Russian cuisine is as well known for its pastries as the French - and medovik cake is its gateway drug. My gluten-free medovik is a scrumptious Russian torte with layers of crispy thin pastry, decadent mascarpone cream with honey and fresh fruit. If you've never had Russian tortes before, you're in for a treat!
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Russian tortes, a family affair
Before every holiday, my grandmother wouldn't answer her phone for a couple of days. In person, conversations with her were a distracted affair, full of silences and muffled answers, and could only be conducted in her apartment.
And the reason for that was cake.
Because you see, every holiday my grandmother would slave away for hours in order to create a magnificent Russian layer cake. She would bake the dough and whip the cream, carefully select her ingredients and marinade all of her fruits. This took hours, and usually days.
One year the result was Napoleon, a thousand-layers creatio of cream and crinkly-thin layers. Another it was be her peach and sour cream roll up. And often times, it was medovik.
Childhood memories of my grandmother's Medovik
My grandmother's medovik is a traditional Russian layered cake. Each cake layer is baked separately to a gentle crisp, laced with honey and eggs. Then it is topped with a generous helping of heavy sour cream, mixed with sugar. The whole thing is put together and sprinkled with more crumbs, and allowed to rest for at least a day.
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.
Today, my grandmother is 81. She no longer makes cakes for every holiday. Now, she waits for extra special occasions - my visits, Russian New Year's Eve, her birthday. When she does bake, her cakes are no longer as elaborate, though Napoleon, my favourite, still makes common appearances.
Her hands are calloused, and there are age spots on her face. Walking too long tires her out, though conversations can go on for hours. At times, these are distracted affairs that diverge on many tangents.
But her mind is as sharp as ever, honed every Sunday night on Russian trivia game shows (Chto Gde Kogda, anyone?) and through constant reading.
And her cakes are just as delicious.
A modernized, gluten-free medovik
This is my version of my grandmother's Russian medovik - a gluten-free, scrumptious cake with layers of crispy thin pastry, decadent mascarpone cream and fresh figs and pomegranates. It's decadent, but without refined white flour, less sugar than its traditional Russian counterparts and the tanginess of mascarpone, you could feel slightly more wholesome about the whole thing.
Good baking starts with good pans
And to help you bake it, I'm even hosting a giveaway! Because this cake is baked in layers, it helps to have a few pans on hand. I used my favourite Baker's Secret baking set, which includes a sheet cake pan, a loaf pan, a 9-inch square cake pan and a good ol' baking sheet. To shape my layers, I used a Baker's Secret 8-inch round cake pan, whose lovely red colour later served as a beautiful serving tray on which to present my cake.
If you'll excuse the pun, Baker's Secret held the secret to baking my layers with little fuss.
And now, you could also win an 8″ Baker’s Secret Square Cake Pan, delivered directly to your doorstep just in time for all that holiday baking. Just enter below!
Whether you use your new Baker's Secret cake pan to bake my medovik, or to create a family favourite of your very own, I'm sure you're going to have a lovely time with it.
Fig and honey medovik - a gluten-free Russian layer cake (and a GIVEAWAY)
Ingredients
- For layers
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 TBs honey
- 100 g butter
- 2.5 cups gluten-free flour mix if you're not gluten-free, you can use regular flour in the same ratio
- 2 TBs baking powder
- Honey Mascarpone cream:
- 2 c mascarpone
- ⅔ c heavy whipping cream
- ¼ c sugar
- 1 TB honey
- Fresh figs
- Fresh pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Combine eggs, sugar, honey and butter in a bain marie (a mixing bowl placed over a gently boiling of water). Mix well, stirring until oil has fully dissolved. Add flour and baking powder and stir until a ball of dough forms (do not overmix).
- Remove dough from bowl, and knead a few times until dough can be shaped. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 12 hours.
- Once chilled, flour your work surface and Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Roll out dough into 5-6 circles of about ¾ inch thick (you can use a cake pan to measure out your circles). Dough will be very hard to work with at first, but it will get easier as dough warms up.
- Bake each layer on a separate baking sheet for 7 minutes, and let cool on a wire rack. Stack the cakes on top of each other and even out the sides, removing all the extra cut dough so the cakes look good layered on top of each other.
- Combine all ingredients for honey mascarpone cream. Whip together until mixture holds stiff peaks.
- Smear about 3 tablespoons of cream between each two layers. Use half of remaining cream and do a full coating of a "crumb layer" around the cake (the first layer of frosting; doesn't need to be perfect). Let chill for a couple of hours, preferably overnight. Use the remaining cream to do a second and final layer of icing. Cake can be served immediately, or allowed to rest for a few hours for cream to set.
- Decorate the top with fresh figs and pomegranate seeds. Serve to oohs and ahhs.
grace says
my answer is probably different each day, but today, i choose coconut cake!
kseniaprints says
Coconut cake sounds splendid! Recipe?
Faith (An Edible Mosaic) says
I loved reading about your grandmother's tradition of making special cakes - I can imagine her cakes are truly something to look forward to! Your take on her cake is absolutely lovely. Honey is such a nice touch, and the fresh fruit is gorgeous. What a way to celebrate!
kseniaprints says
Her cakes are absolutely extraordinary. She's the real chef in the family - everything she makes is the best I've ever had, no doubt.
Mom says
It's so nostalgia... I send your recipe to you grand mom )))
kseniaprints says
You should MAKE it for her
DJ says
Red Velvet Cake is my favorite.
kseniaprints says
Yum! Got a good recipe? I've had this idea to use beets instead of food colouring in Red Velvet FOREVER.
Kimberly says
This looks awesome! I'd love to try my hand at it, but am worried I won't be able to do the cake (or your grandmother!) justice!
PS- I would have loved to see a photo of Napoleon!
kseniaprints says
Next time I'm hankering down for a project, Kimberly, I'll try to tackle Napoleon 🙂
jan says
I once had a tiramisu cake which was divine.
kseniaprints says
I had the best tiramisu of my life in a little trattoria in Rome. It was established in 1886, 100 years before my birth, and everything we ate there was fantastic.... But what I really remember to this day, nearly 15 years later, is the taste of that cloud-like tiramisu. I have never tasted one as good since - and believe me, I've tried.
Berta says
Oh my goodness, I love this cake already, just from looking at your stunning photos!! I made a healthy-fied version of medovik a few months ago, and it's still my family's favourite healthy-fied dessert! I'm 110% this one will be a success too!!
And yes, I know 'Chto? Gde? Kogda?'! We used to watch when I was smaller and we had satellite TV, and now my family has rediscovered it 😉
Having grown up surrounded by so many different cultures, I often feel left out of things (especially during celebrations) because I don't really belong to any particular culture. However, then a post like comes along, where I can relate to pretty much everything and that just makes me so happy!
I guess, this is just my long-winded way of saying: "thank you for your amazing work, Ksenia! You made my day today!" 🙂
kseniaprints says
I would love to see your version! Medovik is actually not a stretch to make healthier - the bones of this cake are actually not so bad, and anything with honey is immediately better in my books. Just don't expect it to be low fat, lol.
And I know what you mean about not feeling at home in a given culture. That's what I feel 110% of the time 😉 It's so strange how we immigrant children grow up - we pick up bits and pieces from every country we live, from the Internet, from magazines and from classic books... and the result is a hybrid identity that is at once so conflicting but also fragile and beautiful. I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Berta says
Hahaha so true about the low fat bit! Sometimes I think that no Eastern European recipe can be made low fat! And maybe that's not such a bad thing after all 😉
Anyhow, if you would like to see my version of medovik, I posted about it on my blog: https://thatbelarusiangirl.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/medovik-russian-layered-honey-cake-chocolate-hazelnut-layered-cake-gluten-free-vegan/. 🙂
kseniaprints says
Oh my god, chocolate and nutella medovik that is vegan and gluten-free??? How did I not see this recipe before??? Now I feel like I should have just linked to your recipe and called it a day. Lol. Seriously though, I love it - and I think your cake has more layers!
jacquie says
such a nice tribute to your grandmom. Thanks for sharing her w/ me.
cheesecake!
kseniaprints says
I loooooove cheesecake but can't ever eat it because it'll hurt my stomach way, way too much. I have an Israeli cheesecake recipe that is my absolute favourite though, so sometimes I steal bites from Greg's fork.
Lydia Claire says
A Swedish Princess cake! I love Marzipan. =)
kseniaprints says
OK colour me intrigued. What is a Swedish Princess cake?? I am picturing something tall and intricate with marzipan and stardust and lots of pink frosting.
Sj Dc says
i love a marbled peanut butter and chocolate cake
kseniaprints says
That sounds excellent!!! Favourite recipe you'd care to share?
Kellie MacMillan says
What a gorgeous looking cake. You do such beautiful work Ksenia. I'm working on my Christmas cake recipe , I made it last year and didn't think it would turn out on the first go but it did. The memory of it is great but I didn't write down the recipe in full so I have to try to remember and make it again this year. Ha,ha Sometimes, I am just such a basket case in the kitchen.
kseniaprints says
Ooh I still remember your log cookies (which I need to make gluten-free this year!). Can't wait to see that Christmas cake recipe!
Heather says
I'm boring and enjoy a good plain chocolate bundt, but this is stunning, and would be incredible with the fresh figs from our tree!
Mary O. says
I love carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, topped with pecans.
Your cake is beautiful!
kseniaprints says
Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is one of my absolute favourites as well. Yum! Glad you liked this medovik, Mary!
Lana Hood says
I like carrot cake.
kseniaprints says
Me too, Lana!!
manda says
I like chocolate
kseniaprints says
With good reason 😉
June @ How to Philosophize with Cake says
What a gorgeous cake! Looks like the perfect treat for a winter holiday 🙂
kseniaprints says
It sure is! And June, I just *LOVE* your blog name!!!
Simi Jois says
MEDOVIK is new to me, but I will give anything to taste this. You are so lucky to be part of a home which has such strong traditions. Lots of love to your grandma, I admire woman like her ….I did not see much of my grandma but I was told she was an amazing cook.
Your Medovik looks awesome and I think more than a dessert it's preserving your family traditions.
kseniaprints says
Simi, thank you so much. I think only a fellow immigrant can truly understand what a role food plays in preserving our family traditions. It's truly the most tangible reminder of my family, every day.
Aaron says
My favorite cake is Angel Food.
kseniaprints says
Ah, with berries on top??? So good.
Stacey Roberson says
I love chocolate cake.
kseniaprints says
Today I was thinking of the chocolate cakes we had for birthdays in school in Israel. A bit dry and coated with the simplest chocolate sauce, they were studded with M&M-like candies and so, so delicious. I can still remember their taste!