If you’ve been eating Easter European cakes, you will notice that layered cakes are quite popular. I love eating cakes with very thin layers because they come more creamy.
This cake has extra thin layers, with a good balance of cream in between. Yes, the cake does take a little more effort and the steps may seem never-ending, but it’s pretty simple if you follow the steps. I would say that even if you’re not a typical baker, you should be able to nail this one.
This recipe is a very original traditional recipe for a Russian cake, called Spartak. If you grew up in a Slavic community, you’ve probably had this cake more than once.
Other Russian Cake Recipes
Recipe
Ingredients
Cake Layers
- 1 Egg
- 3 tbsp Milk
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 3 tbsp Honey
- 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 2 tbsp Cacao
- 2 cup Flour
Spartak Cake Cream
- 3 Eggs
- 3 tbsp Flour
- 2 cup Milk
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 cup Unsalted Butter softened
Instructions
Spartak Cake Layers
- Prepare ingredients for the cake layers.
- This cake dough is made on a steam bath. Preheat water and place a bowl on top of the boiling water, making sure that the bowl doesn't melt. Combine together sugar, egg, butter, honey and milk. Cook until ingredients double in volume.
- Stir in cacao slowly, followed by baking soda.
- In small parts keep on adding flour to the mixture. At first use a whisk and as the dough becomes thicker, use a spatula. At first, dough may still be soft, but as it gets colder, it will get harder.
- Divide dough into 11 equal in size pieces.
- On a floured surface, roll out each piece into your preferred size. Measure it using a plate or a lid, to make it a consistent size. Don't cut the dough yet, wait until it bakes.
- Bake at 350F for about 5-8 minutes, depending on your oven. Remove from the oven, place your measuring circle on top and cut out the edges. Remove it form the sheet onto a cooling rack. Repeat the steps until you are all done with the dough.
Spartak Cake Cream
- Whisk together eggs with flour until all lumps are gone.
- Pour milk into a heavy sauce-pot, add in egg mixture, vanilla and sugar. Cook on low-medium heat, stirring/whisking entire time until the mixture resembles condensed milk in texture. Don't forget to stir/whisk, otherwise the cream can burn. Remove from heat, letting it completely cool to a room temperature.
- Whisk the room temperature butter, until it's smooth in texture. In small parts, add in cooked cream. Continue whisking until all mixture is combined together.
Cake Assembly
- Using 80% of the cream, distribute it evenly between all cake layers. Spread cream evenly and stack them on top of each other. Use the remainder of the cream to cover the top of the cake.
- Decorate as you wish. I used ganache to decorate the cake. You can use the leftover crumbs to decorate the cake as well.
Nutrition Facts
Chocolate Layer Cake (aka Spartak Cake)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 491
Calories from Fat 297
% Daily Value*
Fat 33g51%
Saturated Fat 20g100%
Cholesterol 129mg43%
Sodium 129mg5%
Potassium 94mg3%
Carbohydrates 46g15%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 31g34%
Protein 5g10%
Vitamin A 1040IU21%
Calcium 61mg6%
Iron 1.1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
I made the cake filling and for some reason it’s much more yellow than yours (yours looks white) is there a way I can fix the problem? Yours is also much thicker then mine. Could it be that I melted the butter in the microwave instead of leaving it to become room temperature?
Hey Nelli, butter shouldn't be fully melted, it was supposed to be softened butter at room temperature. Your egg yolks could have been more yellow so the cream would come out more yellow as well.
My step 2 didn’t double in volume. About how long do you steam bath. I’m at high altitude.
I would say about 10-15 minutes. You do want a higher volume because you need enough liquids.
I followed the recipe exactly but for some reason while I am on step two, I am noticing cooked little egg whites/yolks. Was I supposed to beat the eggs first? My bowl is in a steam bath and the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. I kept mixing the whole time. What did I do wrong?
You would whisk as the ingredients cook on the steam bath. The steam bath cooks the ingredients and they grow in volume as you whisk them.
Hi Natasha! I remember making something similar long time ago and the cake melt in your mouth. Then I tried to make it again recently (different recipe) and layers never got soft enough even after a couple of days. If this cake need to stay at room temp for a few hours or it gets soft in fridge anyway. It looks amazing by the way. 🙂
Hey Elina, the layers are very thin in this cake so they soften in a fridge. Keep in mind, this cake is pretty short in height so you can double up the recipe if you want a larger cake.
Do I need to add vinegar to the soda to prevent the cake from being bitter?
No, not in this case because you are cooking it.
I think you could've divided the ingredients to the layers and the Creeme a little better. I couldn't tell what went where
Hey!!
I had the same problem until I figured to look at the instructions on the bottom with pics and then I saw where the other half of ingredients are going to-(cream)
Natasha, please do divide the the top ingredients with the bottom ingredients by saying what are layered ingredients and what are cream.
Because it is confusing!!
Thanks!! 😉
I would love to do that but until we change platform where our recipes are posted I can't make that change. I place them in order so it would be pretty simple as long as you follow step by step photos. I apologize. Thanks for feedback, it's something we are working on.
I couldn't get the layers rolled out as large as those pictured (i.e., mine are salad plate-sized, rather than dinner plate-sized). Is that a double recipe pictured?
No, not doubled the recipe. We're layers still very thin?
The layers of the cake are delicious but the filling is way too buttery...!! I would use a different filling for this cake!!
Oh wow Mila, you must not like butter creams? I love buttery cream 😉 Sorry it wasn't perfect.
No worries at all! I love your recipes!! It's just this particular cake filling...:) I do like fillings with some butter included in them, but the taste of this filling is literally pure butter... I had family over and they all said the same thing, so it wasn't just me:(
That's so interesting. I wonder if that's the brand of butter you used, it may be extra flavorful. I made this cake for a huge bday party and ppl haven't mention it to me. Thanks for sharing feedback, it will definitely help others too:)
Natalia great recipe. Can't wait to try it out. I just have one question, when you start adding flout to mixture, do you still keep bowl on steam bath or remove and start adding flour.? Thank you?
Add flour after you remove the bowl from the steam. I will add this to the recipe notes. Thanks for pointing this out!
This is one of my favorite cakes, Natasha. Everyone in our family loves it. This one looks amazing. You always make cake making looks so doable.
Olga, such a sweet compliment coming from you. This is a fun cake, agh all those layers.
Hey Natalya! How did you make the ganache for the top of the cake?
Hey Liza, in this recipe I shared details of ganache http://momsdish.com/recipe/600