RUSSIAN HONEY CAKE

Ingredients

---

CAKE BATTER

• 70 Grams Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Honey
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 3 Eggs
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 3 Cups Flour

CREAM

• 200 Grams Butter
  • Room Temperature
• 8 Ounces Cream Cheese
  • Room Temperature
• 16 Ounces Heavy Whipping Cream
• 12 Ounces Cooked Condensed Milk
  • Must be Cooked

DECORATION

• 1/4 Cup Apricot Jam
• 2 Tablespoons Honey
• Honeycomb

Directions

---

CAKE

1. The cake batter is made using a double boiler or a steam bath.
2. Using a larger pot, bring an inch or two of water to a low boil.
3. Use a smaller pot or a heatproof bowl that will fit snugly on top of the larger pot to mix the cake batter.
4. Add the butter, honey and sugar to the smaller pot and place on top of the larger. Allow the butter to melt and then stir to combine.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and baking soda until fully combined.
6. Once the sugar has fully dissolved, slowly add the egg mixture to the small pot while stirring.
7. Continue to cook for about 35-45 minutes, mixing occasionally. Add more boiling water to the larger pot as needed.
8. The batter will turn a nice dark orange/brown color (see photo). Remove from heat and add in the vanilla extract, mixing to combine. Let this mixture cool for approximately 10 minutes.
9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
10. Add the flour to the batter, mixing to combine. The dough will be sticky!
11. Depending on the size of cake you want to make, separate the dough into equally sized pieces. To make a standard size cake, separate into 6 to 8 pieces.

ROLLING AND BAKING

1. Flour a flat surface generously. The dough will be very sticky and a little tricky to roll out.
   
2. Roll out one piece of dough to be a little larger than the shape you will cut it down to. This dough is very sticky, so pay attention as you roll it out so that you can still lift it to place onto the baking sheet!
   
3. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and bake for 4-6 minutes or until the dough is golden brown.
   
4. While this piece is baking, roll out the next piece of dough.
   
5. Remove the first piece from the oven and place on a flat surface to cool slightly. Then cut the piece down to the final shape (I used a bowl that I traced with a knife) You want to do this while the dough is still a little warm! Save the scraps for decorating.
   
6. Repeat until you’ve baked all of the dough pieces.

CREAM

1. In a bowl for a stand mixer, combine the butter, cream cheese and cooked condensed milk, whisking until they are well combined. Be sure to scrap the bowl to make sure all of the butter and cream cheese is mixed in smoothly.
   
2. Slowly add the whipping cream to the bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form.

ASSEMBLE AND DECORATE

1. Assemble the cake by spreading a layer of cream between each cake disc, stacking to form one cake.
   
2. Use the last of the cream to ice the outside of the cake.
   
3. Put the cake in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up.
   
4. Mix the apricot jam and honey in a bowl and then spread on top of the cake.
   
5. Using a rolling pin, crush up the scraps from the dough into crumbles and decorate the sides and top of the cake.
   
6. Remove the cake from the freezer and spread a layer of apricot/honey jam only on the top.
   
7. Using the crumbles, cover the sides of the cake.
   
8. Add honeycomb pieces, or other decorations as desired.
   
9. Refrigerate the cake overnight if possible.

Notes:
This dough is sticky! I ended up rolling it out right on the parchment paper so that I wouldn’t have to transfer it later!

Cooked condensed milk might be found in the latin section of the grocery store, otherwise, follow the recipe here!