This is likely the most awaited recipe on my blog of my previous bakery storefront. The coveted Medovik, a Russian honey cake, was one of, if not the most, sought after cake. What makes this cake so distinguishable are the 10 golden cake layers, with 10 creamy white layers between. Often mistaken for labor-some and complicated, it is actually one of the easiest cakes to make! I’ll teach you.
I’ve never heard of “Medovik”
You are not alone. The name in the US is not a very popular one, especially as we turn to grocery store bakeries. In Europe, and specifically former Soviet countries, the Medovik is infamous. Why? Because it is good enough to make a royal who hates honey, the main ingredient, fall in love.
Created in the 19th century by a young and new to the kitchen confectioner in the Russian Imperial Empire, it was made to impress then Empress Elizabeth. The only problem with it, Empress Elizabeth could not stand honey, any dish with it was known to make her mad. Not knowing this cake’s sponge star ingredient was honey, the Empress ate the cake and was said to “fall in love.” I don’t blame her, I did the same when I first tried it.
Today variations include condensed milk , buttercream, custard, or caramel addition but we will make it as it was originally enjoyed, with nothing but sour cream and a bit of sugar.
Before you go
The cake layers- Don’t stress! The beauty of this cake is that it can be as layered, or not layered, as your batter allows. If one of your layers does not bake correctly, simply use it for crumble for décor. If you have even more batter than originally expected, great, an even more extravagant cake!
The batter goes through several stages, which I try to outline in the directions for the cake. The initial mixture takes quite a bit of mixing overheat via a double boiler. Once ready and off heat, flour is little by little added in and the batter becomes thick, almost like a bread dough (see second row below). One a floured surface you will form the dough and prep it for the parchment paper to be baked on. Once baked they are a firm cake core. This sounds complicated, but I hope this visual takes you through the process and helps as it really is not, albeit a bit messy:
The cream- You can’t stress! Two ingredients: sour cream and sugar. The key here is to be gentle. You will mix the two ingredients gradually and slowly in between refrigeration. You may think at first the sugar is not well incorporated and needs to be mixed in more but trust me it will eventually melt in together beautifully and create a filling that can easily be spread between the cores.
Combined, the sour cream will soften the baked cake sponges and create the creamiest and delectable cake. Enjoy!
PrintRussian Honey Cake “Medovik”
Ingredients
Cake layers:
- 6 eggs
- 1.5 cups sugar
- 6 tablespoons of butter (melted)
- 6 tablespoons of honey
- 6 cups of flour
- 4 teaspoons of baking soda
Filling:
- 3 lb. sour cream
- 2 cups sugar
Instructions
- In a heat proof bowl, mix your eggs and sugar.
- Set the bowl over a double boiler and continue to stir until the sugar is dissolved. This will take approximately 5-7 minutes. You will know it is ready when the color becomes a golden yellow.
- Stir in butter that’s been melted and the honey and remove all from heat.
- Whisk in baking soda. Gradually add flour, mixing well, and adding more flour. Repeat a few times until all of your flour is slowly and carefully mixed in. Do not mix too quickly or dump all flour in at once.
- Leave the batter to cool and preheat oven to 360 F.
- Once cooled, form about 3/4 of a cup of batter into a ball using flour and a floured surface so it is not sticky. Take your ball once it is workable and place on a 9-inch parchment circle. Using your hands and more flour, work the batter to form a thin layer across the entire parchment paper. You may use a rolling pin, but you will need to add more flour to prevent sticking. Keep working the batter until you have a thin circle. Images above may be helpful!
- Repeat with the rest of your batter. There should be 10-11 cake layers able to form on their own parchment sheet.
- Place two cake layers onto a baking sheet and bake for 5-6 min. or until the cake turns into caramel color.
- Remove baked layers and place on a cooling rack. Bake the next two layers and keep repeating until all layers are baked.
- Leave baked layers to cool.
- Prepare the cake cream by adding sugar to sour cream but mix very little, two or three strokes. Leave in the refrigerator.
- After about 20 minutes mix again but very lightly again. Repeat this step one more time and it should be ready. You will notice the difference with each mix as the sugar will naturally melt into the sour cream and be very spreadable. Your cream is ready!
- Remove the parchment paper from the cake layer and place on your serving plate. Gently spread your cream mixture over the first layer. Keep repeating until all layers are used.
- You may want to leave one layer to process into fine crumbs and sprinkle over the cake.
- Refrigerate overnight.
Serve it on beautiful gold doilies. Or highlight other colors with white lace doilies.
