How a Medovik Is Made, Layer by Layer

A medovik does not look like much work. It is a round cake, pale gold, usually finished with crumbs and little else. People who have made one at home know better, and the ones who have not are often surprised by how long it takes and why it cannot be hurried.

This is how it is made, step by step, with the reason each step is there. It is the method behind the honey cake we bake, described in general terms rather than as a recipe with weights.

The honey goes in warm

The dough starts on the stove rather than in a bowl. Honey, butter and sugar are warmed together until the sugar dissolves and the honey begins to darken. A raising agent is usually stirred in at this stage, and the mixture foams up and changes colour, turning from pale gold to a deeper amber.

This is the step that gives a medovik its flavour. Warmed honey loses the floral, slightly raw taste it has from the jar and picks up a caramel note, a little like toffee and a little like burnt sugar. A honey cake made with honey simply beaten into cold butter tastes sweet and flat by comparison.

Eggs go in next, off the heat, and then flour, until the mixture becomes a soft dough. It is sticky and warm and it does not look promising.

Rolling and baking every layer on its own

The dough is divided into portions, one for each layer, and each is rolled out very thin. Thin means a couple of millimetres, thin enough to see the light of the worktop through it at the edges.

It is rolled while it is still a little warm, because once honey dough cools it stiffens and starts to tear. That is why making a medovik at home is a race against the dough, and why many home recipes tell you to keep the bowl over warm water.

Each sheet is baked on its own, for a few minutes, until it is golden and firm. It comes out of the oven as something closer to a large thin biscuit than a sponge. While it is still hot it is trimmed to a circle, because once it cools it will snap rather than cut.

Repeat for every layer. This is the slow part, and there is no way round it. A layer cake made from a single sponge sliced horizontally is quicker, and it is a different cake.

Why the trimmings matter

The offcuts from trimming each layer are not thrown away. They are dried and crushed into crumbs, and those crumbs go over the top and the sides of the finished cake.

It is a finish that tells you what is inside, because it is made of the same thing. It also covers the sides, which on a layered cake are never perfectly level, and it gives a slight crunch against the soft interior.

The sour cream frosting

Between every layer goes a frosting made with sour cream, sweetened lightly. It is thinner and sharper than buttercream, and that is the point.

A honey layer straight from the oven is dry and crisp. It needs moisture to turn it into cake, and the sour cream provides it. The slight acidity also cuts against the caramelised honey, so the finished cake tastes balanced rather than simply sweet.

The frosting is spread generously, almost to excess. Much of it will disappear into the layers overnight, and a medovik assembled with a thin scraping of cream ends up dry in the middle.

Honey CakeRussian honey cake, medovik, 18 cm. Thin honey layers, light sour cream frosting, rested overnight.from £76Order this

The night in the fridge

Once it is stacked, frosted and crumbed, the cake goes into the fridge and stays there overnight.

During that time the honey layers draw moisture out of the cream and soften. The crisp biscuit sheets become soft, damp cake. The lines of the layers stay visible when you cut it, but the texture becomes even all the way through. The flavours settle into one another as well, so the honey and the cream stop tasting like two separate things.

This is the one step that cannot be shortened. A medovik cut on the day it is assembled is a stack of crisp biscuits with cream between them, and it is not what anybody remembers. It is also one of the main reasons we ask for forty eight hours notice: the cake needs its night before it can travel.

Why the result is lighter than it sounds

On paper a honey cake sounds heavy: honey, butter, sugar, many layers. On the plate it is not. The layers are very thin, the frosting is sour cream rather than butter, and the rest makes the whole thing fine and soft rather than dense.

That is also why it suits the end of a large meal, and why so many families serve it at New Year and on birthdays after a long dinner.

What a home baker usually gets wrong

Letting the dough cool before rolling, so it cracks. Baking the layers too long, so they taste bitter at the edges. Using too little cream. And cutting the cake too soon. None of these is a disaster, and all of them are the difference between a good medovik and a remembered one.

Common questions

How many layers does a medovik have?

It varies by recipe and by the height of the cake. The important thing is that every layer is rolled thin and baked separately, rather than the number.

Why does a medovik need to rest overnight?

The baked honey layers are crisp. The rest lets them absorb moisture from the sour cream frosting and turn into soft cake.

Is medovik made with sour cream or condensed milk?

The classic version uses a sour cream frosting, which is what ours uses. Some families use boiled condensed milk or a cream with condensed milk in it, which makes a sweeter and heavier cake.

Does medovik contain nuts?

Ours does not have nuts on its allergen list. It contains gluten, eggs and milk. The kitchen handles nuts, so ask if there is an allergy.

How far ahead should I order?

At least forty eight hours, because the cake needs its night in the fridge before it can be delivered.

Ordering in London

The honey cake is 18 cm, serves six to eight and is £76 plain. It is made to order in Belgravia and delivered across London and Surrey, with forty eight hours notice and a £50 minimum order. Delivery is £12 in central London and priced by postcode elsewhere on the delivery page.