Russian Honey Cake Medovik (Tort Medovik)

Here's the famous Russian honey cake Medovik, or simply Medovik tort. It's sweet and rich with a pronounced honey flavor, superb taste, and beautiful stature. Cut yourself a big slice and enjoy it with tea or coffee.

Honey cake Medovik

Honey cake Medovik, aka tort Medovik, is a Russian layer cake made with the main ingredient - honey - translated in Russian as мёд [mʲot].

For many Russians and people from the former Soviet Union, Medovik tort is a childhood dream cake, perfect for birthday parties, weddings, and other special occasions. The recipe can be made in different variations using a regular oven or an ancient Russian oven/stove.

The cake traditionally consists of 4 to 8 thin layers, sometimes 10 to 15. But the number of layers depends on your preference: the thinner the layers, the more layers you will get out of the cake batter.

But let me show you how to make the easiest Medovik cake without sweating over cake layers. It uses an easy sponge cake technique (express Medovik cake) with a mouthwatering result!

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

• Unsalted butter cut into cubes. You can replace it with good-quality margarine.
• Honey - Choose buckwheat honey or replace it with the honey you prefer. You can use liquid or crystallized honey; it won't affect the taste of the cake.
• Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate): Make sure it's fresh.
• Large eggs at room temperature.
• All-purpose flour.
• Sugar - Use granulated white or caster sugar.
• Heavy cream with at least 30% fat content.
• Sour cream with at least 20 %, better 25% fat content.
• Icing sugar - Use a coffee grinder to make it yourself, or use store-bought powdered sugar.

How to make tort Medovik

Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Line a 10 x 15 inches (25 x 38 cm) jelly roll pan with parchment paper.

To make the cake, place butter and honey in a large saucepan and bring over low heat. Cook the mixture for about 2-4 minutes with regular stirring until the butter is melted.

Add baking soda and continue cooking with constant stirring. When the honey reacts with the baking soda and begins to foam, cook the mixture for a few seconds, remove it from the heat, and let it cool.

Meanwhile, beat eggs with sugar in a separate bowl with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes.

Add sifted flour to the honey mixture and mix with a rubber spatula. Pour the eggs and and mix. The consistency of the dough should be smooth, without lumps, and resemble thick sour cream.

Pour the dough into the prepared baking pan and bake for 18 minutes. The baking time may vary; use your oven as a guide. Check the doneness with a toothpick: the cake is ready if it comes out dry.

Remove the pan from the oven and flip the cake onto a large sheet of parchment paper. Peel the parchment from the bottom of the cake and leave it to cool completely.

Using a plate as a template, cut a circle of 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter and two half-disks. Cut the cake round and half-disks lengthwise with a long serrated knife into two layers.

Crumble the rest of the cake with your hands. This crumb will be used to sprinkle the cake.

To make the sugar syrup, combine water and sugar in a saucepan and stir. Bring to a boil, then cool.

To make the sour cream frosting, whip cold heavy cream with powdered sugar until medium peaks with an electric or stand mixer. Add cold sour cream and mix at low mixer speed. Adjust the cream consistency with your mixer, but don't overwhip the cream.

To assemble the cake, place the first cake layer on a serving board. Soak it with sugar syrup. Spread ¼ of the cream. Place two half-disks, making a round cake layer, soak, and spread another ¼ of the cream.

Continue the same way, finishing with a whole cake layer (circle), and spread the rest of the cream over the entire cake (don't soak the top cake layer).

Sprinkle the top and sides of the cake with the prepared biscuit crumbs. Transfer the cake to a serving plate and refrigerate for at least 5-6 hours; better overnight.

Expert tips

• To make a larger cake, cut the baked cake into two rectangles instead of the round and half-circles, then each into two cake layers. Use the edges of the baked cake to make crumbles. Multiply the cream ingredients by 1.5.
• If you ever need to recalculate the cake recipe ingredients for another size, use this simple cake pan calculator.
• Decorate the cake using a honeycomb stencil and dust icing sugar on top of it, or arrange a few bee icing decorations.
• Use leftover cake to make cake pops.

Recipe variations

There are plenty of Medovik recipe variations, with alcohol (vodka) and without alcohol, with a double boiler and without, but all of them have two ingredients in common: honey and sour cream.

The original recipe for Medovik frosting is based on sour cream. However, creamy frosting with sweetened condensed milk, dulce de leche, heavy whipping cream, cream cheese, crème fraîche, or even alternated cream layers are famous nowadays.

The delicious sour cream frosting made with adding whipping cream works best. It is stable enough to spread between layers and has a distinctive look once the cake is sliced.

You can experiment with adding chopped roasted walnuts or pieces of dried prunes between the cake layers.

How to store

Store Medovik cake under a glass dome and refrigerate until serving. Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for one to two days.

Can you freeze Medovik? It isn't recommended to freeze the finished cake, but you can freeze the honey cake layers for up to one to two months. Cut cake layers, cover each with plastic wrap (aka cling film), and freeze.

To thaw, bring cake layers to the fridge overnight or on the kitchen counter for a few hours.

Recipe FAQ

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was originally published on June 09, 2018. It has been updated and may differ from what was originally published. It was revised to include improved content and photos. 

For reference, if you have made this recipe previously and want to replicate it, please get in touch with hello@bakinglikeachef.com. I will be happy to send you the old version of the cake.