Honey Bun Cake Recipe

This homemade honeybun cake recipe simulates the pastry: moist yellow cake with a brown sugar cinnamon swirl and honey-laced vanilla icing. It whips up with just 25 minutes of hands-on prep time with no cake mix needed!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword Easy Honey Bun Cake, Homemade Honey Bun Cake, Honey Bun Cake, Honey Bun Cake From Scratch, Honey Bun Cake Recipe, Honeybun Cake, Honeybun Cake Recipe, How to Make a Honey Bun Cake

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 30

Time for the Cake to Cool 30

Servings servings

Calories 384kcal

Author Faith Gorsky

Equipment

9 by 13-inch metal cake pan

Ingredients

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Swirl:

2/3 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Honey Bun Cake:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
3 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup full-fat buttermilk at room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Honey Bun Glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted
3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
2 tablespoons whole milk plus more if needed to achieve the right consistency
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Other:

Butter for the pan
Flour for the pan

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Swirl:

Add the brown sugar and cinnamon to a small bowl and stir to combine.

For the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9 by 13-inch baking pan.
Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
Whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla in a medium bowl.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry all at once, and beat with a handheld electric mixer to combine, being careful not to over-mix.
Use a rubber spatula to spread half of the cake batter evenly in the bottom of the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar cinnamon swirl evenly on top of the cake batter. Drizzle the remaining half of the cake batter on top of the brown sugar cinnamon swirl, and then use a rubber spatula to gently spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the remaining half of the brown sugar cinnamon swirl evenly on top, and then use a rubber spatula to gently swirl the batter. Don’t over-swirl, there should be areas of plain cake and ribbons of the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture.
Bake until the cake is light golden along the outside and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 to 40 minutes.
Let the cake cool to room temperature.

For the Glaze:

Once the cake is completely cool, make the glaze.
Whisk together all ingredients for the glaze in a medium bowl until smooth. You can add a little splash more milk if necessary to achieve the right consistency.
Drizzle the glaze on top of the cake, and then gently spread it around. It doesn’t have to be perfectly even, this cake is a little rustic!
Let the glaze set before cutting and serving.

Notes

Storage: Store this cake covered at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Nutrition