream, which is made with sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, sugar, and heavy whipping cream. And to top this delicious dessert off is a generous helping of dried plums in every layer. Each bite of this Poppy Seed Honey Cake will make you sigh with delight.
If you love luscious dessert cakes, you should definitely try our Opera Cake or Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake.
You can make it in advance!
If you set out to make this cake for an event, make it about 2 days in advance. The cake tastes so much better after it sits for a day or two. This way, the flavors have time to blend together, and the poppy seeds become more moist.
How to make this poppy seed honey cake
For the honey cake
1. Prepare the prunes and baking pans. Cut the prunes into small pieces and set aside. Then, line 2 round 10-inch baking pans with parchment paper and spray them with nonstick spray.
2. Make the honey cake. Heat the honey and baking soda in a saucepan over medium-low heat and keep stirring until the mixture becomes a dark caramel color (about 7 mins). Be careful as it can burn very quickly. Now, add 2 sticks of butter and stir over low heat until the butter fully melts. Take the pan off the heat and let it cool.
3. Beat the eggs and sugar. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until they become slightly foamy.
4. Fold in the dry ingredients. In another bowl, combine the flour and poppy seeds. Then, pour the beaten eggs into the honey and baking soda mixture. Next, add in the flour and poppy seeds.
5. Bake. Evenly split the batter between the 2 baking pans. Bake at 340 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when pierced through the middle. When done, transfer your Poppy Honey Seed Cake to a cooling rack and let it cool completely.
How to make the cake frosting
1. Mix the butter, milk, and sour cream. Meanwhile, beat 1 stick of butter with the cooked sweetened condensed milk. Add the sour cream and mix just to combine.
2. Beat the cream and sugar. Using the whisk on a stand mixer, beat the heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of sugar until the heavy cream becomes light and fluffy.
3. Fold in. Fold the whipped heavy cream into the sweetened condensed milk.
Why is my frosting too runny?
Frosting can become too runny for a couple of reasons, like too much liquid or a too-warm kitchen, but most likely it is because of overbeating. After beating the heavy cream until it is fluffy and airy, you have to fold it into the milk mixture gently to avoid crushing the fluffiness you are trying to incorporate right out of it. This will give your Poppy Seed Honey Cake’s frosting just the right texture.
How to assemble it
1. Slice the cake. Cut each cake in half using a serrated knife, giving you 4 layers of cake in total.
2. Spread the frosting and prunes. Generously spread the cream onto the first cake layer, and then add the prunes.
3. Layer the cake. Spread a thin layer of the cream onto the inner part of the next cake layer before placing it on top of the cake, to sandwich the prunes between cream frosting. Continue layering the cake with cream and prunes until the 4th cake layer is placed on top.
5. Frost the top and decorate. After frosting the top of the Poppy Seed Honey Cake, I decorated it with chocolate ganache and sliced almonds.
How to store this cake
Place this Russian Honey Cake in an airtight container in a cool place, like the refrigerator or freezer, to discourage mold (because it is a moist cake).
How long does it last in the fridge?
Since this cake is moist to start with, it will not dry out like others. Russian Honey Cake can last in the fridge for up to a week when stored in an airtight container. You can keep it even longer if you choose to freeze it, which works well with honey cake.
More delicious European desserts to try!
- Russian Royal Cake (Korolevsky Cake)
- Chocolate Honey Cake (Spartak Cake)
- Cherry Danish with Cream Cheese and Almonds
- Meringue Cookies with Berries and Cream
- Linzer Cookies with Raspberry Jam
Poppy seed Honey Cake
Ingredients
For the honey cake layers
- 5 tbs honey
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup poppy seeds
For the frosting
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 15 oz can cooked sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups dried plums (prunes)
Instructions
Prepare the prunes and baking pans
- Cut the prunes into small pieces using kitchen shears and set aside.
- Line 2 round 10-inch baking pans with parchment paper and spray them with nonstick spray.
Make the honey cake on the stovetop
- In a saucepan heat the honey and baking soda over medium-low heat and keep stirring until it becomes a dark caramel color (about 7 mins). Don't step away from the saucepan, it can burn very quickly.
- Add 2 sticks of butter and stir over low heat until the butter fully melts. Then remove from heat and let it cool.
Beat the eggs + sugar separately on high speed
- In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer. Mix until the eggs become slightly foamy.
Mix the dry ingredients and fold it into the batter, then bake
- In another bowl, combine the flour and poppy seeds together.
- Pour the beaten egg mixture into the honey and baking soda mixture.
- Then add the flour and poppy seeds to the batter.
- Evenly split the batter between the 2 baking pans. Bake at 340 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when pierced through the middle. Once the cake is baked transfer to a cooling rack and let it cool completely.
Make the cake frosting
- Meanwhile, beat 1 stick of butter with the cooked sweetened condensed milk. Add the sour cream and mix just to combine.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the heavy cream and 2 tbsp sugar using the whisk attachment. Beat until the heavy cream becomes light and fluffy.
- Fold the whipped heavy cream into the sweetened condensed milk.
Assemble the cake
- Slice each cake in half using a serrated knife. This will be the 4 layers of the cake.
- Generously spread the cream onto the first cake layer. Then add the prunes.
- Spread a thin layer of the cream onto the inner part of the next cake layer before placing it on top of the cake. This way the prunes are sandwiched between cream from top and bottom.
- Continue layering the cake with cream and prunes until the 4th cake layer is placed on top. From here, just frost the cake with the rest of the cream.
- I decorated the top of the cake with chocolate ganache and sliced almonds on the sides.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on December 28, 2015. We have tweaked it a bit since.
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Jenya says
Such a great recipe! Best combination of flavors 😋
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you so much Jenya! I am so glad you loved this cake 🙂
Irene says
I agree with the other commenters. This cake does take a lot longer than 15 mins to bake. I’m impressed that yours baked fully in 15 mins. Tastes great though!
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Irene, glad to hear you enjoyed this poppy seed honey cake! How long did it take for yours to bake fully? Was your oven in the conventional or convection setting? That can adjust your bake time.
Ulyana says
Its a great recipe and cake looks good
Wanted to try for a long tome after i spotted this recipe
Followed all the instructions and layers are very thin to even cut in half
What did i do wrong? Took me longer than 15 to bake it
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Ulyana, it sounds like you didn’t beat the batter long enough. Hope that helps 🙂
Oleksandra says
Hi! Cake came out delicious 😋 😋😋! Just have to be careful with cream next time – it’s very easy to over whip it and became runny. But it was my mistake, I haven’t read your instructions carefully ☺️ But I am very satisfied with the taste. Thank you for the recipe!
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you Oleksandra! I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed the taste of this cake 🙂
Jenny says
Hi! Can I use 2 – 9 inch pans? If so, what would you change the cooking time to? Or just leave it in until toothpick comes out clean?
Thank you 🙂
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Jenny, I would just leave it until the toothpick comes out clean 🙂
Tanya says
Hello, does the honey mixture have to cool completely before adding the egg mixture into it? Or is warm fine?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Tanya, it’s ok if the honey mixture is still a little warm when added to the eggs.
Svetlana says
I’ve made this cake maybe 5 times now and everytime the flavors are all there and it is such a crowd pleaser, but the centers of it always fall when I bake it. I cook it for almost 30 minutes instead of the 15 because the first couple of times it was still raw. I do however use a 9inch pan instead of a 10inch… but I want to figure out why it always falls in the center. I always make sure I beat my eggs and sugar long enough amd do everything according to the instructions and measurements. I just want it to not fall for once… or ever again. Help.
simplyhomecooked says
Hey Svetlana, I’m so sorry to hear that keeps happening to your cake. That sounds really frustrating! There are very few reasons why cakes sometimes sink. The most common reason is over-beating the batter. Another (not so common) reason could be having too many wet ingredients. By that I mean… if you live in a humid area, you’re flour could be absorbing moisture from the air, which may be causing the batter to have too much moisture. Again, this is very rare though. I really hope that answers your question. I would love to know if any of those tips helped.
Anastasiya says
Beautiful cake, putting it on my to-make list! One way to make the poppy seeds less dry is to soak them in boiling water before using them in the recipe. I measure out the seeds and put them in a small bowl and cover them with boiling water. I let the seeds soak until I am ready to use them in the recipe. I drain off the excess water and they are ready to use. I do this any time a recipe calls for poppy seeds. Also works great for raisins that have dried out a bit!
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you Anastasia, what a great tip!
Rachel says
I have one more question – was the oven temperature supposed to be 350 degrees? The directions said 340, which I did, but it took longer to bake the cake layers than 15 minutes.
Otherwise, the cake turned out well. I made it for a Russian student – he turns 18 today! 🙂
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Rachel, the reason why I have the temperature set to 340 degrees is because the batter has honey in it. If the oven temperature is too high, the honey in the batter tends to take on a very burnt like color. Glad that cake turned out well for you 🙂
Rachel says
Do you need to refrigerate this cake once it is all assembled?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Rachel, yes keep the cake refrigerated after it’s assembled.
lana says
is there a reason why the middle of the cakes fell? after baking them for 15 minutes, they were still raw in the middle… so i baked them for additional 15 minutes, but they look sad…
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Lana, the only thing I could think of is maybe you didn’t put enough flour?
lana says
hi i wanted to know do i need to put the cake in the fridge for little because my cream is very runny and the cake does not stand straight?
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Lana, if the cream is runny put it in the fridge for a few hours. Is the cake not be straight because of the way it was cut?
Kelly says
By cooked condense milk, do you mean what we South Americans call dulce de leche? Cooked condense milk is not availabe in my area, and if you cook it yourself, how do you go about it? Thank you. It look incredible! Would like to make it for New Year.
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Kelly, yes it’s the same thing as dulce de leche. You can make it yourself by filling glass jars with the sweetened condensed milk. Close them tightly, place them in a slow cooker and submerge them fully with hot water. Cook on high for 4 hours. Wait for them to cool before opening.
Maria says
Hi, I would like to thank you for your hard work. Is is possible to give the measurements in grams as well? Thanks a lot.
simplyhomecooked says
Hi Maria, I tried my best to convert the recipe into grams. Here it is:
Ingredients for the cake:
42.5 grams honey
17.5 grams baking soda
113.4 grams butter
200 grams sugar
3 eggs
250 grams flour
70.36 grams poppy seeds
Ingredients for the cream:
500 ml heavy cream
25 grams sugar
395 grams cooked sweetened condense milk
230 grams sour cream
56.7 grams butter
272 grams dried plums
Valya @ http://valyastasteofhome.com says
Yum, very delicious cake! Perfect for any gathering. 🙂
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you Valya! 🙂
Anna says
My mom made this yesterday for our family’s New Years party and it was REALLY good! I especially want to note that it was fluffy and moist, because I personally don’t like dense cakes. Thanks!
simplyhomecooked says
Anna I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake! Thank you for the kind feedback 🙂
Natasha says
You’re so talented Dina! You do such a beautiful job decorating cakes!!
simplyhomecooked says
Natasha you’re so sweet, thank you!
June @ How to Philosophize with Cake says
This cake certainly looks royal to me! It’d be perfect for new year’s 🙂 Love the use of plums in here 🙂
simplyhomecooked says
Thank you June!