Almond Honey Cake with Citrus

Almond honey cake topped with honey sweetened mascarpone and an assortment of fresh citrus segments. 

Are the winter blues bringing you down? A slice of this citrus honey cake is sure to brighten your spirits and bring on some spring cheer!

This easy to make almond cake contains no refined sugar! It is sweetened simply with honey and fruit!

Honey Almond Cake

While February is unofficially the month of chocolate (thank you, Valentine’s Day), it’s also the best time to incorporate citrus into baked goods and desserts.

Take advantage of the abundance of grapefruits, oranges, and blood oranges available during this time of the year. The bright colors and bright flavors are perfect during the cold winter months.

This cake is very simple to put together. It’s a standard one layer cake topped with a luscious cream and adorned with a variety of citrus segments!

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Cornmeal: Dried corn kernels ground to fine, medium, or coarse texture. It comes in yellow, blue, or white variety. Yellow cornmeal is the most popular and most widely available. Cornmeal is different from cornflour or cornstarch.
• Almond Flour: Also called almond meal, it is finely ground almonds. It is available blanched (no skin) or unblanched (with skin). Blanched almond flour is generally preferred for baking because because of its pale color, smooth texture, and fluffy consistency.
• Butter: Use unsalted butter. If you choose to use salted butter, omit adding salt to the cake batter.
• Honey: Honey adds sweetness and depth of flavor. There are hundreds of types of honey to choose from, ranging from light and mild flavor to dark and pungent. Pick a sweet, floral honey such as clover and orange blossom honey.
• Milk: Use any milk or non-dairy milk alternative of your choice. The milk helps to thin out the almond honey cake batter.
• Mascarpone: Smooth and rich triple-cream cheese. It is softer than cream cheese. Most popularly used in tiramisu. If you can’t find it, sub in cream cheese.
• Heavy Cream: Also called heavy whipping cream, this product doubles in volume when whipped. It adds body to the mascarpone whipped topping.
• Citrus: Orange juice and citrus segments are used. Use one citrus or a combination of grapefruit, orange, and blood orange segments.

Honey Soaking Syrup

This cake has no sugar. All of it’s sweetness comes from honey. The cake itself is pretty dense due to the mixture of cornmeal and almond flour.

To bring moisture to the cake, after baking it is soaked with an orange juice-honey syrup. This syrup also imparts an amazing floral scent and flavor.

To make the soaking syrup, simply heat together honey and orange juice until honey has dissolved. Poke warm cake all over using a toothpick or fork tines. Brush soaking syrup all over warm cake. Then, cool cake to room temperature on wire rack.

Cake Assembly and Serving

1. Brush warm cake with soaking syrup.
2. Top with whipped mascarpone mixture.
3. Arrange fresh citrus segments over whipped topping. If desired, garnish with chopped almonds and fresh lemon thyme.
4. Enjoy immediately!

This almond honey cake does not hold up well. Once the whipping topping and fresh fruit is added, it should be eaten within the same day. Overtime, the topping will separate due to the moisture of the fruit.

If you have leftovers, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Let sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before eating.

It you need a break from the chocolate madness of February, give this citrus almond honey cake a try. It’s a definite departure from the rich, decadent, and sinful desserts out there right now.

Plus, this is the kind of cake that is totally suitable for breakfast!

More Citrus Dessert Recipes

• Triple Citrus Shortbread Bars
• Grapefruit Strawberry Gooey Butter Bars
• Citrus Zingers Sugar Cookies
• Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Disclaimer: This post was first created in partnership with BHG’s Delish Dish Blog.