Ukrainian Honey Cake Recipe (Medovik)
A simple and elegant icebox-style cake of honey ‘crackers’ layered with a sweetened sour cream and whipped cream filling. A beloved Ukrainian dessert.
My friends, here’s a cake for you, because we made it through the longest, most difficult month on the calendar.
It’s a comforting dessert that I gravitate towards during the winter months, when summer fruits are a distant memory, and my cravings must be satiated with pantry-inspired creations.
This Ukrainian honey cake is winter in a dessert, with snow-white drifts of tangy frosting and a delicate crumb. Once sliced, it reveals beautiful layers of honey cake and soft cream; a few toasted walnuts on top provide the contrast of texture.
Read on for the recipe and my Fika tradition.
Fika or Keeping Cozy with Cake
The concept of keeping cozy is global, with Scandinavia leading the way. Perhaps you’ve embraced hygge, the Danish cozy, or Norwegian koselig, a broader term for cozy.
The Swedes have a beautiful ritual called Fika, which is simply pausing during the day for coffee and a sweet treat, ideally with a friend. It takes absolutely zero convincing for me to include fika in my afternoon and today’s recipe is perfect for sharing.
It’s hard to improve on tea time when a slice of Ukrainian honey cake is served with my Earl Grey floral latte. Is there a better way to keep cozy in winter? I think not.
We do not remember days, we remember moments ~ Italian poet Cesare Pavese
Essential to Know For Ukrainian Honey Cake
Making the Cake
Make in Advance. Like any icebox dessert, Ukrainian honey cake takes time, which we have in abundance during these dark days of the year.
It’s essential to make the honey cake a day before you plan to serve it. The refrigerator time gives the crisp cake layers time to soften and soak up the cream filling.
Use Best Quality Honey. I love a deeply floral, raw honey that I get from a nearby farm. Look for wildflower honey, if possible.
Make the cake in stages. If you’re on a time crunch, you can tackle this recipe in manageable steps:
- Read through the recipes. Assemble all ingredients + equipment
- Mix up the honey dough and chill up to 24h.
- Roll and bake the cake rounds. Store these in an airtight container for 24h.
- Whip up the frosting/filling. Store up to 48h, refrigerated.
- Assemble the cake and chill 24h.
The honey cake can be frozen. In a fantastic do-ahead win, the entire frosted cake can be placed in the freezer and stored (airtight) for up to 4 weeks. The cake in these photos was made in advance, frozen, then thawed overnight in the fridge.
Serving the Cake
Serve at room temperature. All cake should be served at room temperature (with the exception of cheesecake). A cake that has time to shake off the chill of the fridge will have flavours that are more pronounced and a crumb that is relaxed and tender.
Serve with a wintry fruit preserve. I love roasted cherries, blueberry preserves, or a rhubarb compote. This is your opportunity to dig into the pantry and find that special jar of fruit preserves you have been saving! Alternately, visit an Eastern European grocery store and pick up a jar of sour cherry preserves to top the cake.
Decorate with walnuts. Optional, but recommended. These nuts are a staple of Eastern European cuisine, and pair exceptionally well with the honey. Toast and cool the walnuts before adding them to the top of the cake.
Inspiration for Ukrainian Honey Layer Cake
Last spring, my cookbook club hosted a Ukrainian-themed gathering, with everyone cooking and baking from Ukrainian authors. I wrote about it here and Halifax food photographer Michelle Doucette captured the spread beautifully on camera.
I never pass up an opportunity to bring a show-stopping dessert to our cookbook club, and since I was cooking from BUDMO by Anna Voloshyna, I knew I wanted to make her Glorious Honey Cake.
I had made Anna’s cake a few times before, and was comfortable enough with the method that I decided to play around with the recipe to suit my tastes.
Many versions of Medovik or Honey Cake exist in Slavic baking. Anna herself makes a few variations like this Honey Cake Roll, featuring dulce de leche, and this six-layer beauty that incorporated prunes and hazelnuts.
My version, inspired by Budmo, is slightly smaller than the cookbook’s recipe – 9 layers, 8-inches round. I increased the amount of icing both in the filling and on the top, for a cake that is slightly more fluffy and creamy. I also omit the crumbs around the sides and top of the cake, instead opting for a few toasted walnuts for crunch.
I hope you enjoy this Ukrainian Honey Cake!
Ukrainian Honey Cake
Ingredients
For the cake layers
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup liquid honey floral
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
For the frosting
- 1 1/2 cups 35% cream
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons liquid honey
- 3 1/2 cups sour cream full fat, room temperature
- 1/2 cup walnut pieces for decorating
Instructions
Make the Cake Layers
- In a medium pot, combine the butter, honey and sugar over medium heat. Stir with a heat resistant spatula just until the butter and honey melt and the ingredients are well mixed. Transfer to a large bowl and cool until only warm, not hot. Whisk in the eggs to the honey mixture until it is smooth and glossy.
- In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Gently fold the flour into the wet ingredients and mix to form a ball. It will be very soft. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 400℉. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Unrap the dough on a well-floured counter and divide into 10 equal pieces. Roll these into balls. Keep the dough balls covered with a clean tea towel so they don't dry out.
- Working with one dough ball at a time, roll into a thin circle, about ⅛ inch thick. Set an 8-inch round cake pan on top and cut around it to make a perfect 8-inch circle of dough. Pull away and reserve the scraps. Carefully transfer the thin round of dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll and trim a second round of dough and also place it on the sheet pan.
- Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 6 or 7 minutes until dark golden brown. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Cool the pan. Meanwhile, roll two more dough rounds, cut and measure, bake and cool. Repeat until you have 9 rounds baked and cooled.
- Gather all the scraps, and the 10th ball of dough and roll it out thinly. Use cookie cutters to cut out some honey graham crackers for snacking and lunches. Bake until golden.
Make the frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk together the whole cream, sugar and vanilla on medium high speed until soft peaks form. Drizzle in the honey and whip unil stiff peaks form. Remove the whisk and gently fold in the sour cream until just incorporated.
Assemble the Cake
- Scoop a dollop of frosting onto a large cake plate and press a cake layer on top. This will anchor it to the plate. Top with a generous ½ cup of frosting, using an offset spatula to smooth it to the edges in a thin layer. Top with a second cake layer, pressing it gently into the frosting and topping it with another ½ cup of frosting. Continue layering until all 9 layers are stacked up with sour cream frosting sandwiched in between.
- Spread the remaining frosting over the sides and top of the cake until it is snowy white. Place under a cake dome if you have one, or very large bowl, and refrigerte for 6 hours or ideally, overnight.
- To Serve: Top honey cake with a ring of toasted walnuts. Cut into wedges and serve with fruit preserves or additional whipped cream.
Notes
More Ukrainian Cuisine
Want to cook and bake more Ukrainian recipes? Eastern European food works so well for this time of year, with its rustic root vegetables, ferments and hearty soups/stews. Here are a few of our favourite Ukrainian comfort foods, now and always.
- Cranberry Walnut Rogaliki Cookies
- Pampushky (Garlic Buns)
- Paska: Ukrainian Easter Bread
- Vegan Borscht Soup Recipe
All images of complete cake by Michelle Doucette Photography for Cookbook Club. Follow her on Instagram @east.coast.food.stories
This is the best honey cake I’ve ever made. The recipe is perfect for me.