The famous “Медовик” cake, aka the honey cake. This sweet creation is made with 8 wafer-thin honey cake layers and filled with a creamy custard creme! Every Slavic person knows what a special treat this cake is! This delicious cake is enjoyed with tea after dinner in homes across Ukraine and Russia! Since this cake is labor-intensive to make, it’s typically reserved for special occasions such as birthdays, or for the holidays around Christmas and New Years.
My simplified video recipe will help guide you through all the steps so you can make this cake at home!
This honey cake is made with a honey-infused cooked dough. If you’ve never made a cake with cooked dough before, don’t worry! It’s really easy. Once you have the dough ready, just let it cool down until it’s cooled enough to handle. There are a few different methods of shaping the layers. You can roll out each portion of dough out over parchment paper, then cut out a circle using a pan. You can bake the layer along with the scraps, then use those scraps to crumb-coat the cake. I like to simply press the dough into the bottom of the pan. I find this method produces nice and round layers.
The custard creme recipe I’m sharing with you was passed down to me from my mother, who has been making this cake and creme for years and years. The simple flavor of the custard go perfectly with the honey layers. The important part of this recipe is letting the cake mature in the refrigerator. Once you assemble the cake, let it set in the fridge for at least 24 hours. This will allow the layers to become soft and delicate. The wait will be worth it! For the finishing touches, I added some reserved custard on the top, along with berries and some cute waffle cookies.
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Want to try more Ukrainian or Russian cake recipes? Get them here: https://tatyanaseverydayfood.com/recipe-type/cakes-cheesecakes/
Next, try my ‘Peach Zefir Torte’ from my newly released cookbook, The European Cake Cookbook! https://tatyanaseverydayfood.com/recipe-items/peach-zefir-torte/
I never know how to decorate Medovik….thank you for beautiful idea!!!! You sure have a talent….thank you for the recipe will have to try that custard cream…
Thank you for watching! 🙂
Hi Tatyana, I’m making this cake right now and I was wondering how long you wait for the honey mixture to cool down before putting in the flour? It’s gone down in size but the foam is still there. Do I need to skim the foam off? The video is awesome! Thanks a bunch
Hi Nadia! Sorry for the late reply! Hope the cake turned out well for you! I usually just stir the mixture and the foam settles down. Thanks for watching! 🙂
Just made it. Easy and delicious. Thank you!
Awesome! 🙂 I’m glad you liked it! 🙂
I made it , it’s so delicious and awesome TvT … I’ll prepare this recipe again ^^
Thank you () .
Tried this recipe and it was a total flop. My eggs were totally scrambled.. Any advice? Thank You
Oh, no! 🙁 Sorry that your recipe didn’t turn out! It’s VERY important to add the hot cream into the eggs slowly and to cook the mixture at a low heat. It takes a little while for the custard to form but it’s worth the wait! 🙂
what do you think about substituting sugar with honey, meaning that the cake would be all honey….. 1 cup honey instead of 1/2 sugar and 1/2 honey… Any reason you would advise against it? Thank you!
I think that might work, too 🙂 I haven’t tried it that way but no reason why it shouldn’t work!
hey tatyana , really love all ur recipes thank you so much ,and could u please tell me if I use honey instead of sugar or if I could decrease the quantity of sugar how would u suggest I do that as my family doesn’t like very sweet , but we all are big fan of medovik cake !
wait ing….
I recommend sticking with the quantity of sugar in the recipe because the recipe will turn out differently if you change the amount. The cake is actually not too sweet. I hope you enjoy my recipe! 🙂
Hello, I used your recipe but changed the cow milk for almond milk and the butter for coconut oil because I’m allergic to dairy and baked this cake some weeks ago, it still turned out really good, but somehow there was not enough cake mix in comparison to the cream even though I used the exact same quantity from the recipe. I was wondering if it would affect the ending result of the cake in a bad way if I add a bit more of the ingredients?
Thank you.
Hmm, I’m not sure how the substitutions would affect the recipe. Did you have extra cream? Maybe cut the recipe in half for next time… 🙂
Hello Tatyana! Thanks for sharing this recipe! I’m wondering when I should stop heating the honey mixture? Do I take it off the heat when it foams to its maximum? Or do I wait for the foam to settle down and the honey mixture turns amber before removing it from the heat?
Hi! 🙂 You want to cook it until it reaches an amber color, about 8 to 10 minutes on a medium heat
I just made this, it’s chilling in the fridge. the custard is pretty liquid. I hope it will hold. Also will the edges get soft? I’ve picked up the parchment paper and gathered the edges around the cake so that they remain covered with creme.
Also all the other recipes have sour cream frosting with honey cake. Have you ever used that?which is the authentic frosting?
Hope the cake turned out well for you! The custard will set more once it’s in the refrigerator. The sour cream frosting would work here, too but I don’t like the ‘sour’ taste of it with this cake. Custards are more bakery-style
Hello, i would like to try this recipe and i was wondering if i can use custard mix instead of making the custard. If yes, how much custard would i need?
Hi! Yes, I think that would work. I used about 3 cups of custard
Thank you so much Tatyana. Can’t wait to try it.
i made this cake .it was wonderful.thank u.bt the cake layers kind slipped.i had to fix with toothpic before surving…u hav any idea y it happend?
Next time, try assembling the cake in a spring form pan if it slips too much. The form will help keep it in place while it sets 🙂
Thank you so much…i will definitly try it next time.