Cook: Russian Honey Cake

Melt in your mouth honey cake

Have a piece :)

Honey cake is new to me. I was only recently introduced to them after moving to Dubai. They are really popular and sold widely from supermarket to bakery. Having a piece of them is really good, the sweetness of honey complemented the sour cream mixture that goes between the layers. You have to try it to know it. However, the honey cake sold in retail are really sweet and I usually could only eat half a piece at a time....

I was contemplating on making my own for the longest time because it is not really straightforward. I will need to first take the biscuit layers piece by piece and then assemble them with the cream and let it set in the fridge so that the cream moisture can be absorbed into the cookies, rendering them soft and melt in your mouth. 

Anyway, it was a long school holiday break and I decided why not go for it. The results was great although when I first assemble them, it looks so bad that I thought it was going to fail but after waiting for one night, I was surprised- a good surprise that is.... I receive many good feedbacks on them but I don't think I will be making it anytime soon. Too much work to do but nevertheless, it is a good recipe to keep.

INGREDIENTS:

For the biscuit layer

1. 4 tablespoon of honey

2. 1/3 cup of granulated sugar

3. 2 tablespoon of unsalted butter

4. 4 medium eggs, beaten using a fork

5. 1 teaspoon of baking soda

6. 3 cups of plain flour

For the cream layer

1. 800ml of sour cream

2. 1.5 cups of icing sugar

3. 200ml of heavy whipping cream

METHODS:

Preparing the biscuit layer

1. Add sugar, honey and butter into a saucepan.

2. Slowly melt them on low heat until the sugar dissolved. 

3. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove the saucepan from the heat and add in the beaten egg slowly. Whisk the eggs into the mixture promptly to prevent the egg from becoming scrambled egg. Do it in small batches, 1-2 teaspoon at a time. 

Add in the eggs slowly

4. Once all the eggs are in, add in the baking soda and mix well. 

5. Next fold in the flour until the dough does not stick to your hand. 

6. Roll the dough out while still warm and cut them into 8 equal parts.

Dough

7. Take one part and roll them into a round flat piece. 

8. Use a springform pan base as a mould and cut out using a pizza cutter or knife. 

9. Bake two to three pieces at a time (depending on the size of your oven) at 175 degree Celcius for 4-5 minutes until it turns golden. After baking all the pieces, bake the scraps (from the sides that we cut off earlier)

TIPS: Once the biscuit turned golden, take them out even if it's still soft. The biscuit will harden slightly once it cools down.

10. Set aside the biscuit and let them cool down.

11. After the crumbs has cooled down, crushed them and set aside. 

Preparing the cream layer

1. Beat the heavy whipping cream until stiff peak. Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream and icing sugar. Then fold in the whipped cream into the sour cream mixture and it is ready to use. 

Assembling the cake

1. Spread around 1/3 of cream frosting on each biscuit and layer them up. Press the layers down gently to avoid any air gaps. The biscuit needs to absorb the cream to be soft.

2. Spread the rest of the frosting at the top and sides.

3. Dust the top and the sides with the crumbs prepared earlier and cover the cake up so that it doesn't dry up in the fridge. 

4. Refrigerate overnight for the cake to absorb the cream and soften. 

5. Enjoy!

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