Easy Baklava Cake Recipe – a delicious twist on the classic dessert! Soft white cake topped with buttery mixed nuts and soaked in a rich honey glaze. Baked in a 9×13-inch pan and packed with sweet, nutty flavor. Perfect for holidays, potlucks, or a cozy dessert any night of the week!
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Baklava Cake with Cake Mix
Baklava Cake is everything you love about the classic dessert—sweet, nutty, and sticky—in a soft, fluffy cake form. Made with a tender white cake base and topped with a buttery layer of mixed nuts, this dessert bakes up in a 9×13-inch pan and gets soaked in a warm honey glaze that sinks into every bite. It’s cozy, satisfying, and totally irresistible—especially served warm with an extra drizzle of that honey syrup on top.
How to Make Baklava Cake
This dessert is super easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. Combine melted butter, chopped nuts, brown sugar, corn syrup, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Pour the mixture into the bottom of a 9×13-inch cake pan and set it aside.
Using a hand mixer, mix together white cake mix, melted butter, eggs, milk, sour cream, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Pour cake batter over the nut layer in the cake pan. Bake in a preheated oven until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
While the cake bakes, prepare the honey syrup. Combine the honey, water, lemon juice, and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let it simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes.
When the cake comes out of the oven, place it on a wire rack and poke holes all over the top. Pour about ¼ of the honey syrup over the surface. Once it soaks in, repeat the process two more times, saving a little syrup for serving the cake.
Let the cake sit and soak up all that honey goodness for 15 minutes, then carefully flip it onto a serving platter so the baklava topping is on top. Slice and serve warm, with a drizzle of the extra syrup, if desired.
Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
- I substitute melted butter and milk for the oil and water that the cake mix calls for.
- You can use any combination of nuts that you like. My go-to nuts are walnuts, almonds, and pistachios.
- Add a simple powdered sugar glaze on top of the cake, if desired.
- Line the cake pan with parchment paper to easily remove it from the pan.
- Run a knife around the sides of the cake to help it come out easily from the pan.
- Can substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream in the cake batter.
Storage Tips
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- It will keep an extra day in the refrigerator.
How to Serve Baklava Cake
This cake is perfect on its own, but if you want to take it up a notch, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream on the side. A drizzle of extra honey syrup never hurts either. This cake is great for holidays, potlucks, or whenever you’re craving a sweet treat with a little crunch and a whole lot of flavor.
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Honey Soaked Baklava Cake
Yield: 12 people
Easy Baklava Cake Recipe – a delicious twist on the classic dessert! Soft white cake topped with buttery mixed nuts and soaked in a rich honey glaze. Baked in a 9×13-inch pan and packed with sweet, nutty flavor. Perfect for holidays, potlucks, or a cozy dessert any night of the week!
Baklava Topping:
- ½ cup melted butter
- 2 cups chopped nuts (pistachios, almonds, and walnuts)
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp corn syrup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Cake:
- 1 box vanilla cake mix
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup melted butter
- 1 cup milk
- 3 Tbsp sour cream
Honey Syrup:
- ⅔ cup honey
- ¼ cup water
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp butter
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Preheat oven to 350ªF. Grease and line a 9×13-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
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Combine melted butter, chopped nuts, brown sugar, corn syrup, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Pour the mixture into the bottom of a 9×13-inch cake pan and set it aside.
-
Using a hand mixer, mix together white cake mix, melted butter, eggs, milk, sour cream, and vanilla extract. Pour cake batter over the nut layer in the cake pan.
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Bake for 34-38 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
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While the cake bakes, prepare the honey syrup. Combine the honey, water, lemon juice, and butter in a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Let it simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes.
-
When the cake comes out of the oven, place it on a wire rack and poke holes all over the top. Pour ¼ of the honey syrup over the surface. Once it soaks in, repeat the process two more times, saving a little syrup for serving the cake.
-
Let the cake sit and soak up all that honey goodness for 15 minutes, then carefully flip it onto a serving platter so the baklava topping is on top. Slice and serve warm, with a drizzle of the extra syrup, if desired.
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- I use Betty Crocker French Vanilla cake mix.
- Store the leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature.
Steph
Remember this recipe.
Pin this recipe to your favorite board now to remember it later!
