New Year’s Honey Cake (Medovik)

Happy New Year’s Eve! I’ll keep this short and sweet since many of us are still busy with friends and family in the midst of the holidays, but I just wanted to wish you a wonderful New Year full of warmth, love and prosperity in 2016! May all your wishes come true! I also have a nice layer cake full of honey and nuts to share with you today. It’s my favorite New Year’s Honey Cake (Medovik)!

I can’t believe I haven’t shared this recipe for honey cake yet, since this is one of my favorite cakes! I always crave it during the holidays, and I guess it’s a good time to make a New Year’s variation of it. Especially now, when our friends from Ottawa are in town, who not only shared their delicious honey cake recipe with me but also helped making this baby. Thank you!

12 layers of tender and delicate honey goodness with creamy filling in between, this cake is a perfect finish to your New Year’s menu! The honey adds a rich sweetness and the chopped nuts add a wonderful texture to the cake. Honey pairs so nicely with the sour cream frosting and, yeah, finger dipping worthy for sure!

Each cake layer is baked separately to a gentle crisp and is topped with a generous helping of sour cream frosting mixed with sugar. OH and then? You cover the entire cake in well… crumbled cake crumbs. Meaning you do not even have to worry about making your frosting look pretty, you are just going to cover it in more cake. Score!

After assembling the honey cake it is very important to leave it overnight in the refrigerator to set. Don’t skip this step! The layers need some time to soak in the frosting and make a moist cake!

This New Year’s Honey Cake (Medovik) is an incredible, decadent affair that needs time – time to be baked, time to be assembled, time to rest – and most importantly, time to enjoy!

Cake Ingredients:

3 tbsp milk

6 tbsp honey

10 tbsp butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

3 eggs

4 cups flour

pinch of salt

Sour Cream Filling:

2 packages (500 ml each) sour cream (full fat)

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups various nuts, finely chopped

powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Over double boiler combine the honey, sugar, salt and milk. Heat the mixture for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly. Add butter and mix until fully incorporated.

Add baking soda whisking vigorously. The mixture will foam, rise and lighten in color. Keep stirring until the mixture caramelizes, about 10-12 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and add them to the honey mixture. Mix well, then sift in the flour. Kneed by hand or in a standing mixer until the soft dough comes together. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and leave it to rest for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Divide the dough into 12 even pieces, about 1 ice cream scoop each. Roll each piece out between two sheets of parchment paper into a thin circle, about 9-10″. Transfer the dough onto the baking sheet and prick it with the fork all over.

Bake for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Continue with the rest of the dough.

Once cake layer is baked, remove from the oven. While still warm, cut off the edges to make a perfect circle. You can place a 9″ plate or the base from a springform pan on top to help you make the circle. Keep the scraps for later.

While the cake layers are baking, prepare the filling by combining the sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Whip the filling until combined and fluffy.

Spread 2-3 generous tablespoons of filling over each cake layer and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Spread the remaining sour cream filling over the top and sides of the cake covering completely.

Place the reserved cake scraps in the food processor and pulse to make fine crumbs.

Decorate the cake with the crumbs, nuts and powdered sugar. I also ended up with a few leftover pieces of dough which I used to make a few cute pine cones.

Then cover the honey cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. This cake needs time to absorb some of the cream and soften, so be patient. It’s worth the wait!