Multilayered honey cake for a Valentine's Day

Quite unusual  idea for a Valentine's Day. It is not pink nor red, it doesn't have a heart shape but at least it's  so sweet... just like honey. ;)

I spotted this recipe on two beautiful Serbian blogs (thank you Ljilja and Marija). The authors mentioned that it was a very famous Russian cake. Actually it is also quite popular in Poland. There are many different versions of miodownik, as we call the cake in Polish. You may found it rolled like a Swiss roll or with honey-walnut topping. There are also many kinds of fillings (with wheat cream, sour cream or  a simple butter cream). I presented my Christmas version of this cake some time ago on my Polish blog.

Today I was tempted to try the multilayered Russian version  with simple sourcream filling. I modified the original recipe (that can be found here), changing some quantities and simplifying it a bit.

I have to admit this cake is quite time consuming but definitely worth all the effort. The dough is a little bit difficult to spread in the pan (it is sticky and you want to have a very thin layer so it is easier to spread it with wet hands). You have to bake at least 3 layers (in order to obtain 9 final layers) and then spread them carefully with sour cream. The filling will be trying to escape outside the dough layers so it is important (vital) to use very thick cream with high fat content. I adjusted sugar and sour cream quantity in order to obtain the best results (IMHO). It was almost impossible for me to spread all 1,5 litre of cream over the layers, so I used instead only about 1 litre and 3/4 cup of sugar.

 

The cake must stay in the fridge overnight. Honey cake layers absorb some sour cream and get pleasantly moist and soft. Happy and sweet Valentine's Day!!

Multilayer Honey Cake with Sour Cream Filling (Miodownik) 

flat baking pan 30 x 40 cm
3 large sheets of baking paper 
aluminum foil

Honey Dough:
3 large eggs
pinch of salt
220 g (1 cup) sugar
70 g (4 tbsp) butter
60 g (3 tbsp) honey
2 teaspoons baking soda
550 g flour

Filling:
1 litre sourcream 30-40% fat, or thick crème fraîche
170 g (3/4 cup) sugar
7.5 g vanilla sugar

Beat eggs with a pinch of salt and sugar until thay are creamy and fluffy. Melt honey and butter in the microwave or in the pan on the stovetop. Cool it and add to the egg mixture, mixing everything together. Add soda and mix again. Add the flour in batches, stirring with a wooden spoon, until you get thick but soft dough.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Divide the dough into 3 parts. With the aid of your wet hands spread each portion of the dough thinly in the pan lined with baking paper. Bake each layer for about 6-8 minutes, until it gets honey-golden (you must be very carefull and keep checking them in the oven, so they do not burn).

Mix the sourcream with sugar and vanilla sugar. Put into the refrigerator. When the honey cake layers are cooled completely carefully peel off the baking paper. Cut each layer into 3 sections (across the long side). This way you get 9 rectangular pieces.

Spread sourcream on 8 layers. The last one, which goes on top, will stay without the filling . Leave all of them for a moment so the cream moistens the cake a little (just for 5-10 min). On a large sheet of aluminum foil put the layers on top of each other (carefully transferring them with the aid of a long and broad knife). At the top stack the last layer without filling. If the sourcream spills out you may spread it on the sides of the cake. Wrap the honey cake thightly in the aluminum foil and put in the fridge. I spread the aluminum foil on a cutting board and then move it along with the cake to the refrigerator. Leave in the refrigerator overnight.