Ukrainian Old-Fashioned Honey Babka
Ukrainian Old-fashioned Honey Babka: sweet, fluffy, moist; topped with a creamy frosting for that extra incredible taste. The easiest and the best honey dessert you’ll ever taste!
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Babka is very often shaped into molds and baked for Easter, but it can also be made in a regular baking sheet (like I did) and served anytime of the year. It has a spongy texture and reminds me a lot of the honey sponge cake.
The sweet and honey aroma around the house during the baking process just puts me through the roof. I was especially surprised when I saw how much my kiddos love it. The perfect square size is kid friendly and can also be served as a hand held dessert.
I remember I used to bake this babka quite often for my brothers when I was a teenager. They loved me more for making all these goodies for them all the time 🙂 . I didn’t top with any frosting back then and it was still super delicious without it. All we needed was a cup of coffee.
Honey Babka Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 8 eggs – room temp
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup honey – microwaved for 30 seconds
- 16 oz sour cream – room temp
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
Honey Babka Frosting Ingredients:
- 8 oz cream cheese – room temp
- 8 oz cool whip – frozen
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
How to Make Honey Babka:
1. Preheat the oven to a 350°F. Line a large baking sheet (11×17) with a parchment paper and set aside (make sure the baking sheet has an edge of approximately 1” to prevent the batter from running out). In a large bowl, beat 8 eggs, 1 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 tsp salt until light and fluffy (8-10 mins on high).
In a small bowl, combine and stir 2 tsps baking soda and 2 tbsps white distilled vinegar – it will fizz up. Microwave 1 cup honey for about 30 seconds. Then, add the baking soda/vinegar mixture, honey and 16 oz sour cream to the batter. Beat on low for 30-40 seconds just until combined (do not over-beat it). Sift 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour into the batter and with a mixer on low, beat just until the flour is combined. The batter will be runny and lose the fluffiness a bit, but make sure to not over-beat it otherwise the cake texture will turn out hard and won’t be as fluffy.
2. Pour all the batter at once into the prepared baking sheet and level to the edges with a spatula. Bake for 30-32 mins, until the toothpick inserted comes out clean. Place a cooling rack over the baked cake and flip over the baking sheet. Remove the parchment paper from bottom of the cake. Place a large cutting board onto a cake and flip over again; let the babka cool. (Do not leave the cake upside down on a cooling rack for long, or it will leave cooling rack squares on top of the cake and might break/mush the top of it). Once cooled, cut off edges with a sharp knife, and cut whole babka into an even squares, to about 1.5-2”, or your desired size.
How to Make Frosting for Honey Babka:
3. In a medium bowl, combine and beat 8 oz cream cheese and 1/2 cup powdered sugar for about 1 min on low-medium speed. Add 8 oz cool whip and continue beating on high until frosting is thick, for about 5 mins.
4. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag with Wilton tip #199 attached. Pipe the frosting onto each square.
Enjoy right away or refrigerate and keep enjoying for next 3-4 days!!
The fluffy, spongy texture…
More Cake Recipes to Explore:
- Ammonia White Cake with Sour Cream Frosting
- Farmer’s Cheese Blueberry Crumb Cake
- Honey Cake with Sour Cream Frosting
Ukrainian Old-Fashioned Honey Babka
Ingredients
Ingredients for Babka:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 8 eggs – room temp
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup honey – microwaved for 30 seconds
- 16 oz sour cream – room temp
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
Frosting Ingredients:
- 8 oz cream cheese – room temp
- 8 oz cool whip – frozen
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to a 350°F. Line a large baking sheet (11×17) with a parchment paper and set aside (Make sure the baking sheet has an edge of approximately 1” to prevent the batter from running out). In a large bowl, beat 8 eggs, 1 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 tsp salt until light and fluffy (8-10 mins on high). In a small bowl, combine and stir 2 tsps baking soda and 2 tbsps white distilled vinegar – it will fizz up. Microwave 1 cup honey for about 30 seconds. Then, add the baking soda/vinegar mixture, honey and 16 oz sour cream to the batter. Beat on low for 30-40 seconds just until combined (do not over-beat it). Sift 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour into the batter and with a mixer on low, beat just until the flour is combined. The batter will be runny and lose the fluffiness a bit, but make sure to not over-beat it otherwise the cake texture will turn out hard and won't be as fluffy.
- Pour all the batter at once into the prepared baking sheet and level to the edges with a spatula. Bake for 30-32 mins, until the toothpick inserted comes out clean. Place a cooling rack over the baked cake and flip over the baking sheet. Remove the parchment paper from bottom of the cake. Place a large cutting board onto a cake and flip over again; let the babka cool. (Do not leave the cake upside down on a cooling rack for long, or it will leave cooling rack squares on top of the cake and might break/mush the top of it). Once cooled, cut off edges with a sharp knife, and cut whole babka into an even squares, to about 1.5-2”, or your desired size.
- TO MAKE THE FROSTING: In a medium bowl, combine and beat 8 oz cream cheese and 1/2 cup powdered sugar for about 1 min on low-medium speed. Add 8 oz cool whip and continue beating on high until frosting is thick, for about 5 mins.
- Transfer the frosting to a piping bag with Wilton tip #199 attached. Pipe the frosting onto each square. Enjoy right away or refrigerate and keep enjoying for next 3-4 days!!
Linda says:
Hi Olga, can you let me know what an alternative to Cool Whip would be . I am in Australia and it is not readily avaliable.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
You can use heavy whipping cream (same amount, I usually do 40%, but 36% works too). Since cool whip has a bit of vanilla flavor to it and extra sweetness, I would add about 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and increase powdered sugar to 3/4 cup, unless you don’t like sweet frosting, then you can definitely keep it at 1/2 cup.
Lori Kurochkina says:
Hi Olga, I am in Russia and we definitely do NOT have Cool Whip here 🙂 But I have seen 33% cream (maybe higher). So would I need to use an electric hand mixer and whip this cream first before mixing together with the cream cheese? Thank you!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
You can definitely replace it for the same amount of heavy cream. I usually beat cream cheese for about a minute, add powdered sugar or sugar and beat for another 30 seconds. Then heavy cream and beat couple minutes until fluffy (together with cream cheese). I don’t beat it separately.
Bri says:
This looks terrific! I have some small cake molds I would like to use. How would you modify cooking time or anything else for smaller molds? Or should I just stick with the sheet pan? Thanks!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
See my Honey Cupcake recipe. This recipe was based off this sheet cake. I wouldn’t recommend making something as small as mini cupcakes though because this cake/cupcakes have sour cream so the texture is not as soft as sponge cake texture. When made so small, they will turn out a bit harder to bite as opposed to standard size cupcakes (or molds).
Olena Pchinka says:
Love this recipe!!! In Ukraine we call this Medivnyk, your recipe is duzhe smachne. Keep up the great work! 🙂
Olga in the Kitchen says:
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe, Olena! Yes, people call it different names: babka, honey cake, medovik – we always knew it as babka, but it is like medovik 🙂
Choice says:
Made this tonight. Tasted better after being in the fridge. Awesome! It’s perfect. I’m not Ukrainian but in love with Ukrainians.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Tonya says:
This is the easiest honey sheet cake I ever made. The taste is amazing! A little of frosting on the top goes a long way. I made it for sister’s engagement and they looked so elegant on the table. It was so so good and disappeared from the table in seconds.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
That’s so wonderful, Tonya! Thank you for sharing that with us!
Elizabeth says:
Olga this cake is WOW! My husband loved it so much, he asked me to make it again and again. It’s sooo easy and works great for regular dessert or even for special occasions. Everything was perfect about this recipe.
Olga in the Kitchen says:
That’s wonderful, Elizabeth! Thank you for sharing that with us :).
Karmyn says:
This babka cake is so easy to make and the results are satisfying. Kids chose these bars over cupcakes. I wasn’t surprised. Love the texture, the flavor and the frosting. YUM!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thanks Karmyn, I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe 🙂
Lilly says:
The BEST BEST honey dessert I have ever eaten!!!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Aww thanks Lilly 🙂
Alyssa says:
This honey babka recipe is a staple in my home. I make it at least once a month because I have 4 kids and this is the first honey dessert they fell in love with. Thank you for another excellent recipe!!!!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
I’m so happy to hear it’s a staple at your home. It is definitely kid-friendly dessert!! 🙂
Lizzie says:
This is such delicious and easy to make cake. I love how fluffy it is and the honey taste is to die for. The frosting on top gives it such elegant look. I made this for our church gathering and it was a huge hit. The cake was gone in under 10 minutes. I keep making it again and again. Thank you Olga!
Olga in the Kitchen says:
Thanks Lizzie, I’m glad you liked it so much; it’s one of my favorite cakes as well. Kids love it too 🙂