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Medovik Cake (Russian Honey Cake / Tort Medovik)

Sliced tort Medovik on a serving board.
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5 from 14 reviews

Medovik, or tort Medovik, is a traditional Russian honey cake made of thin honey sponge layers and a tangy sour cream frosting, coated in soft cake crumbs. This easy Medovik cake recipe bakes the honey dough as one sheet instead of separate layers.

Ingredients

Scale

For the cake:

  • 2/3 cup (150 g) unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup (135 g) buckwheat honey
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 150 g granulated sugar 
  • 1 3/4 cups + 2 1/2teaspoons (225 g) all-purpose flour

For sugar syrup:

  • 1/2 cup (115 g) water
  • 4 tablespoons granulated sugar

For the sour cream frosting:

  • 1 cup (238 g) heavy cream (30% fat, cold)
  • 1 1/2 cups (350 g) sour cream (20-25% fat, cold)
  • 3/4 cup (100 g) icing (powdered) sugar

*Don't you have the correct baking pan on hand right now? Try this simple Cake Pan Converter!

** If needed, please refer to Baking Conversion Charts.

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Line a 10 x 15-inch (25 x 38 cm) jelly roll pan with parchment paper.
  2. Place butter and honey in a large saucepan and bring to a low heat. Cook the mixture for 2-4 minutes, stirring regularly, until the butter is melted.
  3. Add baking soda and continue cooking, stirring constantly. 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.
  4. Meanwhile, beat eggs with sugar in a separate bowl with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes.
  5. Add sifted flour to the honey mixture and mix with a rubber spatula. Pour the eggs and mix. The dough should be smooth, lump-free, and resemble thick sour cream.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Using a plate as a template, cut a circle of 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter and two half-disks. Cut the cake into round, half-disks lengthwise with a long serrated knife, forming two layers. Crumble the rest of the cake with your hands. This crumb will be used for sprinkling the cake.
  9. To make the sugar syrup, combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil, then cool.
  10. 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.
  11. To assemble the cake, place the first cake layer on a serving board. Soak it in sugar syrup. Spread 1/4 of the cream. Place two half-disks to make a round cake layer, soak, and spread another 1/4 of the cream. Continue the same way, finishing with a whole cake layer (circle), and spread the remaining cream over the entire cake (don't soak the top cake layer).
  12. Sprinkle the top and sides of the cake with the prepared biscuit crumbs.

Notes

  1. 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.
  2. If you ever need to recalculate the cake recipe ingredients for another size, use this simple cake pan calculator.
  3. Decorate the cake with a honeycomb stencil and dust with icing sugar, or arrange a few bee icing decorations.
  4. Use leftover cake to make cake pops.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.bakinglikeachef.com/medovik-by-damien-piscioneri/