Russian Honey Cake

A few weeks ago, I traveled to Moscow.  What a dream!  The ground was still covered in snow, and I walked for hours through the city streets.  On my last night, I had dinner at Cafe Pushkin, one of the most glorious dining experiences of my life.  In addition to having winter borsch that was out of this world (sorry--move over Brighton Beach restaurants), I had a dessert that couldn't have been more perfect: a 15-layer honey cake.  

I knew I'd have to try to make my own version when I got back to America.  

With an amazing new pastry roller (thanks, Molly!), I created 15 separate dough circles and baked them for just a few minutes each.  Making this cake is a labor of love, but it's so worth it.  Not only is the cake batter filled with delicious honey, but I made it with two different kinds of honey-based filling: a sweet sour cream (everything in Russia is served with it, it seems!), and a buttercream icing. My version is a little bit different than the slice I devoured in Moscow, but I thought I'd make it my own.

I'm so angry with myself that I've already given you the song that would go perfectly with this pastry.  I used it last year for a baklava post when I was getting ready to leave for Istanbul.  What was I thinking?  I promise I'll do my best not to repeat another song, but I've gotta do it here.  Instead of the album version this time, here's the Feelies' "Moscow Nights," performed at Maxwell's in Hoboken.

Cake Batter:
*Recipe adapted from RusCusine.com (these Russian dessert recipes aren't easy to find!)
--2 large eggs
--3/4 c. granulated sugar
--1 tsp. baking soda
--3 tbsp. honey, warmed (so it's very thin liquid-y)
--1/4 c. unsalted butter
--2 c. all-purpose flour

[filling and icing recipes to follow]

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until light yellow (about 3-4 minutes by hand with a whisk).  Add in baking soda and liquid honey, and continue to whisk until combined.  In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter.  Add the egg mixture and whisk until combined.  A bit at a time, add the flour and continue to whisk until all flour has been incorporated.  The mixture will be thick and extremely difficult to whisk when it's finished.  

Remove from heat, and separate into 15 small balls of dough and dip them in flour so they're not too sticky to handle.  On a floured surface, use a pastry roller to flatten each ball of dough until it's approximately 2mm thick (as thin as possible, while still being able to move the dough and place it on a baking sheet).  Using a saucer (or any other tracing tool that's approximately 6 inches in diameter), trace each dough into a perfect circle, trimming the edges.  Repeat with each ball of dough. 

Bake each dough circle on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 3-4 minutes, or *just* until golden in color.  Allow to cool at room temperature while you make the filling and icing.

Honey Sour Cream Filling:
--2 c. sour cream
--1/4 c. honey, warmed
--1/2 c. granulated sugar

Whisk to combine and set aside.

Honey Buttercream Icing:
--3 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
--3 tbsp. honey, warmed
--1/4 c. half & half
--1/2 to 1 c. confectioner's sugar (depending on how thick you want your icing)


Beat on low speed until combined.  Continue to add confectioner's sugar to thicken (and, if you've added too much, a splash of half & half to thin it).  Set aside.  Now, put the cake together!!!

Alternate filling layers with the sour cream and buttercream until you've stacked all 15 cakes (the cakes will be very thin, like cookie-style pastries, so you're not in danger of the cake falling over!).  

Ice the outside with the remaining buttercream, and drizzle a honey pattern on top.  Best with a Baltika No. 6 Porter. 
 

Summer Borscht

My favorite thing about New York in the summertime?  The cold borscht--served only seasonally--by the Polish and Russian restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn.  I've been a lover of Little Poland's summer borscht since I started trekking to the East Village back in college, and on my most recent stop through the city, I sampled the Russian borscht served at Ocean View Cafe in Brighton Beach (thanks for the great reviews for me to link to, NY Mag!).  It may look like an unnatural shade of pinkish-purple (beets really are this saturated in color), and you may have thought cold soups were reserved for tomato and melon bases (a falsity!), but this sweet beet appetizer is a-mazing.   

Made from shredded beets, cucumbers, fresh dill, and a lot of sour cream, this soup is a deliciously bright magenta and is filled with the amazing nutritional qualities of some very colorful root vegetables.  

I knew I wanted to pair this refreshing Eastern European summer treat with a Gogol Bordello song, but I've been torn between two.  The most logical choice is their song "Start Wearing Purple" (which you *absolutely* will be doing if you spill any of this soup), but then again, I just love their "Through the Roof 'n' Underground."  So, you decide. 

Ingredients:

--5 large beets, washed

--1 large cucumber, chopped

--1-2 tbsp. fresh dill, plus additional for garnish (I always opt for more dill; I love it)

--3 c. chicken stock (you could easily use veggie stock if you're making this vegetarian)

--1 c. sour cream, plus 1/2 c. additional for serving (use a reduced-fat version for a more nutritional soup)

--1-2 tsp. salt

--1-2 tsp. pepper

--3 tbsp. granulated sugar

--1-2 c. reserved beet cooking liquid

--*Optional: some Russian versions of this also call for chopped hard-boiled egg--your choice!

Remove stems and greens from beets, leaving about 1-2 inches of stem on the beet.  (Save the greens--you can saute them!)  In a medium-sized pot over medium heat, cook beets for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until soft (you'll be able to poke a fork easily into them when they're done).  While the beets are cooking, in a large bowl combine the chicken stock, 1 c. sour cream, salt, pepper, dill, and sugar.  Set aside.

Once beets have cooked through, allow to cool.  Reserve their cooking liquid by pouring it through a mesh strainer and allowing it to cool, too.  Once the beets are cool enough to handle, remove the skins (they'll peel off very easily) and the extra stem.  Be careful: the beets and their cooking liquid will stain anything and everything!  Using a large grater or a food processor attachment, shred the beets.  Add the beets and the chopped cucumber (and the hard-boiled egg, if you've chosen to use it) to the chicken stock mixture and mix.  Slowly add in 1-2 cups of the beet cooking liquid until the soup has reached a desired consistency (add more liquid for a thinner soup and less liquid for a thicker soup).  Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or so before serving.  

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of freshly chopped dill.