Medovik Cake - Russian Honey Cake

Cut yourself a big slice of this traditional Russian honey cake Medovik and enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee. It is sweet and rich due to honey flavor, majestic in taste and beautiful in stature. Just bake, eat, enjoy, repeat!

Honey cake Medovik (tort Medovik in Russian) has been our family's favorite dessert since my childhood. I managed to learn how to make the cake at 11 years old.

My bright remembrance is going back to one summer when my sister and I spent a vacation at our grandmother's.

She did not have a regular oven, but instead, she had an ancient Russian oven/stove where I was baking the Medovik.

What is Medovik cake?

Medovik is a layer cake of Russian origin. It is made with an identifying ingredient - honey - translated in Russian as мёд [mʲot].

That is why the cake is called Medovik, or Russian honey cake.

Medovik cake recipe

Like a layer cake, Medovik consists of 6 to 8 biscuit layers, sometimes 10 to 12. In spite of the seemed difficulty to make the cake, it is easy enough to prepare.

There are plenty of Medovik cake recipe variations, but all of them have two ingredients in common: honey and sour cream.

Over the years, I experimented with biscuit dough and cream recipes to create the perfect Medovik cake recipe.

I tried to make the biscuit with alcohol (vodka) and without alcohol, with a double boiler and without, tried to spread the dough without rolling and using the rolling method.

As for the cream, I experimented with the traditional cream based on sour cream, cream with sweetened condensed milk (cream version of chef Damien Piscioneri), whipped cream, and alternation of cream layers.

What's the conclusion? I find that the optimal number of the cake layers is between 6 and 8.

You do not need to use a double boiler, and the dough is perfectly rolled out without flour on parchment paper.

As for the cream, sour cream and whipping cream combination works the best.

It makes the frosting stable enough while spreading between layers and have a distinctive look once the cake is sliced.

Why you should try this recipe

1. This cake or tort Medovik is a perfect make-ahead cake. Make it one day in advance, let it chill in the refrigerator overnight, and serve the next day.
2. Russian honey cake is a popular cake to make for birthday parties, weddings, and even potlucks. Make it larger (use this simple Cake Pan Converter) and/or taller by increasing the number of cake layers and amount of cream.
3. It is a classic of Russian cuisine and the former Soviet Union.

Ingredients

Here is a quick overview of what ingredients you will need. Follow the full recipe below for detailed amounts and instructions. I recommend making this recipe as written for the best results. 

Flour: use all-purpose flour to make the cake. Sift it using a flour sifter.

Sugar: use granulated white or caster sugar to make the biscuit.

Honey: to make the flavorful cake layers, use buckwheat honey or replace it with the honey you prefer.

Eggs: the recipe calls for large whole eggs at room temperature.

Butter: use unsalted butter cut into cubes. If desired, replace it with good-quality margarine.

Lemon juice: to make fresh lemon juice, use untreated organic lemon and a citrus juicer.

Sodium bicarbonate: it is the same as baking soda. Please, keep the amount of soda as recommended in the recipe. It requires 2 (two) teaspoons of baking soda.

Whipping cream: use your favorite brand of whipping cream with at least 30% fat content.

Sour cream: the recipe calls for 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.

Bee icing decorations: they are optional. Leave the cake plain or use fresh fruit for decoration.

How to make Medovik cake

To make the biscuit, place butter cut into cubes, sugar, and honey in a medium/large saucepan.

Heat the mixture over low to medium for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly with a hand whisk until sugar melts (photo 1).

Remove the saucepan from heat, add baking soda and lemon juice, and mix with the whisk. The mixture will start farming and will almost double in volume (photo 2).

Add eggs one at a time while whisking vigorously to avoid getting scrambled eggs. Stir in the sifted flour (photo 3).

Sprinkle a working place with a bit of flour and transfer the dough onto the surface. It will stick to your hands.

Make a ball using some flour, but don't overuse it (photo 4). Wrap with plastic film, and refrigerate for 50 to 60 minutes.

Prepare 6 parchment paper sheets. Preheat the oven to 355 degrees F/180 degrees C.

Take the dough from the fridge and divide it into 6 equal pieces. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece into about 8-inch/20 cm circle right onto parchment (photo 5).

It does not need to be perfect since the 7-inch/18 cm disk will be cut out of the baked biscuit. Do not use any flour while rolling.

Bake each circle for 5 minutes until golden brown. While the biscuit is hot, cut a disk using a 7-inch/18 cm cake ring or use a plate and a knife to get a perfect circle (photo 6).

Continue with the remaining layers. Keep the biscuit scraps for decoration.

To make the sour cream frosting, place a clean bowl in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Pour whipping cream, add sour cream, icing (powdered), sugar, honey. Whisk at medium/high speed using an electric or stand mixer until firm (photo 7).

To assemble the cake, adjust a mousse cake mold to 7-inch/18 cm in diameter. Line it with an acetate cake collar.

Place a layer of biscuit into the ring, then pour a layer of cream and spread it with a rubber spatula.

Then place another layer of biscuit and another layer of cream. Take care to even the surface between each layer and gently press cake layers.

Continue with the remaining layers and cream. Even the cream on top of the cake with a bent spatula (photo 8). Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

To decorate the cake, place the biscuit scraps in a food processor and crush until fine crumbs (photo 9).

Take the cake out of the refrigerator, carefully lift the mold and remove the acetate collar.

Using hands, cover the top and sides of the cake with the biscuit crumbs.

Using a honeycomb stencil, dust icing (powdered) sugar on top of the cake.

Arrange a few bee icing decorations (photo 10). Refrigerate for at least 5 hours, better overnight.

Expert tips

1. Replace buckwheat honey with another kind of honey, but the buckwheat one is the most flavorful to make Medovik cake.
2. To be precise, use a kitchen scale to divide the dough into 6 equal pieces.
3. Don't overuse flour while making the ball out of the dough. And don't use flour at all while rolling the layers. The dough is easy enough to work with on parchment paper.
4. To save preparation time, roll out the next dough layer while the first one/s is in the oven. 5 minutes of baking time is enough to manage the rolling step.
5. Reuse the same parchment paper during the baking of the cake layers if you prefer.
6. To make more biscuit layers, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll them out into thin layers. You will need to increase the amount of cream ingredients by 30%.
7. To get the biscuit scraps crisp and darker in color, place them on parchment paper and bake at 355 degrees F/180 degrees C for a few minutes until very amber color. Take out of the oven and let cool. Crush them in a food processor or a plastic bag using a rolling pin.
8. Using a mousse cake mold and an acetate cake collar is optional. They both help get the neat assembling of the cake. You can easily assemble the Medovik on a flat surface without the ring and collar. 

Frequently asked questions

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The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator and is intended for informational purposes only and should be used as a general guideline. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should independently verify it using your preferred tool. Please, read the disclaimers in our Privacy Policy.

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. All posted pictures are mine.