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Russian Honey Cake is a gravity-defying layered cake with notes of honey and caramel. It is decadent, beautiful and absolutely delicious. 

Russian Honey Cake-0

Honey cake is made up of crispy and thin cake layers that are separated by a thick cream cheese frosting. The end result is an eye-catching dessert that is sure to impress. 

Honey cake hails straight from Russia. Medovik, which translates to “honey” in Russian, is a popular dessert that is reserved for only the most special of occasions. 

Are you obsessed with honey cake? Try your hand at making another Momsdish favorite — Honey Sponge Cake.

Tips for Making the Best Russian Honey Cake

  • Make the Layers in Advance: This cake is awesome because you can make the layers a week in advance. Just make sure to cover them tightly with plastic wrap and store them in a plastic bag until you are ready to assemble.
  • Cream: Bring your butter and cream cheese to room temperature and keep your heavy cream very cold. This makes the whipping process much easier, while also creating an awesome texture.
  • Don’t Overmix the Cream: Once you add the heavy cream to your cream cheese and butter, pay extra mind to not overmix your frosting. Overmixing the heavy cream can cause it to curdle. Once you see stiff peaks begin to form, immediately stop mixing the frosting.
  • Give it Time to Set: After you assemble your cake, allow it to set it in the fridge for at least 12 hours. This will not only help with the cake’s overall stability, it will also make it much more moist.
  • Tailor the Cream to Your Taste Buds: If you want to skip out on the cream cheese or butter, feel free. If you remove the butter, compensate by adding more cream cheese and vice versa.

Making Honey Cake From Scratch

  • Start a steam bath. In a glass bowl, add your honey, butter and sugar. Place the bowl on top of your steam bath and stir until combined and melted. 
  • In a separate bowl, beat eggs and baking soda together. Slowly add the egg mixture to your honey, butter and sugar mixture, stirring continuously. 
  • Once ingredients are fully incorporated, cook for an additional 30 to 40 minutes over the steam bath until the color becomes a rich caramel brown. Remove from the steam bath and add the vanilla extract and flour. 
  • Preheat the oven and flour your working surface generously. Separate your dough into even sized balls. With a rolling pin, roll out each ball into a thin layer. To make your life easier, roll the dough out directly onto your baking sheet. 
  • Bake each cake layer until golden brown (about 7-8 minutes). To make your layer a perfect circle, take the dough out and cut a perfect circle by using a plate as a stencil. Save your scraps for decorating. 
  • Allow your cake layers to completely cool before you begin assembling.  
egg mixture with honey
egg mixture with honey
flour with egg mixture in a bowl
Honey cake dough
rolled out honey cake layer
cut off edges of the honey cake layer
Honey cake layers cut out
  • Whip your cream together. 
  • Assemble your cake by frosting each layer with equal amounts of cream.
  • Decorate the outside as you please! I like to food process the cake scraps into a crumbly topping that I spread on the top and sides of the cake for a pretty effect. Allow the cake to set in the fridge overnight. Pull it out of the fridge 30 minutes before you plan to serve.
Whipped cream in a mixing bowl
Honey cake cream in a mixing bowl
Honey cake layers with cream in between
A honey cake on a cake stand with crumbs

How do you Store Honey Cake?

  • Refrigerate: Keep your cake in a sealed cake container. This cake tends to absorb the smells of the fridge, so you want to make sure it’s stored airtight! 
  • Freezing: You can make this cake in advance and freeze it for up to a month. Fresh cake is always supreme, but this definitely is a viable option. Pull out the cake from the freezer and allow it to thaw overnight. 

A Few More Russian Cakes

  • Dulce De Leche Cake -This is the king of caramel cakes. Sweetened condensed milk makes this treat so luscious. 
  • Sharlotka Cake – This easy apple cake brings me right back to my childhood. 
  • Spartak Cake – Thin, chocolate cake layers are separated by a thick cream in this Eastern European classic. 
  • Chocolate Honey Cake – Irish creme liqueur makes this cake extra-moist. Little speckles of chocolate are scattered throughout each layer, giving this cake an awesome texture. 

Recipe

Russian Honey Cake-0

Russian Honey Cake

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Servings
12 servings
Prep Time 1 hr 30 mins
Cook Time 1 hr 30 mins
Total Time 3 hrs
Recipe contributed by: Natalya Drozhzhin
Russian Honey Cake is a gravity-defying layered cake with notes of honey and caramel. It is decadent, beautiful and absolutely delicious.

Ingredients

Cream

  • 200 g Butter
  • 8 oz Cream Cheese (room temperature)
  • 16 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
  • 12 oz Cooked Condensed Milk
US Units – Metric

Instructions

Cake Layers

  • This cake dough is made on a steam bath. Preheat water using a bowl on top of the boiling water, make sure the bowl does't melt. Place butter, honey and sugar, and let it stand there until it's all melted.
  • In a separate bowl, beat eggs with baking soda until they have one consistency. Slowly add egg mixture to the batter, continue mixing the whole time while adding.
    Whisked eggs in a bowl
  • Cook for about 30-40 minutes, until the color changes. Take it off the steam bath, add vanilla extract and let it sit for 10 minutes. Add flour to the dough; it may still be sticky after adding the flour. Preheat the oven to 350 °F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
    flour with egg mixture in a bowl
  • Flour the surface generously. Because the dough is sticky, this will help you work easier with it. Optionally, weigh each piece of dough, to maintain the size. Roll out the dough into a round shape, large enough to be cut out later. Relocate the dough layer to the baking sheet by rolling it onto a roller, then unrolling it back out onto the baking sheet.
    rolled out honey cake layer
  • Bake each layer of cake for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown. During the process of baking, roll out another layer to speed up the process. When it's done, remove it from the oven and cut out each circle by placing a plate over the top. This is the key trick to making all sides perfect. You'll need the cut off pieces for decoration, later.
    cut off edges of the honey cake layer
  • Do not immediately stack the layers on top of each other, as they will lose their even shape. Rather, make sure they first cool off on a flat surface. Repeat until you are done.
    Honey cake layers

Finalizing Cake

  • Whip butter together with cream cheese and condensed milk. Once they are well mixed together, add whipping cream. Whip until you get stiff peaks. (note: don't overmix the cream, it can curdle up)
    Honey cake cream in a mixing bowl
  • Divide all cream evenly between each layer of the cake. Form the cake by stacking the layers of cake.
    Honey cake layers with cream in between
  • Shred the leftover cake pieces in a blender and use it to decorate the sides of the cake. Let the cake sit in the fridge overnight. Before serving, let it sit out of the fridge for some time, as it will add more moisture to its taste.
    A honey cake on a cake stand
Nutrition Facts
Russian Honey Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 562 Calories from Fat 360
% Daily Value*
Fat 40g62%
Saturated Fat 24g120%
Cholesterol 162mg54%
Sodium 410mg17%
Potassium 107mg3%
Carbohydrates 45g15%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 20g22%
Protein 7g14%
Vitamin A 1431IU29%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 59mg6%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Posted July 1, 2020

About Author

Natalya Drozhzhin

Natalya founded Momsdish to demonstrate that placing a homemade meal on the table is not hard at all. Natalya makes cooking easier and approachable, by simplifying the ingredients, while still producing the same great taste.