Honey cake has always been the main holiday cake in our family. For some reason, my mother called this cake “Winnie the Pooh” and from this for me, a little girl, it became even tastier and more desirable. She topped it with lightly toasted walnuts, tossing them generously into the crispy crumble. Everything that was put into this cake was delicious, even while it was not yet ready: there were barely enough scraps for sprinkling, and bowls and spoons of cream were carefully licked by me. Perhaps it was the honey cake that taught me the art of patience. The cake was huge, much larger than I bake now, and they cut it in a special way: first they cut out the round center, and then divided the rest into pieces. And this very center, where there was most of the cream and nuts, juicy, soaked and most tender, was the object of desire for all children. It is this taste that pops into my memory when someone says the sweet word “Honey”.
- Prep time: 3 hours
- Cook time: 30 minutes + 10-12 hours in the refrigerator
- Servings: 10
- Difficulty: difficult
- Course: cake
- Cookware: silicone spatula “last straw”, rolling pin, whisk, large saucepan, plate with a diameter of 26 cm
- Cuisine: Odessa
Ingredients
- 800 g flour
- 200 g butter
- 4 eggs
- 3 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp soda
For the cream:
- 1.2 l sour cream (20% fat)
- 300 g sugar
Cooking method
STEP 1
Sift flour into a large bowl. Lightly beat the eggs with a whisk. Set aside.
STEP 2
Prepare dough. Sprinkle the work surface with flour. Fill a large saucepan with water, cover and bring to a boil. Place a large saucepan over medium heat. Place the butter and sugar in a saucepan and stir with a spatula until the butter is completely melted. Stirring constantly, add soda. The mass will begin to foam and increase in volume by 2-3 times. Add honey and, without ceasing to stir, carefully, in a thin stream, pour in the egg mass so that the eggs do not curdle. Gradually add flour, vigorously kneading the dough with a spatula, until it comes together into a ball. Don’t stop kneading, boil the dough for 1-2 minutes. Turn the hot dough out onto a work surface and knead with your hands until the dough is smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and shape into balls.
STEP 3
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Reduce heat to low under a pot of boiling water. Turn the pot lid upside down. Put the balls of dough on the lid, so they do not cool down and retain their elasticity. Sprinkle the work surface with flour. Roll out the first ball of dough into a circle about 2-3 mm thick. Put a plate on the circle and cut the edges with a knife along the contour. Set the cuttings aside. Repeat the process with each ball of dough. Bake the cake layer for 4-5 minutes. Transfer the finished cake layer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat the process with each ball of dough. Put the dough scraps on a baking sheet, bake for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Grind the cooled scraps into crumbs with your hands or with a blender.
STEP 4
Cook the cream. In a large bowl, add sour cream and sugar, beat with a whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved.
STEP 5
Make the cake. Put the first cake layer on a dish, put the cream and cover with the next cake layer. Repeat the process so that the last layer is the cream. Sprinkle the cake with crumbs on all sides and refrigerate for 8-10 hours or overnight.
My tips and tricks:
The recipe I gave to you is basic. To turn it into a cake from my childhood, sprinkle lightly toasted walnuts on top, lightly crushing them. You can add sourness to it by putting a cherry, previously cut in halves. This cake will be made Ukrainian by prunes, previously poured with boiling water, and then soaked in cognac (also cut into pieces). Banana and kiwi can add an exotic note. Or maybe you can come up with your own. If yes, don’t forget to tell me. You know how much I love collecting recipes 🙂
- 800 g flour
- 200 g butter
- 4 eggs
- 3 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp soda
- 1.2 l sour cream (20% fat)
- 300 g sugar
- Sift flour into a large bowl. Lightly beat the eggs with a whisk. Set aside.
- Prepare dough. Sprinkle the work surface with flour. Fill a large saucepan with water, cover and bring to a boil. Place a large saucepan over medium heat. Place the butter and sugar in a saucepan and stir with a spatula until the butter is completely melted. Stirring constantly, add soda. The mass will begin to foam and increase in volume by 2-3 times. Add honey and, without ceasing to stir, carefully, in a thin stream, pour in the egg mass so that the eggs do not curdle. Gradually add flour, vigorously kneading the dough with a spatula, until it comes together into a ball. Don’t stop kneading, boil the dough for 1-2 minutes. Turn the hot dough out onto a work surface and knead with your hands until the dough is smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and shape into balls.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C. Reduce heat to low under a pot of boiling water. Turn the pot lid upside down. Put the balls of dough on the lid, so they do not cool down and retain their elasticity. Sprinkle the work surface with flour. Roll out the first ball of dough into a circle about 2-3 mm thick. Put a plate on the circle and cut the edges with a knife along the contour. Set the cuttings aside. Repeat the process with each ball of dough. Bake the cake layer for 4-5 minutes. Transfer the finished cake layer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat the process with each ball of dough. Put the dough scraps on a baking sheet, bake for 4-5 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Grind the cooled scraps into crumbs with your hands or with a blender.
- Cook the cream. In a large bowl, add sour cream and sugar, beat with a whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Make the cake. Put the first cake layer on a dish, put the cream and cover with the next cake layer. Repeat the process so that the last layer is the cream. Sprinkle the cake with crumbs on all sides and refrigerate for 8-10 hours or overnight.