Gluten-Free Greek Honey Cake
Updated Sep 16, 2026, Published Sep 03, 2026
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If you love the flavors of baklava but want something a little easier to make, this Gluten-Free Greek Honey Cake belongs on your dessert table. Tender, buttery cake is studded with walnuts, scented with fresh orange zest and cinnamon, and finished with a warm spiced honey reduction that soaks into every bite.
Table of Contents
- A Gluten-Free Dessert That’s Perfect for Hanukkah (or Any Holiday)
- Why You’ll Love This Greek Honey Cake
- The Gluten-Free Flour That Makes This Cake Easy
- What You’ll Need
- How to Make Gluten-Free Greek Honey Cake
- How to Serve Greek Honey Cake
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The Perfect Honey-Soaked Holiday Cake
- Greek Honey Cake Recipe
The result is a dessert that has all the irresistible flavors we love in baklava—honey, walnuts, cinnamon, citrus, and buttery richness—without the fuss of working with layers of phyllo dough.
And because this cake is naturally gluten-free and soy-free, it’s an especially wonderful dessert to serve when you’re entertaining guests with different dietary needs.
A Gluten-Free Dessert That’s Perfect for Hanukkah (or Any Holiday)
This Greek honey cake is a beautiful addition to a Hanukkah dessert table. Honey and walnuts give it a warm, festive character, while the cinnamon and orange make the cake feel especially cozy during the holiday season.
I also love that you can cut the cake into squares, triangles, or diamonds. The diamond shape gives it a particularly pretty, baklava-inspired look and makes it easy to serve as part of a holiday dessert spread.
Whether you’re celebrating Hanukkah, hosting a holiday dinner, or simply craving a honey-soaked walnut cake, this is one of those recipes that’s easy enough for a weeknight but special enough for company.
Why You’ll Love This Greek Honey Cake
It’s gluten-free.
This recipe uses Bob’s Red Mill 1 too 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour, making it an easy choice for a gluten-free dessert.
It tastes like baklava.
The combination of walnuts, honey, cinnamon, orange, and butter gives the cake that familiar baklava-inspired flavor profile.
It’s wonderfully moist.
The spiced honey reduction is poured over the warm cake, allowing it to soak in and add moisture and flavor throughout.
It’s easy to make.
There are no layers of phyllo to assemble. The cake comes together in a single pan, and the honey syrup does much of the work when it comes to creating its luscious texture.
It’s beautiful on a holiday table. Finish it with toasted walnuts, orange zest, whipped cream, or a combination of all three.
The Gluten-Free Flour That Makes This Cake Easy
For this recipe, we use Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour. You may notice that the package looks different; the flour has new packaging, but it’s the same great gluten-free baking flour many of us have come to depend on.
It’s a particularly convenient choice for recipes like this because the blend is designed for baking and already contains xanthan gum. The recipe calls for 1 cup (120 grams) of gluten-free flour with xanthan gum.
So if you see the new package on the shelf, don’t worry. The packaging is new, but it’s still the dependable flour you know and love for gluten-free baking.
What You’ll Need
The cake starts with a simple combination of gluten-free flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, butter, sugar, eggs, milk, orange zest, and chopped walnuts.
For the spiced honey reduction, you’ll need honey, white sugar, water, fresh lemon juice, orange zest, and a cinnamon stick.
Don’t Skip the Fresh Orange Zest
Fresh orange zest is one of the little details that makes this cake so delicious. It adds a bright citrus note that balances the sweetness of the honey and sugar while complementing the cinnamon and walnuts.
There’s orange zest in both the cake and the honey reduction, so the citrus flavor comes through beautifully.
How to Make Gluten-Free Greek Honey Cake
1. Prepare the pan
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with parchment paper. The parchment serves two purposes: it makes cleanup easier and, once the cake has cooled, allows you to lift it from the pan for serving.
2. Mix the dry ingredients
In a small bowl, combine the gluten-free flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set the mixture aside.
3. Make the cake batter
Using a hand mixer, cream the room-temperature butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the eggs and mix well. Then add the milk and fresh orange zest.
Add the flour mixture and chopped walnuts to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until everything is well combined.
4. Bake, but don’t overbake
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
This is one recipe where you really want to keep an eye on the cake. Start checking it at 20 minutes. The center should no longer jiggle when the cake is done.
Don’t overbake it. The original recipe specifically warns that overbaking can leave the cake dry and crumbly after it cools.
5. Make the spiced honey reduction
While the cake is baking, make the honey reduction.
Combine the honey, sugar, and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the lemon juice, orange zest, and cinnamon stick.
Bring the mixture to a low boil and let it reduce for 15 minutes, watching carefully because the mixture can boil over quickly. Once it’s thickened, remove it from the heat and let it sit at room temperature until the cake is ready.
6. Soak the cake with honey
Let the cake cool for 15 minutes, then cut it into squares, triangles, or diamonds while it is still in the pan.
Pour the spiced honey reduction over the cake and give it time to absorb completely. You can reserve a little of the reduction to drizzle over the cake just before serving.
This is the magic step. The honey reduction sinks into the cake, giving it that moist, rich texture and bringing all those baklava-like flavors together.
How to Serve Greek Honey Cake
Once you’re ready to serve, use the parchment paper to lift the cake from the pan and transfer it to a serving platter.
For a pretty finish, garnish with:
- Finely chopped toasted walnuts
- Fresh orange zest
- Whipped cream
- A drizzle of the reserved spiced honey reduction
You can use one topping or combine them for a more festive presentation.
For Hanukkah, I especially like cutting the cake into diamonds and arranging the pieces on a platter. It gives this simple gluten-free cake an elegant holiday look.
Frequently Asked Questions
It has many of the same flavors. This cake combines honey, walnuts, cinnamon, orange, and butter, so it has a distinctly baklava-inspired flavor without using phyllo pastry.
Yes. The recipe is specifically written as gluten-free and soy-free and uses gluten-free flour with xanthan gum.
Absolutely. The honey, walnuts, cinnamon, and citrus make it a lovely choice for a Hanukkah dessert. Cutting it into diamond shapes also gives it a festive, baklava-like appearance.
Gluten-free cakes can become dry if they’re baked too long. This recipe recommends checking the cake after 20 minutes and notes that overbaking can result in a dry, crumbly cake once it cools.
The cake should be checked beginning at 20 minutes. When the center doesn’t jiggle, it is done.
The Perfect Honey-Soaked Holiday Cake
There’s something wonderful about a dessert that tastes impressive without requiring complicated techniques. This Gluten-Free Greek Honey Cake delivers exactly that.
It’s tender and buttery, full of crunchy walnuts and bright orange zest, and soaked with a fragrant honey reduction flavored with cinnamon and lemon. Think of it as Greek honey cake meets baklava, all in one easy, gluten-free dessert.
And with its beautiful diamond cuts and golden honey finish, it’s especially lovely for Hanukkah.
Make it for your holiday table, serve it with a little whipped cream, and don’t be surprised if everyone asks for another piece.
Greek Honey Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120g) Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour
- 1½ teaspoons (6g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon (2.6g) ground cinnamon
- ¾ cup (169.5g) butter at room temperature
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons (30mL) whole milk
- 1 tablespoon (6g) fresh orange zest
- 1 cup (110g) chopped walnuts
Spiced Honey Reduction:
- ½ cup (100g) white sugar
- 1 cup (236.6 mL) honey
- ½ cup (118.3mL) water
- 1 teaspoon (5mL)fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon (2g) fresh orange zest
- 1 whole cinnamon stick
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 9 baking pan with parchment paper.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together using a hand mixer in a large bowl. Then add in the eggs, combining well. Then add the milk and orange zest, mixing to combine.
- Add the flour mixture and walnuts to the wet ingredients. Use a hand mixer on a low speed to combine it well.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Watch it closely after 20 minutes to ensure it doesn’t overbake. If the center doesn’t jiggle, it is done. Overbaking can result in a dry and crumbly cake once it cools, so don’t let it overbake!
- Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes, then cut the cake into square, triangle, or diamond shapes while still in the pan. Pour the Spiced Honey Reduction over the cake, allowing it to absorb fully. Reserve a little to add a shiny drizzle when serving the cake, if you’d like.
- When you are ready to serve, the parchment paper will help to lift the cake from the pan. Transfer it to a serving platter and garnish with finely chopped toasted walnuts, orange zest, whipped cream or a little of each.
For the Spiced Honey Reduction:
- In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine honey, sugar and water. When the sugar dissolves, stir in lemon juice and add the orange zest and cinnamon stick.
- Allow the sauce to come to a low boil. Watch it closely. It can boil over rapidly. If this happens, carefully remove it from the heat until the bubbles subside. Let it reduce and thicken for 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let it sit at room temperature until the cake is ready.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
