An eight layer chocolate cake worthy of any celebration! This chocolate spartak Russian cake recipe is bound to become a favorite! It’s made with 8 thin chocolate cake layers, frosted with a creamy whipped cream frosting and chocolate ganache. After a few days in the refrigerator, each layer is moist and tender and melt-in-your-mouth delicious! The chocolate Spartak cake is one of the most popular cakes in Russia and Eastern Europe. I can’t remember a wedding that didn’t serve some version of this cake! Once you try it, you’ll know why!
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How It’s Made!
The chocolate spartak cake starts with a chocolate cake ‘dough’. This Russian cake is made slightly different than your usual cake! The dough is rolled thin and baked, resulting in a soft, biscuit like layers. These layers are then sandwiched together with a creamy and easy whipped cream frosting made with butter, sweetened condensed milk and whipped cream. I garnish my cake with smooth chocolate ganache for extra chocolate flavor and toasted hazelnuts for a nutty flavor. I also love to add fresh raspberries or strawberries on the top. They add a little color and lots of fruity flavor.
Although this cake might look intimidating, it’s worth the effort. It takes a little bit of time to make and you will need to wait patiently for a day or two before enjoying but it will be a cake to remember! Just imagine cutting into this cake and the look on your guests faces when they see those layers!
The Whipped Cream Frosting
The whipped cream frosting for this cake is super easy to make and delicious! I love to use this frosting for many of my recipes! Check out my in-depth video tutorial here to get it perfect every time! ‘Whipped Cream Frosting’
More Recipes!
Looking for more chocolate cake recipes or Russian cake recipes? Check out these other options that I have on my blog!
- Classic Napoleon – one of my all-time favorite cake recipes!
- Hazelnut Kiev Cake – amazing hazelnut flavor with meringue and chocolate!
- Truffle Chocolate Crepe Cake – stunning, 40-layer chocolate crepe cake!
- Chocolate Pavlova Cake – show-stopping chocolate meringue cake
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Hey your unique cooking. I am verylove especially to desserts and cakes your.
Good luck
Raha
Thank you for recipe ????
Beautiful cake! I want to make it, but I want bigger, maybe 9 or 10 inch. Have I to double the amount of ingredients or will be fine like in 8 inch?
If you want a 10-inch cake, just double the recipe! 🙂
If making a 10inch, how long do you bake it for?
As long as the layers are about the same thickness, the timing won’t change.
Hi, not sur what I did wrong but my filling curled .. 🙁 Can you tell me what I did wrong? over mixing it maybe?
Oh no! Sorry about that! Make sure that the butter and cream cheese are at room temperature and very soft! I find that if they aren’t, the cream will separate and be clumpy…
Thank you. Made another batch and it was delicious!!! Thank you for sharing your recipes. This is my favorite page. Looking to make something else soon. Did the mirror glazing and it was delicious. Love condense milk.
thanks again.. Love this page
:)) SO glad it worked out well!!
I try to figure out what stands for “heavy cream”? In the UK we have single cream, double cream which is thick and whipping cream which is 30% fat. Which one is the best to use?
You’ll want to go with whipping cream 🙂
I want you to ask about whipped cream cheese can i use just the cream cheese not whipped, if can not what can i substitute?
Yes, you can use regular cream cheese in this recipe, too! 🙂
Thank you very much for your response?
Hi
would you be able to convert the measurement to grams/ml?
Thanks
Just updated with grams! 🙂
is it possible to over beat the cream? (how long do we need to beat it for?) what’s the difference between heavy whipping cream and whipping cream? thanks!!
Yes, if you over mix the cream, it will start to separate. Mix on medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Heavy whipping cream has more fat content (36%) than regular whipping cream (30-33%)
Hi, so do I HAVE to put the cake in the fridge before covering it with that yummy chocolate glaze? Or I can do it right away.
I like to let the frosting set up a little bit first, then add the glaze. I think it sets better that way 🙂
Hi cake looks amazing.. I love ur recipes and videos.. Just wanted to know.. Can i bake 2-3 layers in same cake tray or separately?
Hi! Thank you! 🙂 You’ll need to bake each layer separately
I did the cream exactly as you said (butter and cream cheese room temperature) but my cream curled when I started beating it ? I think I’ll beat the whipping cream separately next time maybe? And 2 1/2 cups of flour seemed too much, my korzhi were so rubbery?
I’m so sorry that the cream recipe didn’t work well for you! I need to add my updated version of this cream to this page! Now, I make sure to whisk it separately but even then, you need to be very careful not to overmix, that’s when it starts to separate!
Hai!
How does this cake tastes like. I havent made it yet but a bit curious about the taste. How many days will it be refrigerated??. Will it be dry if it sits in the room temperature or after cutting it??
Thank you so much for your recipes…..i just luv it….??
Syndrella??
Hi! I would let it sit in the refrigerator for at least a day to allow the layers to soft a bit. It tastes like an amazing cookies and cream cake! 🙂 Once you cut, I would cover the cut part with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out. It will be just fine at room temperature. I actually like to take mine out of the fridge for at least an hour before serving to allow the layers to soften and thaw
Hi Tanya,
I just baked the layers for this cake, and they all turned out very hard. I was expecting them to be more softer. Did I do something wrong? Or they’ll be softer once I put cream on.
Hi! They shouldn’t be too hard but I think you can still make it work. You can try soaking the layers with a bit of black tea using a pastry brush and the layers will also soften from the cream… Hope it works out!
My absolute favorite cake!!! Always so moist and tasty!! ????❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
So glad you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
I made this recipe to celebrate 3 years that my daughter has been in our family after being adopted from Ukraine…unfortunately there were several issues with the way it turned out. 🙁 I should’ve stopped and started over when I was making the cake batter since it seemed drier than in the video. It was never whiskable. Then when I went to roll the layers out the dough was very tough and difficult to make the layers stretch to the 9 inch size. The frosting separated…If I were to make it again I would maybe whip the cream separately and then mix with the whipped butter and cream cheese. I think the cold whip cream lowered the temperature of the butter/cream cheese that I had made sure were soft and room temp at the beginning. I ended up googling ways to fix this issue and saw that adding melted chocolate can help emulsify it all…and it did! So I used up the chocolate for the ganache in the frosting but at least it tasted good. We waited a full 24 hours and the layers did look really impressive. However the cake was just too tough, it was hard to cut through even. The kids ate it but no one wanted any leftovers the next day.
I’m so sorry that my recipe didn’t work well for you 🙁 I’m not sure what could have gone wrong, I’ve personally used this recipe many times. The cream can be a bit tricky to make. I have an updated version of the cream in my cookbook, for my double Chocolate Spartak 🙂
Hello Tatyana.
I was trying to make frosting and it was runny! My butter and cream cheese were room temperature. My whipping cream never whipped and everything was separated. What did I do wrong? It should not be this difficult.Can I fix it ?
Hi Svetlana! I’m so sorry the cream didn’t work well for you. Did you maybe over-mix it? I’ve had that happen to me, too. The cream needs to be mixed just until creamy. It won’t be too stiff but it should be creamy. I have a more in-depth tutorial here: https://tatyanaseverydayfood.com/recipe-items/whipped-cream-frosting/
You cannot dump all the frosting ingredients in one bowl at the same time. I did this twice and both times is curdled. I found another recipe that instructed to mix the whipping cream
separately. Cream everything else together and then fold in the whipped cream after it’s whipped. Hand mix together. This did the trick on the 3rd try.
So sorry that the recipe didn’t work for you! I’ve adjusted the frosting recipe and included a separate video for the update. I’ll update in the recipe card, too.